Is there a distinction between fundamentals and branches in the religion?

The questioner : There is an observation, O honorable one,The Shaykh : which is that some people say: The branches exist in creed and in acts of worship, for example, the issue of seeing Allah. Is this one of the branches? I mean in this world. Did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) see Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) during the Night Journey, or did he not see Him? Is this one of the branches or one of the fundamentals? If it is one of the branches or one of the fundamentals, if it is one of the branches, is it permissible, by analogy to this disagreement among the Companions on this point, for Muslims to disagree on the issue of the Throne and some matters related to the names and attributes?

The Shaykh : The answer to this question comes from two aspects. The first is that this question stems from the prevailing custom among the later scholars that Islam is divided into two parts: fundamentals and branches. We must know that this division is an innovation in matters, and it is something that the Companions, the Successors, and the mujtahid imams did not know. This division originated with the Mu'tazilah, and its influence spread to others among those who belong to the group of the people of the Sunnah. There is nothing in Islam called a branch and another called a fundamental. And in any case, if one accepts this, it is only accepted as a convention, not as religion. People may agree on whatever they wish, but on the condition that they do not derive differing rulings from what they have agreed upon. From here comes the answer from the other aspect. If we know that there is no difference between fundamentals and branches, but rather everything that came in the Book and the Sunnah must be followed and one must try to understand it in the correct way, there is no difference in that between a branch and a fundamental. If you know this reality, the answer becomes easy for us, and that is the second aspect.