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Al-Ashʿarī established a middle way between the doctrines of the Atharī and Muʿtazila schools of Islamic theology, based both on reliance on the sacred scriptures of Islam and theological rationalism concerning the agency and attributes of God.[1][4][9] Ashʿarism eventually became the predominant school of theological thought within Sunnī Islam,[3][4][19] and is regarded as the single most important school of Islamic theology in the history of Islam.[3]
The disciples of the Ashʿarī school are known as Ashʿarites,[20] and the school is also referred to as the Ashʿarite school,[21] which became one of the dominant theological schools within Sunnī Islam.[24] Ashʿarī theology is considered one of the orthodox creeds of Sunnī Islam,[26] alongside the Atharī[27][28] and Māturīdī.[4][19]
While Al-Ashʿarī opposed the views of the rival Muʿtazilite school, he was also opposed to the view which rejected all debate, held by certain schools such as the Zahiri ("literalist"), Mujassimite (anthropotheist), schools for their over-emphasis on taqlid (imitation) in his Istihsan al‑Khaud:[39] But instead, Imam Al-Ash'ari affirmed the ambiguous verses in the Qur'an (such as those about the hand and eye's) without a "how" (modality) and without a meaning(meaning, he consigned the meaning to Allah(God)), which is called Tafweed. He also allowed another orthodox way of dealing with the ambiguous verses in the Qur'an called Ta'wil (interpretation based on the arabic language and revelation)..
A section of the people (i.e., the Zahirites and others) made capital out of their own ignorance; discussions and rational thinking about matters of faith became a heavy burden for them, and, therefore, they became inclined to blind faith and blind following (taqlid). They condemned those who tried to rationalize the principles of religion as 'innovators'. They considered discussion about motion, rest, body, accident, colour, space, atom, the leaping of atoms, and Attributes of God, to be an innovation and a sin. They said that had such discussions been the right thing, the Prophet and his Companions would have definitely done so; they further pointed out that the Prophet, before his death, discussed and fully explained all those matters which were necessary from the religious point of view, leaving none of them to be discussed by his followers; and since he did not discuss the problems mentioned above, it was evident that to discuss them must be regarded as an innovation.
Ashʿarism became the main school of early Islamic philosophy whereby it was initially based on the foundations laid down by al-Ashʿarī, who founded the Ashʿarite school in the 10th century based on the methodology taught to him by the Kullabi movement that used rational argumentation to defend Sunni creed. However, the Ashʿarite school underwent many developments throughout history, resulting in the term Ashʿarī being extremely broad in its modern usage (e.g., differences between Ibn Furak (d. AH 406) and al-Bayhaqi (d. AH 384)).[40][41]
For example, the Ashʿarite view was that comprehension of the unique nature and characteristicsofGod were beyond human capability. The solution proposed by al-Ashʿarī to solve the problems of tashbih and ta'til concedes that the Supreme Being possesses in a real sense the divine attributes and names mentioned in the Quran. In so far as these names and attributes have a positive reality, they are distinct from the essence, but nevertheless they don't have either existence or reality apart from it.
The inspiration of al-Ashʿarī in this matter was on the one hand to distinguish essence and attribute as concepts, and on the other hand to see that the duality between essence and attribute should be situated not on the quantitative but on the qualitative level—something which Muʿtazilite thinking had failed to grasp.[42] Ashʿarite theologians were referred to as the muthbita ("those who make firm") by the Muʿtazilites.[43]
Good is what God commands – as revealed in the Quran and the ḥadīth — and is by definition just; evil is what God forbids and is likewise unjust.[46] Right and wrong are in no way determined intuitively or naturally, they are not objective realities.[47] (Divine command theory)
Because of Divine omnipotence, there are no "natural laws" (of things like thermodynamics or gravity), because such laws would put limitations on His actions. There are, however, Divine "customs", whereby "certain so-called 'effects'" usually follow certain "causes" in the natural world.[48]
Also because of Divine power, all human acts—even the decision to raise a finger—are created by God. This had caused controversy earlier in Islamic history because human acts are what humans are judged for when being sent to heaven (jannah) or hell (jahannam). Ashʿaris reconciled the doctrines of free will, justice, and divine omnipotence, with their own doctrine of kasb ("acquisition"), by which human beings "'acquire' responsibility for their actions,[49] although these "actions are willed and created by God".[48] Humans still possess free will (or, more accurately, freedom of intention) under this doctrine, although their freedom is limited to the power to decide between the given possibilities God has created.[28] (This doctrine is now known in Western philosophyasoccasionalism.)
The Quran is the uncreated word of God, that is, it was not created by God, but like God has always been. It can also be said to be created when it takes on a form in letters or sound.[49]
The unique nature and attributes of God cannot be understood fully by human reason and the physical senses.[46]
Reason is God-given and must be employed over the source of knowledge.[28][clarification needed]
Intellectual inquiry is decreed by the Quran and the Islamic prophetMuhammad, therefore the interpretation (tafsīr) of the Quran and the ḥadīth should keep developing with the aid of older interpretations.[50]
Only God knows the heart, who belongs to the faithful and who does not.[51]
God has "absolute freedom" to "punish or reward as He wills",[48] and so may forgive the sins of those in Hell.[52]
Support of kalām (rationalistic Islamic theology).
That Satan tempts man, contrarily to the Mu'tazila and Jahmiyya (the mention of the latter two branches only appears in Ibana).[55]
Paradise and hell.
That prayers for dead Muslims and almsgiving reach them.[56]
During sleep, visions can be seen and they have an interpretation ("interpretation" only found in Ibana).[57]
The existence of sorcerers and that magic is a reality in the world.[58]
That jinn are real and able to physically possess people, although not mentioned in the works above, many Ash'arites consider this as part of the aqida.[59]
It is said that in the early period, Ash'arites followed a method that combined reason and revelation.[60] This is in contrast to the assertation by some Ash'arites that those who believe without thinking (mukallid) cannot be true believers.[61] This view indicates that believing in religion without using reason and thought is considered invalid according to them.
The later period some Ash'arites prioritized reason and relegated revelation to a secondary position, stating that revelation could never contradict reason.[62] Examples of these include al-Juwayni, al-Ghazali, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, and Qadi Baydawi. The majority of the Ash'arites went further, stating that only reason provides certain knowledge, while revelation is merely a matter of conjecture and cannot provide knowledge or certainty.[63] Because of these views, they were criticized by the Salafis.[64]
Contrary to this, some within the school, such as al-Taftazani, have sometimes stated that revelation also represents knowledge, while Ibn al-Tilimsanī criticized al-Razī, asking what grounds legal rulings if all revelation were mere conjecture, stating that revelation cannot entirely be based on conjecture.[65]
Sa'id Foudah, a leading contemporary Ashʿarī scholar of kalām (Islamic systematic theology).
Nicholas Heer writes that later Ashʿarite theologians "increasingly attempted to rationalize Islamic doctrine" from about the 12th century onwards. Theologians such as al-Taftāzānī[66] and al-Jurjānī [67] argued that the Islamic sacred scriptures (the Quran and the ḥadīth) "must be proven to be true by rational arguments" before being "accepted as the basis of the religion". Educated Muslims "must be convinced on the basis of rational arguments".[68] A series of rational proofs were developed by these Ashʿarite theologians, including proofs for "the following doctrines or propositions":
The universe is originated;
The universe has an originator or creator;
The creator of the universe is knowing, powerful and willing;
Prophecy is possible;
Miracles are possible;
Miracles indicate the truthfulness of one who claims to be a prophet;
Muhammad claimed to be a prophet and performed miracles.[68]
The medieval Muslim scholar Ibn Taymiyyah criticised the Ashʿarī theology as (in the words of one historian, Jonathan A. C. Brown) "a Greek solution to Greek problems" that should "never" have concerned Muslims.[69] Both Ibn Taymiyyah and Shah Waliullah Dehlawi rejected the lack of literalism in Ashʿarī "speculative theology" and advocated "literal acceptance of God's description of Himself".[70]
In contrast, German orientalist scholar Eduard Sachau affirms that the Ashʿarī theology and its biggest defender, al-Ghazali, was too literal and responsible for the decline of Islamic science starting in the 10th century. Sachau stated that the two clerics were the only obstacle to the Muslim world becoming a nation of "Galileos, Keplers, and Newtons".[71]
^Gyekye, Kwame. "Theology and Law in Islam." (1976): 304-306.
^Fah̲rī, Mağīd. Ethical theories in Islam. Vol. 8. Brill, 1991.
^Hashas, Mohammed. "Is European Islam Experiencing an Ontological Revolution for an Epistemological Awakening?." American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 31: 4 (2014): 14.
^Hamad al-Sanan, Fawziy al-'Anjariy, Ahl al-Sunnah al-Asha'irah, pp.248-258. Dar al-Diya'.
^"The Myth of Intellectual Decline: A Response to Shaykh Hamza Yusuf". 27 November 2017. Ibn Khaldun on Philosophy: After clarifying what was meant precisely by philosophy in the Islamic tradition, namely the various schools of peripatetic philosophy represented either by Ibn Rushd or Ibn Sina, it should be clear why Ibn Khaldun was opposed to them. His critique of philosophy is an Ash'ari critique, completely in line with the Ash'aris before him, including Ghazali and Fakhr al-din al-Razi, both of whom Ibn Khaldun recommends for those who wish to learn how to refute the philosophers
^Pakatchi, Ahmad (2015). "Ashʿarīs: the dissemination of Ashʿarī theology". In Madelung, Wilferd; Daftary, Farhad (eds.). Encyclopaedia Islamica. Translated by Waley, Muhammad Isa. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. doi:10.1163/1875-9831_isla_COM_0301. ISSN1875-9823.
^John L. Esposito, The Islamic World: Abbasid-Historian, p 54. ISBN0195165209
^I.M.N. Al-Jubouri, History of Islamic Philosophy: With View of Greek Philosophy and Early History of Islam, p 182. ISBN0755210115
^Marshall Cavendish Reference, Illustrated Dictionary of the Muslim World, p 87. ISBN0761479295
