The Importance of Creed and Calling to It

Question:
The shaykhs often focus on the aspect of creed in their calling to Allah, and it is known that this has its great importance and its exalted status, for establishing the creed is the major pillar of Islam. However, we hope for attention to be directed toward social morals and the combating of vices in the building of the creed. Why do we see most scholars neglecting this so often?

Answer:
In any case, it is known among the scholars that they attend to both this and that. The creed, as you mentioned, O questioner, is the pillar and the foundation. For this reason, most people of knowledge in the countries of the world do not care about the creed contrary to what you said; rather, they speak about morals and other things, such as prayer, zakah, times, prayer, and other matters, while the creed is neglected until graves are worshipped among them besides Allah, and until shirk (associating partners with Allah) occurs among them, and they are not aware of it.
Perhaps the scholar himself falls into shirk with Allah because he lived with shirk with his father, his uncle, and his shaykh. They lived with shirk due to their not delving into the creed and their not caring for the creed. You find him studying and worshipping other than Allah. You find him in the mosque studying, then calling upon al-Badawi, calling upon al-Husayn, and calling upon 'Abd al-Qadir, because he and his father, grandfather, and companions lived with this. This is among the results of neglecting the creed and not caring for the creed.
And you find him a master well-versed in the rulings of prayer, the rulings of times, the rulings of lease, zakah, bequests, and other things, because he studied them and cared for them. As for the creed, he does not care for it and does not know...
And if he is good, he will focus on the creed of the theologians and what the theologians discuss regarding speech and the beliefs put forward by the people of theology, such as the Asha'irah, the Jahmiyyah, and the Mu'tazilah, while neglecting the Salafi creed that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) followed and that our righteous predecessors followed in affirming the names and attributes, in believing in Allah, in the oneness of worship, and in not associating partners with Allah and in caring for this matter.
So the conclusion is that it is obligatory, with a great and confirmed obligation, that the creed be attended to. The scholars should attend to clarifying it for the people, both the general and the specific. The lessons should mostly attend to it, along with attending to morals and other rulings. This should not be neglected, nor that, but the greatest attention should be given to the creed.
The Shaykh Muhammad (may Allah have mercy on him) used to say in his letters to some of his opponents who wrote to him and disputed with him in the creed: "I want you to study the creed as you study the book of endowments (waqf). That is, just as you attend to the endowments—the endowments of people—I hope that you study the chapter on the ruling of the apostate (murtadd) with the same attention you give to the book of endowments."
If they had studied the chapter on the ruling of the apostate in the books of jurisprudence (fiqh) that the scholars compiled in every school of jurisprudence, if they had studied the chapter on the ruling of the apostate and attended to it, they would have seen what they are in of falsehood and shirk. But they are heedless of that chapter because they do not find questions in it, and there is no attention to it. You find them occupied with endowments, the guardians of endowments, how the endowment is executed, how the income of the endowment is disposed of, how the lease is done, how it is rented, how the orphan's money is handled.
So they occupied themselves with these things and neglected the creed due to their not attending to it and the general public not asking about it. For this reason, it became stagnant and people were heedless of it, and the people became in the extreme of shirk with Allah and worshipping graves and the awliya (close friends of Allah) because of this heedlessness. You find al-Badawi, and other than al-Badawi, and so-and-so, and so-and-so, in Egypt, the Levant, Iraq, and in every place, you find them worshipped with Allah. The turbaned scholars call to that and do that with the general public.
They have confused this matter and neglected it due to their not attending to it, until the general public fell into shirk because of them. They became prostrating over the graves and calling upon them with Allah, seeking aid from them, asking them to fulfill needs, heal the sick, and grant victory over enemies. This is what happened among the people. And whoever condemns this and travels to other lands, let him pass by the grave of al-Badawi, al-Husayn, and so-and-so, and so-and-so. He will find the people around them prostrating. One says: "O my master so-and-so, give aid, heal my sick one, give me victory over my enemy, do this for me, do this for me." Until the matter reached the point where they ask them for children, asking them to make their women bear children, and to give such and such, and give such and such. We ask Allah for safety. They forgot Allah, so He forgot them. There is no power and no strength except with Allah.