Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (; full name: ''Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq al-Ashʿarī''; c. 874–936
CE/260–324
AH), often reverently referred to as Imām al-Ashʿarī by
Sunnī Muslims, was an
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
Muslim scholar of
Maliki
The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
,
scriptural exegete,
reformer (''mujaddid''), and
scholastic theologian (''mutakallim''), renowned for being the eponymous founder of the
Ashʿarite school of
Islamic theology
Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding '' ʿaqīdah'' (creed). The main schools of Islamic Theology include the Qadariyah, Falasifa, Jahmiyya, Murji'ah, Muʿtazila, Batin ...
.
Al-Ashʿarī was notable for taking an intermediary position between the two diametrically opposed
schools of Islamic theology
Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding '' ʿaqīdah'' (creed). The main schools of Islamic Theology include the Qadariyah, Falasifa, Jahmiyya, Murji'ah, Muʿtazila, Bat ...
prevalent at the time:
Aṯharī and
Muʿtazila.
He primarily opposed the
Muʿtazilite theologians, who advocated the use of
rationalism
In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy ...
in theological debate and believed that
the Quran was created (''makhlūq''), as opposed to it being uncreated.
On the other hand, the
Ḥanbalites and ''
Muḥaddithīn'' exclusively relied upon the strict adherence to literalism and the outward (''
ẓāhir'') meaning of expressions in the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
and
''ḥadīth'' literature, were opposed to the use of
philosophy or ''
kalām
''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...
'' (dialectical theology), and condemned any theological debate altogether.
Al-Ashʿarī established a middle way between the doctrines of the aforementioned schools, based both on reliance on the
sacred scriptures of Islam and theological rationalism concerning the
agency and
attributes of God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
.
The
Ashʿarite school of Islamic theology eventually became the predominant school of theological thought within Sunnī Islam.
[Abdullah Saeed ''Islamic Thought: An Introduction'' Routledge 2006 chapter 5] By contrast,
Shīʿa Muslim scholars don't accept his theological beliefs, as al-Ashʿarī's works also involved refuting
Shīʿīsm. Al-Ashʿarī wrote more than 90 works during his lifetime, many of which have survived to the present day.
Biography
Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī was born in
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...
,
[John L. Esposito, The Islamic World: Abbasid-Historian, p 54. ] Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
, and was a descendant of
Abū Mūsa al-Ashʿarī, which belonged to the first generation of
Muhammad's closest companions (''ṣaḥāba'').
[I.M.N. Al-Jubouri, History of Islamic Philosophy: With View of Greek Philosophy and Early History of Islam, p 182. ] As a young man he studied under
al-Jubba'i
Abū 'Alī Muḥammad al-Jubbā'ī ( ar, أبو على محمد الجبائي; died c. 915) was an Arab Mu'tazili influenced theologian and philosopher of the 10th century. Born in Khuzistan, he studied in Basra where he trained Abu al-Hasan al ...
, a renowned teacher of
Muʿtazilite theology and
philosophy.
According to the traditional account, al-Ashʿarī remained a Muʿtazilite theologian until his 40th year, when he allegedly saw the
Islamic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
in his dreams three times during the month of
Ramaḍān. The first time, Muhammad told him to support what was narrated from himself, that is, the
prophetic traditions (''ḥadīth'').
Al-Ashʿarī became worried, as he had numerous strong proofs contradictory to the prophetic traditions. After 10 days, he saw Muhammad again: Muhammad reiterated that he should support the ''ḥadīth''.
Subsequently, al-Ashʿarī forsook ''
kalām
''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...
'' (dialectical theology) and started following the ''ḥadīth'' alone. On the 27th night of Ramaḍān, he saw Muhammad for the last time. Muhammad told him that he had not commanded him to forsake ''kalām'', but only to support the traditions narrated from himself. Thereupon, al-Ashʿarī started to advocate in favor of the
authority of the ''ḥadīth'' reports, finding proofs for these that he said he had not read in any books.
After this experience, he left the Muʿtazilite school and became one of its most distinguished opponents, using the
philosophical methods he had learned from them in order to refute their theological doctrine.
Then, al-Ashʿarī spent the remaining years of his life engaged in developing his views and in composing polemics and arguments against his former Muʿtazilite colleagues. Al-Ashʿarī wrote more than 90 works during his lifetime, many of which have survived to the present day.
Views
After leaving the
Muʿtazila school, and joining the side of
traditionalist theologians al-Ash'ari formulated the theology of
Sunni Islam through
Kalam
''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...
, following in the footsteps of
Ibn Kullab
Ibn Kullab () (d. ca. 241/855) was an early Sunni theologian (mutakallim) in Basra and Baghdad in the first half of the 9th century during the time of the Mihna and belonged, according to Ibn al-Nadim, to the traditionalist group of the Nawabit. ...
a century earlier. He was followed in this by a large number of distinguished scholars of Sunni Islam, many of whom belonged to the
Shafi'i
The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...
school of law.
The most famous of these are Abul-Hassan Al-Bahili,
Abu Bakr Al-Baqillani
Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn aṭ-Ṭayyib al-Bāqillānī ( ar, أبو بكر محمد بن الطيب الباقلاني; c. 950 - 5 June 1013), often known as al-Bāqillānī for short, or reverentially as Imām al-Bāqillānī by adherents to the ...
,
Al-Juwayni
Dhia' ul-Dīn 'Abd al-Malik ibn Yūsuf al-Juwaynī al-Shafi'ī ( fa, امام الحرمین ضیاءالدین عبدالملک ابن یوسف جوینی شافعی, 17 February 102820 August 1085; 419–478 AH) was a Persian Sunni Shafi'i j ...
,
Al-Razi Razi ( fa, رازی) or al-Razi ( ar, الرازی) is a name that was historically used to indicate a person coming from Ray, Iran.
People
It most commonly refers to:
* Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (865–925), influential physician, alchemist ...
and
Al-Ghazali
Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111; ), full name (), and known in Persian-speaking countries as Imam Muhammad-i Ghazali (Persian: امام محمد غزالی) or in Medieval Europe by the Latinized as Algazelus or Algazel, was a Persian poly ...
. Thus Al-Ash'ari's school became, together with the
Maturidi
Māturīdī theology or Māturīdism ( ar, الماتريدية: ''al-Māturīdiyyah'') is one of the main Sunnī schools of Islamic theology, founded by the Persian Muslim scholar, Ḥanafī jurist, reformer (''Mujaddid''), and scholastic ...
, the main schools reflecting the beliefs of the Sunnah.
In line with Sunni tradition, al-Ash'ari held the view that a Muslim should not be considered an unbeliever on account of a sin even if it were an enormity such as drinking wine or theft. This opposed the position held by the
Khawarij
The Kharijites (, singular ), also called al-Shurat (), were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the ...
.
[Jeffry R. Halverson, Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism, p 77. ]
Al-Ash'ari also believed it impermissible to violently oppose a leader even if he were openly disobedient to the commands of the sacred law.
Al-Ash'ari spent much of his works opposing the views of the
Muʿtazila school. In particular, he rebutted them for believing that the Qur'an was created and that deeds are done by people of their own accord.
He also rebutted the Muʿtazili school for denying that Allah can hear, see and has speech. Al-Ash’ari confirmed all these attributes stating that they differ from the hearing, seeing and speech of creatures, including man.
He was also noted for his teachings on
atomism
Atomism (from Greek , ''atomon'', i.e. "uncuttable, indivisible") is a natural philosophy proposing that the physical universe is composed of fundamental indivisible components known as atoms.
References to the concept of atomism and its atoms ...
. The Salafis argue that he had accepted the Salafi theology before his death.
Legacy
The 18th century Islamic scholar
Shah Waliullah
Quṭb-ud-Dīn Aḥmad Walīullāh Ibn ʿAbd-ur-Raḥīm Ibn Wajīh-ud-Dīn Ibn Muʿaẓẓam Ibn Manṣūr Al-ʿUmarī Ad-Dehlawī ( ar, ; 1703–1762), commonly known as Shāh Walīullāh Dehlawī (also Shah Wali Allah), was an Islamic ...
stated:
:A
Mujadid
A ''mujaddid'' ( ar, مجدد), is an Islamic term for one who brings "renewal" ( ar, تجديد, translit=tajdid, label=none) to the religion. According to the popular Muslim tradition, it refers to a person who appears at the turn of every ...
appears at the end of every century: The
Mujadid
A ''mujaddid'' ( ar, مجدد), is an Islamic term for one who brings "renewal" ( ar, تجديد, translit=tajdid, label=none) to the religion. According to the popular Muslim tradition, it refers to a person who appears at the turn of every ...
of the first century was
Imam of Ahlul Sunnah,
Umar bin Abdul Aziz. The Mujadid of the second century was Imam of Ahlul Sunnah
Muhammad Idrees Shaafi. The Mujadid of the third century was the Imam of Ahlul Sunnah, Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari. The Mujadid of the fourth century was
Abu Abdullah Hakim Nishapuri.
Earlier major scholars also held positive views of al-Ash'ari and his efforts, among them
Qadi Iyad
ʿIyāḍ ibn Mūsā (1083–1149) ( ar, القاضي عياض بن موسى, formally Abū al-Faḍl ʿIyāḍ ibn Mūsā ibn ʿIyāḍ ibn ʿAmr ibn Mūsā ibn ʿIyāḍ ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Mūsā ibn ʿIyāḍ al-Yaḥṣubī ...
and
Taj al-Din al-Subki
Abū Naṣr Tāj al-Dīn ʻAbd al-Wahhāb ibn ʿAlī ibn ʻAbd al-Kāfī al-Subkī (), or Tāj al-Dīn al-Subkī ()or simply Ibn al-Subki was a leading Islamic scholar, a faqīh, a muḥaddith and a historian from the celebrated al-Subkī family ...
.
According to scholar
Jonathan A.C. Brown, although "the Ash'ari school of theology is often called the Sunni 'orthodoxy,' "the original ahl al-hadith, early Sunni creed from which Ash'arism evolved has continued to thrive alongside it as a rival Sunni 'orthodoxy' as well." According to Brown this competing orthodoxy exists in the form of the "
Hanbali
The Hanbali school ( ar, ٱلْمَذْهَب ٱلْحَنۢبَلِي, al-maḏhab al-ḥanbalī) is one of the four major traditional Sunni schools (''madhahib'') of Islamic jurisprudence. It is named after the Arab scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal ...
über-Sunni orthodoxy".
Works
The Ashari scholar
Ibn Furak
Ibn Furak or Ibn Faurak ( ar, ابن فورك;
c. 941–c. 1015 CE / 330–406 AH) was a Muslim Imam, a theologian of Ash'arite school, a specialist of Arabic language, grammar and poetry, an orator, a jurist, and a hadith scholar from the ...
numbers Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari's works at 300, and the biographer
Ibn Khallikan
Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin Ibrāhīm bin Abū Bakr ibn Khallikān) ( ar, أحمد بن محمد بن إبراهيم بن أبي بكر ابن خلكان; 1211 – 1282), better known as Ibn Khallikān, was a 13th century Shafi'i Islamic scholar w ...
at 55; Ibn Asāker gives the titles of 93 of them, but only a handful of these works, in the fields of heresiography and theology, have survived. The three main ones are:
*''Maqalat al-Islamiyyin wa Ikhtilfa al-Musallin'' ("The Discourses of the Proponents of Islam and the Differences Among the Worshippers"), an encyclopaedia of deviated Islamic sects.
[ed. H. Ritter, Istanbul, 1929-30] It comprises not only an account of the Islamic sects but also an examination of problems in ''kalām'', or scholastic theology, and the Names and Attributes of
Allah; the greater part of this works seems to have been completed before his conversion from the Muʿtaziltes.
*''Al-Luma`''
#''Al-Luma` fi-r-Radd `ala Ahl al-Zaygh wa al-Bida`'' ("The Sparks: A Refutation of Heretics and Innovators"), a slim volume.
#''Al-Luma` al-Kabir ("The Major Book of Sparks")'', a preliminary to Idah al-Burhan and, together with the Luma` al-Saghir, the last work composed by al-Ash`ari according to Shaykh `Isa al-Humyari.
#''Al-Luma` as-Saghir ("The Minor Book of Sparks")'', a preliminary to al-Luma` al-Kabir.
[ed. and tr. R.C. McCarthy, Beirut, 1953]
*''Kitāb al-ibāna 'an usūl al-diyāna'',
[tr. W.C. Klein, New Haven, 1940] though the authenticity of this book has been disputed by several scholars.
[Jackson, Sherman A. “Ibn Taymiyyah on Trial in Damascus.” Journal of Semitic Studies 39 (Spring 1994): 41–85.]
See also
*
Ash'ari
Ashʿarī theology or Ashʿarism (; ar, الأشعرية: ) is one of the main Sunnī schools of Islamic theology, founded by the Muslim scholar, Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer, and scholastic theologian Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī in t ...
*
Abu Musa al-Ash'ari
Abu Musa Abd Allah ibn Qays al-Ash'ari ( ar, أبو موسى عبد الله بن قيس الأشعري, Abū Mūsā ʿAbd Allāh ibn Qays al-Ashʿarī), better known as Abu Musa al-Ash'ari ( ar, أبو موسى الأشعري, Abū Mūsā al-Ash ...
*
Ibn Kullab
Ibn Kullab () (d. ca. 241/855) was an early Sunni theologian (mutakallim) in Basra and Baghdad in the first half of the 9th century during the time of the Mihna and belonged, according to Ibn al-Nadim, to the traditionalist group of the Nawabit. ...
*
Al-Tahawi
Abu Ja'far Ahmad al-Tahawi ( ar, أبو جعفر الطحاوي, translit=Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī) (843 – 5 November 933), or simply aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī (Arabic: ), was an Egyptian Arab Hanafi jurist and Athari theologian. He stud ...
*
Abu Mansur al-Maturidi
Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Maḥmūd al-Ḥanafī al-Māturīdī al-Samarḳandī ( fa, أبو منصور محمد بن محمد بن محمود الماتریدي السمرقندي الحنفي; 853–944 CE), often referred t ...
*
Abu al-Mu'in al-Nasafi
Abu al-Mu'in al-Nasafi ( uz, Абул-Муин ан-Насафи; ar, أبو المعين النسفي), was considered to be the most important Central Asian Hanafi theologian in the Maturidite school of Sunni Islam after Imam Abu Mansur ...
*
List of Ash'aris and Maturidis
The list of Ash'aris and Maturidis includes prominent adherents of the Ash'ari and Maturidi schools of thought. The Ash'aris are a doctrinal school of thought named after Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, and the Maturidi school is named for Abu Mans ...
*
List of Muslim theologians
This is a list of notable Muslim theologians.
Traditional Theologians and Philosophers Ash'aris and Maturidis
* Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari
* Abu Mansur al-Maturidi
* Abu al-Yusr al-Bazdawi
* Abu al-Mu'in al-Nasafi
* Shahab_al-Din_Abu_Hafs_Um ...
*
List of Muslim comparative religionists
*
2016 international conference on Sunni Islam in Grozny
The 2016 conference on Sunni Islam in Grozny was convened to define the term "Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah", i.e. who are "the people of Sunnah and majority Muslim community", and oppose Takfiri groups. The conference was held in the Chechen Republ ...
Early Islam scholars
References
External links
Imam Abu‘l-Hasan al-Ash‘ari by Shaykh Gibril HaddadImam Ash’ari Repudiating Asha’rism? by Shaykh Nuh Keller
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Al-Ashari, Abu Al-Hasan
870s births
936 deaths
9th-century Arabs
9th-century Muslim theologians
10th-century Arabs
10th-century Muslim theologians
Arab Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Asharis
Atomists
Hadith scholars
Kullabis
Maliki fiqh scholars
Mujaddid
Muslim scholars of Islamic jurisprudence
Mu'tazilites
People from Basra
Quranic exegesis scholars
Salaf
Scholars from the Abbasid Caliphate
Sunni imams
Sunni Muslim scholars
Shafi'i fiqh scholars
Shaykh al-Islāms