Ashari
(Sunni)
Ash'ariyyah Theology, Ashariyyah, Ashari
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Doctrines
Ash'ariyyah theology
represents a reaction against the extreme rationalism of the Mu'tazilah.
It holds that human reason should fall under the authority of divine
revelation. Human reason is incapable of discerning good and evil; the
goodness or evil of a particular action depends upon God's declaring it
to be so. Humanity can only acquire religious truths through revelation.
A second aspect of Ash'ariyyah theology concerned the nature of the
divine attributes. Contrary to the Mu'tazilites, who understood Qur'anic
references to God's physical attributes metaphorically, Ash'ari theology
argued for the veracity of these attributes while rejecting all crudely
anthropomorphic conceptions of God.
Thirdly, contrary to Mu'tazilah theology, Ash'ariyyah taught that the
Qur'an was eternal and, therefore, uncreated. Human actions, however, are
entirely dependent upon God's providing the means and power to act. This
teaching had the purpose of preserving the doctrine of divine
omnipotence, but gradually led to the formation of a deterministic
outlook.
History
The systematization of
Sunni theology in the tenth century was done in reaction to the emergence
of heterodox schismatic groups in previous centuries, particularly
Mu'tazilah. The founder of Ash'ariyyah, Abu al-Hasan (873-935), was
formerly a Mu'tazilite. He wrote a number of important books which became
the foundation of Ash'arite theology such as the Kitab al-Ibanah (The Book
of Elucidations) and also an extensive work on the views of various
Islamic schools and sects called Maqalat al-Islamiyyin (Doctrines of the
Muslims).
Another major figure in the development of Ash'arite theology was the
Sufi theologian and jurist al-Ghazzali (1058-1111). Through al-Ghazzali
and other prominent theologians - such as Al-Baqillani (d.1013),
al-Baghdadi (d.1038), al-Djuwayni (d.1085) and al-Shahrastani (d.1153) -
Ashariyyah spread throughout the Sunni Islamic world. It is now dominant
in Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Northwest Africa, and has a strong presence in
Central Asia and Anatolia and to a lesser extent in India and Pakistan.
Along with the Maturidiyyah school of theology, Ashariyyah remains
the dominant source of theology in the Sunni world.
Symbols
As a school of theology,
Ash'ariyyah does not identify itself through the use of symbols.
Adherents
The majority of those
who follow the Malikite jurisprudential madhhab, which is comprised of 13%
of worldwide Sunni Muslims, and some 75% of those who follow the Shafi'ite
jurisprudential madhhab, which constitutes some 33% of worldwide Sunni
Muslims, and a very small proportion of those who follow the Hanafite and
Hanbalite jurisprudential madhhabs follow the Ash'arite school of
theology.
Headquarters / Main Centre
The school has no headquarters or main centre.
Bülent Şenay
Overview of World Religions Project
Asharis
Advanced Information
Unfortunately, we are not aware of any scholarly texts on this
subject which have yet been translated into English. We know
that a number of Arabic scholars have written wonderful texts
in Arabic, and look for the day when we will be able to add
higher quality texts to this presentation.
Also, see:
Islam, Muhammad
Koran, Qur'an
Pillars of Faith
Abraham
Testament of Abraham
Allah
Hadiths
Revelation - Hadiths from Book 1 of al-Bukhari
Belief - Hadiths from Book 2 of al-Bukhari
Knowledge - Hadiths from Book 3 of al-Bukhari
Times of the Prayers - Hadiths from Book 10 of al-Bukhari
Shortening the Prayers (At-Taqseer) - Hadiths from Book 20 of al-Bukhari
Pilgrimmage (Hajj) - Hadiths from Book 26 of al-Bukhari
Fighting for the Cause of Allah (Jihad) - Hadiths of Book 52 of al-Bukhari
ONENESS, UNIQUENESS OF ALLAH (TAWHEED) - Hadiths of Book 93 of al-Bukhari
Hanafiyyah School Theology (Sunni)
Malikiyyah School Theology (Sunni)
Shafi'iyyah School Theology (Sunni)
Hanbaliyyah School Theology (Sunni)
Maturidiyyah Theology (Sunni)
Ash'ariyyah Theology (Sunni)
Mutazilah Theology
Ja'fari Theology (Shia)
Nusayriyyah Theology (Shia)
Zaydiyyah Theology (Shia)
Kharijiyyah
Imams (Shia)
Druze
Qarmatiyyah (Shia)
Ahmadi
Ishmael, Ismail
Early Islamic History Outline
Hegira
Averroes
Avicenna
Machpela
Kaaba, Black Stone
Ramadan
Sunnites, Sunni
Shiites, Shia
Mecca
Medina
Sahih, al-Bukhari
Sufism
Wahhabism
Abu Bakr
Abbasids
Ayyubids
Umayyads
Fatima
Fatimids (Shia)
Ismailis (Shia)
Mamelukes
Saladin
Seljuks
Aisha
Ali
Lilith
Islamic Calendar
Interactive Muslim Calendar
The individual articles presented here were generally first published
in the early 1980s. This subject presentation was first placed
on the Internet in December 1997.
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