Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari

Abū al-Hasan Alī ibn Ismā'īl al-Ash'arī (874 – 936) ( ) was a Muslim Arab theologian and the founder of the Ash'ari school of early Islamic philosophy and Islamic theology .

Abū al-Hasan Alī ibn Ismā'īl al-Ash'arī (874–936) ( ) was a Shafi'i scholar and theologian who founded the school of tenets of faith that bears his name ( Ash'ari ). ed.

Al-Ashʿarī ( الأشعري ; full name: Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq al-Ashʿarī ; c. 874–936 ( AH 260–324), reverentially Imām al-Ashʿarī ) was an Arab Sunni Muslim scholastic theologian and eponymous founder of Ashʿarism or Asharite theology, which would go on to become "the most important theological school in Sunni Islam". According to scholar Jonathan A.C. Brown , although "the Ash'ari school of theology is often called the Sunni Sufi 'orthodoxy,'" "the original ahl al-hadith, early Sufi 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 über-Sunni orthodoxy". Al-Ashʿarī was notable for taking an intermediary position between the two diametrically opposed schools of theological thought prevalent at the time. He opposed both the Muʿtazilites , who advocated the extreme use of reason in theological debate and believed the Quran was created, as opposed to uncreated. Ashari refuted this by stating "if the Quran was created then that implied God created this knowledge, and thus did not have knowledge of the Quran before this, and this contradicts God's omnipotence as he is all knowing, and therefore must have always had knowledge of the Quran". The Zahirites , Mujassimites and Muhaddithin , were also opposed to the use of philosophy or kalam , and condemned any theological debate altogether. Al-Ashʿari's school eventually won "wide acceptance within some sects of Sunni Islam. However Shiaism do not accept his beliefs, as Ashari's works involved refuting shiaism and the mutazila, which was the doctrine held by shiaism. His original versions of his text were not survived. Due to his efforts, Al-Ashʿarī came to be revered by sects of Sunni Sufi Muslims for having successfully "integrated the rationalist methodology of the speculative theologians into the framework of Sufi orthodox Islam." Anvari, Mohammad Javad and Koushki, Matthew Melvin, “al-Ashʿarī”, in: Encyclopaedia Islamica , Editors-in-Chief: Wilferd Madelung and, Farhad Daftary. The Canonization of al‐Bukhārī and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunnī Ḥadīth Canon . Leiden and Boston: Brill. pp.

Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī ( الأشعري ; 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 a Muslim scholar of Shafi jurisprudence , scriptural exegete , reformer ( mujaddid ), and scholastic theologian ( mutakallim ), renowned for being the eponymous founder of the Ashʿarite school of Islamic theology . Al-Ashʿarī was notable for taking an intermediary position between the two diametrically opposed schools of Islamic theology prevalent at the time: Aṯharī and Muʿtazila . He primarily opposed the Muʿtazilite theologians , who advocated the use of rationalism 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 and ḥadīth literature , were opposed to the use of philosophy or kalām (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 . The Ashʿarite school of Islamic theology eventually became the predominant school of theological thought within Sunnī Islam. 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, little of which have survived to the present day. In Frank, Richard M.; Gutas, Dimitri (eds.). Early Islamic Theology: The Muʿtazilites and al-Ashʿarī – Texts and Studies on the Development and History of Kalām, Vol. In Madelung, Wilferd; Daftary, Farhad (eds.). "Part I: Islamic Theologies during the Formative and the Early Middle period – Between Cordoba and Nīsābūr: The Emergence and Consolidation of Ashʿarism (Fourth–Fifth/Tenth–Eleventh Century)" . In Schmidtke, Sabine (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology . "Early Mamlūk Ashʿarism against Ibn Taymiyya on the Nonliteral Reinterpretation ( taʾwīl ) of God's Attributes" . In Shihadeh, Ayman; Thiele, Jan (eds.). Journal of the American Oriental Society . 109 (1).

Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari ( Arabic : أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن ٱلْأَشْعَرِيّ , romanized : Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī ; 874–936 CE) was an Arab Muslim theologian known for being the eponymous founder of the Ash'ari school of kalam in Sunnism . Al-Ash'ari was notable for taking an intermediary position between the two diametrically opposed schools of Islamic theology prevalent at the time: Atharism and Mu'tazilism . He primarily opposed the Mu'tazili theologians on God's eternal attributes and Quranic createdness . On the other hand, the Hanbalis and traditionists were opposed to the use of philosophy or speculative theology , and condemned any theological debate altogether. Al-Ash'ari established a middle way between the doctrines of the aforementioned schools, based both on theological rationalism ( kalam ) and the interpretation of the Quran and Sunna . His school eventually became the predominant school of theological thought within Sunni Islam. By contrast, Shia Muslims do not accept his theological beliefs, as his works also involved refuting Shia Islam. In Frank, Richard M.; Gutas, Dimitri (eds.). Early Islamic Theology: The Muʿtazilites and al-Ashʿarī – Texts and Studies on the Development and History of Kalām, Vol. LCCN 2006935669 . : CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of March 2025 ( link ) Javad Anvari, Mohammad (2015). In Madelung, Wilferd; Daftary, Farhad (eds.). "Part I: Islamic Theologies during the Formative and the Early Middle period – Between Cordoba and Nīsābūr: The Emergence and Consolidation of Ashʿarism (Fourth–Fifth/Tenth–Eleventh Century)" . In Schmidtke, Sabine (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology . "Early Mamlūk Ashʿarism against Ibn Taymiyya on the Nonliteral Reinterpretation ( taʾwīl ) of God's Attributes" . In Shihadeh, Ayman; Thiele, Jan (eds.). Journal of the American Oriental Society . 109 (1).