Is there a difference between Aqeedah and Manhaj?

Is there a difference between Aqeedah and Manhaj?   Shaykh Ubayd answers Firstly, when the term 'aqidah is applied by Ahlus-Sunnah, then it refers to whatever is settled within the hearts from eeman in Allaah, His angels, His books and His Messengers, and the Last Day, and eeman in al-Qadr, the good of it and the evil of it, and whatever follows after that from the issues of eeman and the affairs of the Unseen, which cannot be reached except through the Kitab or the authentic Sunnah. And compilations have been written about this, and they are called the books of the Sunnah. And they are called the books of 'aqaid (beliefs), because they affirm the 'aqaid of Ahlus-Sunnah in these affairs and whatever follows in whatever is obligatory to have ikhlaas, sincerity to Allaah, and to follow the Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu 'alaihiwasallam) . And within that, they mention tawheed ul-'ibaada, tawheed ar-rububiya, and tawheed al-asma wa sifat. So whoever believes this is in agreement with what has been proven by the Kitab and the Sunnah and what the imams have agreed upon, so his 'aqida is correct. And whosoever opposes that, then his 'aqidah is corrupt. Either due to ignorance or due to desire - regardless, his 'aqida is corrupt.   Secondly, the manhaj (linguistically) in the Arabic language is at-tareek (the path). And the intended meaning of it in the sharee'ah is the path through which the ahkam (rules and regulations) of Allaah concerning the acts of worship in belief and action are clarified as well as the dealings between the people.    Thirdly, the 'aqidah and the manhaj are interconnected. So the one who falls into a defect in the manhaj, then he will go astray in affairs of 'aqidah. And the one who falls into a defect in the 'aqidah, then he will go astray in affairs of manhaj. For example, when the Jahmiya and the Mu'tazila mention enjoining the good and prohibiting the evil is from their usool, they mean by that revolting against the rulers. And no one doubts in the corruption of the 'aqidah of these two groups. When the Khawarij became corrupt in their manhaj and they deviated from the Kitab and the Sunnah and the way of the salaf us-saleh (pious predecessors) , they fell into declaring lawful the blood of the Muslims and their wealth and their honors. And this is haram, by ijma'. And they held it permissible to fight against 'Ali (radiallaahu 'anhu) and those who were with him from the sahaba and the best of the tabi'een. They held this to be a path to Jannah. They would say, "the departure - the departure to jannah." They declared halal the blood of the best of the people of this Ummah after the Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu 'alaihiwasallam) . They were the best of the people in this Ummah after the Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu 'alaihiwasallam) , and the Khawarij believed them to be kufaar.     And in summary is that in the field of da'wah, Islam brings together 'aqida and manhaj. It brings together the soundness of these two. So whoever's aqida is sound, then his manhaj is upright. And it is inevitable that this must be so. Whosoever's aqida has a defect, then his manhaj will have a defect and vice-versa. Whoever's manhaj has a defect, then he will have a defect in the 'aqida. So the Khawarij would declare someone a kaafir due to a major sin. They would declare a Muslim a kaafir due to a major sin, so they would declare his blood and his wealth lawful and they would curse his family. So in the dunya, he was a kaafir according to them. And they would pass judgment that he would abide in the fire forever if he died upon that major sin of his. And the Mu'tazila placed the one who committed a major sin in the dunya upon a manzila bayna manzilatain (level between two levels) - [they said] he was neither a Muslim nor a kaafir. And they agreed with the khawarij about the ruling of the hereafter for the one who committed a major sin. So they opposed the Kitab and the Sunnah and the ijma', all of which give evidence that the faasiq-ul-milee (meaning that the one who is sinful but he is a believer in tawheed, i.e. a sinner from the believing people) is a mu'min in the dunya, a believer with his eeman and a faasiq (disobedient sinner) with his major sin. And in the akhira (hereafter), he will be under the will of Allaah. So the defect in their manhaj was based upon the defect in their 'aqida. And if not, then why did they fight the rulers and revolt against them? Because they believed that they were kufaar and that their wealth, blood and honor were halal. Yes.   http://salafitalk. net/st/viewmessa ges.cfm?Forum= 9&Topic=751