Abu Mansur al-Maturidi, who was a leading theologian and jurist of his time in Transoxiana (Ma Wara' al-Nahr) in Central Asia, was the founder of the Māturīdiyya theological school. This was one of the two principal Sunni schools of Islamic theology (kalam).[1] Māturīdi based his theological opinions and epistemological perspectives on the teachings of the school's eponymous founder, Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān (8th century CE).[2] Therefore, unlike Ash'arism, Māturīdite theology has generally remained associated exclusively with only one Sunni school of law (madhhab), that Hanafites.[3]
According to Māturīdism, belief (ʾīmān) does neither increase nor decrease depending on observation of religious law. Instead, deeds follow from faith. Based on Surah Ṭā Hā (verse 112), if a Muslim does not perform the deeds prescribed by the Islamic law (sharīʿa), he is not considered an apostate as long as he doesn't deny his obligations.[4]
Māturīdism holds that humans are creatures endowed with reason, which differentiates them from animals. The relationship between people and God differs from that of nature and God; humans are endowed with free-will, but due to God's sovereignty, God creates the acts the humans choose, so humans can perform them. Ethics can be understood just by rational thought and don't need prophetic guidance. Al-Māturīdī also considered the ḥadīth to be unreliable when they are at odds with reason.[5] Because of that, Māturīdism has been associated with rationalistic theology.[6]
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
