Editing Ash'arism (section)

== History ==
[[File:Tunis mosque 1899.jpg|thumb|right|240px|[[Al-Zaytuna Mosque]] in [[Tunis]], one of the most important centers of [[Education in Islam|Islamic learning]] that contributed to the dissemination of Ashʿarī thought in the [[Maghreb]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Pakatchi |author-first=Ahmad |year=2015 |title=Ashʿarīs: the dissemination of Ashʿarī theology |translator-last=Waley |translator-first=Muhammad Isa |editor1-last=Madelung |editor1-first=Wilferd |editor2-last=Daftary |editor2-first=Farhad |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Islamica |location=Leiden and Boston |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |doi=10.1163/1875-9831_isla_COM_0301 |issn=1875-9823}}</ref>]]

=== Founder ===
{{Ash'arism}}
[[Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari|Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī]] was born in [[Basra]],<ref name="John L. Esposito p 54">John L. Esposito, The Islamic World: Abbasid-Historian, p 54. {{ISBN|0195165209}}</ref> [[Iraq]], and was a descendant of [[Abu Musa al-Ashari|Abū Mūsa al-Ashʿarī]], which belonged to the first generation of [[Companions of the Prophet|Muhammad's closest companions]] (''ṣaḥāba'').<ref name="I.M.N. Al-Jubouri p 182">I.M.N. Al-Jubouri, History of Islamic Philosophy: With View of Greek Philosophy and Early History of Islam, p 182. {{ISBN|0755210115}}</ref> As a young man he studied under [[al-Jubba'i]], a renowned teacher of [[Muʿtazila|Muʿtazilite theology]] and [[Early Islamic philosophy|philosophy]].<ref>Marshall Cavendish Reference, Illustrated Dictionary of the Muslim World, p 87. {{ISBN|0761479295}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Allard |first=Michel |title=Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī, Muslim theologian |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abu-al-Hasan-al-Ashari#ref260804 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029094518/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abu-al-Hasan-al-Ashari#ref260804|archive-date=2020-10-29 |access-date=2021-04-01}}</ref> He was noted for his teachings on [[atomism]],<ref name=Hye>{{Cite web |url=http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/hmp/14.htm|author=M. Abdul Hye |title=Ash'arism |website=A History of Muslim Philosophy}}</ref> among the [[Early Islamic philosophy|earliest Islamic philosophies]], and for al-Ashʿarī this was the basis for propagating the view that [[God in Islam|God]] created every moment in [[time]] and every particle of [[matter]]. He nonetheless believed in [[Free will in theology|free will]] and predestination, elaborating the thoughts of Dirar ibn 'Amr and [[Abu Hanifa]] into a "dual agent" or "acquisition" (''iktisab'') account of free will.<ref>Watt, Montgomery. Free-Will and Predestination in Early Islam. Luzac & Co.: London 1948.</ref>{{page needed|date=April 2016}}

While Al-Ashʿarī opposed the views of the rival [[Muʿtazila|Muʿtazilite school]], he was also opposed to the view which [[Bi-la kaifa|rejected all debate]], held by certain schools such as the [[Zahiri]] ("literalist"), [[Mujassimite]] ([[Anthropotheism|anthropotheist]]), schools for their over-emphasis on ''[[taqlid]]'' (imitation) in his ''Istihsan al‑Khaud'':<ref name=Hye/> But instead, Imam Al-Ash'ari affirmed the ambiguous verses in the Qur'an (such as those about the hand and eyes) without a "how" (modality) and without a meaning (meaning, he consigned the meaning to God), a practice known as ''[[tafwid]]''. 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). 

{{Blockquote|A section of the people (i.e., the Zahirites and others) made capital out of their own ignorance; [[Debate|discussions]] and [[Rationality|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 '[[Bid‘ah|innovators]]'. They considered discussion about [[Motion (physics)|motion]], [[Rest (physics)|rest]], [[Physical body|body]], [[accident]], [[Color|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 [[Muhammad|Prophet]] and his [[Sahaba|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.}}

=== Development ===
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 [[Ibn Kullab|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)).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Imam Bayhaqi |url=http://www.sunnah.org/history/Scholars/imam_bayhaqi.htm |access-date=2013-02-13|archive-date=2018-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180603114834/http://www.sunnah.org/history/Scholars/imam_bayhaqi.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shafiifiqh.com/imam-abu-bakr-al-bayhaqi/ |title=Imam Abu Bakr Al-Bayhaqi &#124; Shafii Fiqh.com &#124; Shafii Institute |access-date=2013-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130216162405/http://www.shafiifiqh.com/imam-abu-bakr-al-bayhaqi/ |archive-date=2013-02-16}}</ref>

For example, the Ashʿarite view was that comprehension of the [[Attributes of God in Islam|unique nature and characteristics]] of [[God in Islam|God]] 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 of God in Islam|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 [[Muʿtazila|Muʿtazilite thinking]] had failed to grasp.{{sfn|Corbin|1993|pp=115 & 116|ps=.}} Ashʿarite theologians were referred to as the ''muthbita'' ("those who make firm") by the Muʿtazilites.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fatawa – Who are the Ash'arites?|url=https://www.dar-alifta.org/foreign/ViewFatwa.aspx?ID=8001|access-date=2020-10-14|website=Dar al-Ifta al Misriyyah}}</ref>