Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari

"al-Ash'ari" redirects here. For other uses, see Ash'ari (disambiguation).

Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari^[a] (Arabic: أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن ٱلْأَشْعَرِيّ, romanized: Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī; 874–936 CE) was a Sunni Muslim scholar, jurist of the Shafi'i school, exegete, reformer, and scholastic theologian known for being the eponymous founder of the Ash'ari school of Islamic theology.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Imam Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari
أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن ٱلْأَشْعَرِيّ
Title	Shaykh al-Islam ('Shaykh of Islam') Imam al-Mutakallimun ('Imam of the Scholastic Theologians') Imam Ahl al-Sunna wa-l-Jama'a ('Imam of the People of the Prophetic Way and Community')
Personal
Born	874 CE (260 AH) Basra, Abbasid Caliphate
Died	936 CE (324 AH; aged 62–63) Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate
Religion	Islam
Era	Islamic Golden Age (Abbasid era)
Region	Abbasid Caliphate
Denomination	Sunni
School	Shafi'i
Main interest(s)	Theology^[1] Speculative theology^[2]
Notable idea(s)	Ash'arism
Notable work(s)	Risala Istihsan al-Khawd fi Ilm al-Kalam Maqalat al-Islamiyyin wa-Ikhtilaf al-Musallin Al-Luma' fi al-Radd ala Ahl al-Zaygh wa-l-Bid'a
Arabic name
Personal (Ism)	ʿAlī عَلِيّ
Patronymic (Nasab)	Ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq ٱبْن إِسْمَاعِيل بْن إِسْحَاق
Teknonymic (Kunya)	Abū al-Ḥasan أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن
Toponymic (Nisba)	Al-Ashʿarī ٱلْأَشْعَرِيّ
Muslim leader
Influenced by Abu Hanifa Ibn Kullab al-Harith al-Muhasibi Abu al-Abbas al-Qalanisi
Influenced All Ash'aris

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.^[1][2][4] He primarily opposed the Mu'tazili theologians who advocated the use of rationalism in theological debate and believed the Quran was created, as opposed to uncreated.^[1][4] On the other hand, the Hanbalis and traditionists were opposed to the use of philosophy or speculative theology, and condemned any theological debate altogether.^[1][4][6]

Al-Ash'ari 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 free will and attributes of God.^[1][2][4][7] His school eventually became the predominant school of theological thought within Sunni Islam.^{[3][4][8][9][10]} By contrast, Shia Muslims do not accept his theological beliefs, as his works also involved refuting Shia Islam.

Biography

 

A depiction of Baghdad from 1808, taken from the print collection in Travels in Asia and Africa, etc. (ed. J. P. Berjew, British Library); al-Ashʿarī spent his entire life in this city in the tenth-century

Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī was born in Basra,^[11] Iraq, and was a descendant of Abū Mūsa al-Ashʿarī, who belonged to the first generation of Muhammad's closest companions (ṣaḥāba).^[12] As a young man he studied under al-Jubba'i, a renowned teacher of Muʿtazilite theology and philosophy.^[13][14]

According to the traditional account, al-Ashʿarī remained a Muʿtazilite theologian until his 40th year, when he allegedly saw the Islamic prophet Muhammad 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).^[15][16][17] 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.^[16][17] Subsequently, al-Ashʿarī forsook kalām (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.^[16][17]

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.^[11] 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, little of which have survived to the present day.^[1]

Views

After leaving the Muʿtazila school, and joining the side of traditionalist theologians^[18] al-Ash'ari formulated the theology of Sunni Islam through Kalam, following in the footsteps of Ibn Kullab a century earlier.^[19] He was followed in this by a large number of distinguished scholars of Sunni Islam, many of whom belonged to the Shafi'i school of law.^[20] The most famous of these are Abu al-Hasan al-Bahili [ar], al-Baqillani, al-Juwayni, al-Nawawi, al-Ghazali and al-Razi.^[21][22] Thus Al-Ash'ari's school became, together with the Maturidi, the main schools reflecting the beliefs of the Sunnah.^[20] He is also known to have directly taught the Sufi Ibn Khafif.

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.^[23] 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.^[23]

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.^[20] 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.^[20]

He was also noted for his teachings on atomism.^[24]

Legacy

The 18th century Islamic scholar Shah Waliullah stated:

A Mujadid appears at the end of every century: The Mujadid 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.^[25]

Earlier major scholars also held positive views of al-Ash'ari and his efforts, among them Qadi Iyad and Taj al-Din al-Subki.^[26]

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."^[27] According to Brown this competing orthodoxy exists in the form of the "Hanbali über-Sunni orthodoxy".^[28]

Works

The Ash'ari scholar Ibn Furak numbers Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari's works at 300, and the biographer Ibn Khallikan at 55;^[29] 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:

• Risalat Istihsan al-Khawd fi 'Ilm al-Kalam (Treatise on the Appropriateness of Inquiry in the Science of Kalam)
• Maqalat al-Islamiyyin wa Ikhtilaf al-Musallin (The Treatises/Teachings of the Muslims and the Differences of the Prayerful/Worshippers), an encyclopaedia of deviated Islamic sects.^[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'

1. Al-Luma' fi al-Radd 'ala Ahl al-Zaygh wa al-Bida' (The Gleams/Illuminations on the Refutation of the People of Deviation/Perversity and Heresies), a slim volume.
2. 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.
3. Al-Luma' al-Saghir (The Minor Book of Sparks), a preliminary to al-Luma' al-Kabir.^[31]

• Al-Ibana 'an Usul al-Diyana [ar] (The Elucidation of the Fundamentals of Religion),^[32] though the authenticity of this book has been disputed by several scholars.^{[33][34][35][36][37]}

See also

• Ash'ari
• Abu Musa al-Ash'ari
• Ibn Kullab
• Al-Tahawi
• Abu Mansur al-Maturidi
• Abu al-Mu'in al-Nasafi
• List of Ash'aris and Maturidis
• List of Muslim theologians
• List of Muslim comparative religionists
• 2016 international conference on Sunni Islam in Grozny

Early Islam scholars

v t e Early Islamic scholars

Muhammad, The final Messenger of God(570–632 the Constitution of Medina, taught the Quran, and advised his companions Abdullah ibn Masud (died 653) taught Ali (607–661) fourth caliph taught Aisha, Muhammad's wife and Abu Bakr's daughter taught Abd Allah ibn Abbas (618–687) taught Zayd ibn Thabit (610–660) taught Umar (579–644) second caliph taught Abu Hurairah (603–681) taught Alqama ibn Qays (died 681) taught Husayn ibn Ali (626–680) taught Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr (657–725) taught and raised by Aisha Urwah ibn Zubayr (died 713) taught by Aisha, he then taught Said ibn al-Musayyib (637–715) taught Abdullah ibn Umar (614–693) taught Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr (624–692) taught by Aisha, he then taught Ibrahim al-Nakha’i taught Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin (659–712) taught Hisham ibn Urwah (667–772) taught Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (died 741) taught Salim ibn Abd-Allah ibn Umar taught Umar ibn Abdul Aziz (682–720) raised and taught by Abdullah ibn Umar Hammad bin ibi Sulman taught Muhammad al-Baqir (676–733) taught Farwah bint al-Qasim Jafar's mother Abu Hanifa (699–767) wrote Al Fiqh Al Akbar and Kitab Al-Athar, jurisprudence followed by Sunni, Sunni Sufi, Barelvi, Deobandi, Zaidiyyah and originally by the Fatimid and taught Zayd ibn Ali (695–740) Ja'far bin Muhammad Al-Baqir (702–765) Muhammad and Ali's great great grand son, jurisprudence followed by Shia, he taught Malik ibn Anas (711–795) wrote Muwatta, jurisprudence from early Medina period now mostly followed by Sunni in Africa, Sunni Sufi and taught Al-Waqidi (748–822) wrote history books like Kitab al-Tarikh wa al-Maghazi, student of Malik ibn Anas Abu Muhammad Abdullah ibn Abdul Hakam (died 829) wrote biographies and history books, student of Malik ibn Anas Abu Yusuf (729–798) wrote Usul al-fiqh Muhammad al-Shaybani (749–805) al-Shafi‘i (767–820) wrote Al-Risala, jurisprudence followed by Sunni, Sunni sufi and taught Ismail ibn Ibrahim Ali ibn al-Madini (778–849) wrote The Book of Knowledge of the Companions Ibn Hisham (died 833) wrote early history and As-Sirah an-Nabawiyyah, Muhammad's biography Isma'il ibn Ja'far (719–775) Musa al-Kadhim (745–799) Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780–855) wrote Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal jurisprudence followed by Sunni, Sunni sufi and hadith books Muhammad al-Bukhari (810–870) wrote Sahih al-Bukhari hadith books Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (815–875) wrote Sahih Muslim hadith books Dawud al-Zahiri (815–883/4) founded the Zahiri school Muhammad ibn Isa at-Tirmidhi (824–892) wrote Jami` at-Tirmidhi hadith books Al-Baladhuri (died 892) wrote early history Futuh al-Buldan, Genealogies of the Nobles Ibn Majah (824–887) wrote Sunan ibn Majah hadith book Abu Dawood (817–889) wrote Sunan Abu Dawood Hadith Book Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni (864- 941) wrote Kitab al-Kafi hadith book followed by Twelver Shia Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (838–923) wrote History of the Prophets and Kings, Tafsir al-Tabari Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari (874–936) wrote Maqālāt al-islāmīyīn, Kitāb al-luma, Kitāb al-ibāna 'an usūl al-diyāna Ibn Babawayh (923–991) wrote Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih jurisprudence followed by Twelver Shia Sharif Razi (930–977) wrote Nahj al-Balagha followed by Twelver Shia Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201–1274) wrote jurisprudence books followed by Ismaili and Twelver Shia Al-Ghazali (1058–1111) wrote The Niche for Lights, The Incoherence of the Philosophers, The Alchemy of Happiness on Sufism Rumi (1207–1273) wrote Masnavi, Diwan-e Shams-e Tabrizi on Sufism Key: Some of Muhammad's Companions Key: Taught in Medina Key: Taught in Iraq Key: Worked in Syria Key: Travelled extensively collecting the sayings of Muhammad and compiled books of hadith Key: Worked in Persia

References

Notes

1. Full name Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq al-Ashʿarī (Arabic: أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن عَلِيّ بْن إِسْمَاعِيل بْن إِسْحَاق ٱلْأَشْعَرِيّ)

Citations

1. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (2006). "Part 3: Islamic Philosophy in History – Dimensions of the Islamic Intellectual Tradition: Kalām, Philosophy, and Spirituality". Islamic Philosophy from Its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the Land of Prophecy. Albany, New York: SUNY Press. pp. 124–126. ISBN 9780791468005. LCCN 2005023943.
2. Frank, Richard M. (2020) [2007]. "Al-Ashʿarī's conception of the nature and role of speculative reasoning in theology". 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. II (1st ed.). London and New York: Routledge. pp. 136–154. doi:10.4324/9781003110385_8. ISBN 9780860789789. LCCN 2006935669.
3. Javad Anvari, Mohammad (2015). "al-Ashʿarī". In Madelung, Wilferd; Daftary, Farhad (eds.). Encyclopaedia Islamica. Translated by Melvin-Koushki, Matthew. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. doi:10.1163/1875-9831_isla_COM_0300. ISSN 1875-9823.
4. Thiele, Jan (2016) [2014]. "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. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 225–241. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199696703.013.45. ISBN 9780199696703. LCCN 2016935488.
5. Hoover, John (2020). "Early Mamlūk Ashʿarism against Ibn Taymiyya on the Nonliteral Reinterpretation (taʾwīl) of God's Attributes". In Shihadeh, Ayman; Thiele, Jan (eds.). Philosophical Theology in Islam: Later Ashʿarism East and West. Islamicate Intellectual History. Vol. 5. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. pp. 195–230. doi:10.1163/9789004426610_009. ISBN 978-90-04-42661-0. ISSN 2212-8662. LCCN 2020008682.
6. Halverson, Jeffry R. (2010). "The Doctrines of Sunni Theology". Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 12–31. doi:10.1057/9780230106581_2. ISBN 978-0-230-10658-1. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
7. Frank, Richard M. (January–March 1989). "Knowledge and Taqlîd: The Foundations of Religious Belief in Classical Ashʿarism". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 109 (1). American Oriental Society: 37–62. doi:10.2307/604336. ISSN 0003-0279. LCCN 12032032.
8. Henderson, John B. (1998). "The Making of Orthodoxies". The Construction of Orthodoxy and Heresy: Neo-Confucian, Islamic, Jewish, and Early Christian Patterns. Albany, New York: SUNY Press. pp. 55–58. ISBN 978-0-7914-3760-5.
9. Abdullah Saeed Islamic Thought: An Introduction Routledge 2006 ISBN 978-1-134-22564-4 chapter 5
10. Juan Eduardo Campo Encyclopedia of Islam New York, NY 2009 ISBN 978-1-438-12696-8 page 66
11. John L. Esposito, The Islamic World: Abbasid-Historian, p 54. ISBN 0195165209
12. I.M.N. Al-Jubouri, History of Islamic Philosophy: With View of Greek Philosophy and Early History of Islam, p 182. ISBN 0755210115
13. Marshall Cavendish Reference, Illustrated Dictionary of the Muslim World, p 87. ISBN 0761479295
14. Allard, Michel. . Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
15. William Montgomery Watt, Islamic Philosophy and Theology, p 84. ISBN 0202362728
16. Shaykh Rami Al Rifai (11 September 2015). "Significance of the Ash'ari Aqeedah".
17. Ibn ‘Asakir. Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari fima Nusiba ila al-Imam Abu'l Hasan al- Ash'ari. pp. 51–52.
18. Anjum, Ovamir (2012). Politics, Law, and Community in Islamic Thought. Cambridge University Press. p. 108. ISBN 9781107014060. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
19. John L. Esposito, The Oxford History of Islam, p 280. ISBN 0199880417
20. "Scholar of renown: Abul-Hassan Al-Ash'ari". 21 May 2001.
21. Namira Nahouza (2018). Wahhabism and the Rise of the New Salafists: Theology, Power and Sunni Islam. I.B. Tauris. pp. 121–122.
22. Zhussipbek, Galym and Nagayeva, Zhanar. "Epistemological Reform and Embracement of Human Rights. What Can be Inferred from Islamic Rationalistic Maturidite Theology?" Open Theology, vol. 5, no. 1, 2019, pp. 352. https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2019-0030
23. Jeffry R. Halverson, Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism, p 77. ISBN 0230106587
24. Ash'ari - A History of Muslim Philosophy
25. Izalat al-Khafa, p. 77, part 7.
26. Fatwa No. 8001. Who are the Ash'arites? - Dar al-Ifta' al-Misriyyah
27. Brown, Jonathan A.C. (2009). Hadith: Muhammad's Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World. Oneworld Publications (Kindle edition). p. 180.
28. Brown, Jonathan (2007). The Canonization of al‐Bukhārī and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunnī Ḥadīth Canon. Leiden and Boston: Brill. p. 137. ISBN 9789004158399.
29. Beirut, III, p.286, tr. de Slaine, II, p.228
30. ed. H. Ritter, Istanbul, 1929-30
31. ed. and tr. R.C. McCarthy, Beirut, 1953
32. tr. W.C. Klein, New Haven, 1940
33. McCarthy, Richard J. (1953). The Theology of Al-Ashari. Imprimerie Catholique. p. 232.
34. Makdisi, George. 1962. Ash’ari and the Asharites and Islamic history I. Studia Islamica 17: 37–80
35. Ignaz Goldziher, Vorlesungen uber den Islam, 2nd ed. Franz Babinger (Heidelberg: C. Winter, 1925), 121;
36. Richard M. Frank, Early Islamic Theology: The Mu'tazilites and al-Ash'ari, Texts and studies on the development and history of kalām, vol. 2, pg. 172. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, 2007. ISBN 9780860789789
37. Jackson, Sherman A. “Ibn Taymiyyah on Trial in Damascus.” Journal of Semitic Studies 39 (Spring 1994): 41–85.

External links

• Imam Abu‘l-Hasan al-Ash‘ari by Shaykh Gibril Haddad
• Imam Ash’ari Repudiating Asha’rism? by Shaykh Nuh Keller

Further reading

• Thatcher, Griffithes Wheeler (1911). "Ash'arī" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). p. 729.