There are 2 main schools of aqidah in the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah i.e. Maturidi and Ash’ari. Hanafis mainly follow the Maturi school and Shafiis and Malikis follow the Ash’ari school. The two schools are very close that the Hanafis are also considered to follow the Asha’ri school. Righteous scholars in the past have documented invaluable evidence of the aqidah e.g. the book Umm al-Barahin was written by Imam Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Sanusi al-Husayni al-Maliki on the Ash’ari aqidah. Imam Abu Ja’far at-Tahawi had explained in greater detail the aqidah of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah.  Sheikh Ahmad Marzuki al-Maliki explained the aqidah of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah through him poem “Aqidatul Awam” (The creed of the common people).

فَٱعۡلَمۡ أَنَّهُ ۥ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ
Meaning: Know (acquire the knowledge of) there is no god but Allah (Surah Muhammad:19)

The first obligation of a mukallaf is to learn about Allah. A mukallaf is one who meet all of the following criteria:

1. sane
2. reached the age of puberty
3. has received the message of Islam