By Mufti Siraj Desai and Zameelur Rahman, Muslimvillage.com

Many of us are aware of the four Sunni schools (mazhabs or madhhabs) of Law: Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hanbali but few are familiar with the schools of Theology: the Asha’ari and Maturidi schools. So here is a reader on those.

With regards to Aqeeda there emerged two great figures during the third century hijri, viz Imam Abul-Hasan Ash’ari and Imam Abu Mansoor Matureedi. Most of the Ulema after them subscribe to one of the two Schools of Aqeeda espoused by these Scholars, viz the Ash’ari and the Matureedi Schools. The Hanafi scholars favoured the School of Matureedi, while Shaafi Scholars inclined towards the Ash’ari School of Aqeeda.

These two great Imams do not differ in the fundamental and basic beliefs of Quran and Sunnah. Instead their differences are confined to either academic definitions or to the secondary level of beliefs that spring from fundamentals. For example, they all believe and accept that Allah has unique and uncreated Attributes, and that these Attributes were with Allah since His existence, which is from forever. However, they will differ as to the definition of these attributes in an academic sense, or in how these attributes of Allah affect human beings.

It must be emphasized that these differences are not based on personal opinion, for aqeeda is never expounded and promoted in such a manner. Instead, the aqeeda that these great Imams expounded were based on Quran, Sunnah, and the fatwas of the Sahaaba and Ulema after them.  If any of them adopted a belief different to the other, it would be supported by the above sources of Islamic teaching.

On this basis you will understand that both Ash’ari and Matureedi belong to the Ahlus-Sunnah wal Jama’ah. The Ahlus-Sunnah wal Jama’ah is that group who follow in the footsteps of Rasoolullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) and his Sahaaba. The Matureedi and Ash’ari Schools of Aqeeda do not divert from the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and his Sahaaba. The hue and cry with regards to the Aqeedah of Matureedi and Ash’ari and the question of them not belonging to the Ahlus-Sunnah wal Jama’ah, only developed recently with certain ardent and biased followers of Ibni Taymiyyah, especially the Ulema of Saudi Arabia. Before then, for centuries. there has been total and absolute unanimity among all Scholars that the Ash’ari and Matureedi are of the Ahlus-Sunnah.

The founder of the Ash’aree school was Ali ibn Ismaeel ibn Abi Bishr al-Ash’aree al-Yamaani al-Basri. A descendent of the famous Companion Abu Musa al-Ash’aree. He passed away in the year 324 hijri.

The founder of the Maatureedi school of though was Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad, Abu Mansoor al-Maaturidi. He was born in maatureed, a district of Samarqand, in present day Uzbekistan. Aside from being one of the Imaams of the fundamentals of Deen, he was a prominent jurist of the Hanafi school, having studied under Nusayr ibn Yahya al-Balkhi and he was the author of numerous works in fiqh, usool, tafseer, and kalaam. he passed away in 333 hijri.

Is there a Hanbali School of Theology?

Imām Abū ‘Abdillāh Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ibn Hilāl (164 – 241 H) –rahimahullāh ta‘ālā –, the founder of the Hanbalī madhhab of fiqh, was a great imām of Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jamā‘ah. His madhhab is one of the four established schools of Islāmic jurisprudence. He was on the ‘aqīdah of Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jamā‘ah.

However, the “Hanbalī ‘aqīdah” that developed shortly after Imām Ahmad ibn Hanbalrahimahullāh ta‘ālā, attributing itself to the great imām, became contaminated by anthropomorphic beliefs (meaning, the belief that – na‘ūdhu billāh – Allāh Ta‘ālā is a tangible, physical entity). Hāfiz Ibn al-Jawzī (510 – 597 H) – rahimahullāh ta‘ālā –, one of the major scholars of the Hanbalī school, wrote a treatise called Daf‘ Shubah al-Tashbīh(Repelling the Doubts of Likening [Allāh to creation]), defending Imām Ahmadrahimahullāh against the innovated beliefs later ascribed to him by those who claimed to follow his school.[1]

Ibn ‘Aqīl (431 – 513 H) rahimahullāh, also a major scholar belonging to the Hanbalī madhhab, wrote against the anthropomorphism that crept into his school.[2]

Ibn Taymiyyah, unfortunately, opposed the ‘ulamā’ of Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jamā‘ah in many issues of ‘aqīdah. For example, he supported anthropomorphic ideas with respect to Allāh.[3] Moreover, he upheld the view that Hellfire will come to an end, which is in conflict with many verses of the Qur’ān and the established doctrine of Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jamā‘ah[4]. He also believed in the misguided concept of “originated entities that have no beginning” (hawādith lā awwala lahā), which asserts that created beings have always existed along with Allāh Ta‘ālā.[5]

Major scholars of Ahlus Sunnah refuted Ibn Taymiyyah on these corrupt views. For example, his esteemed contemporary, Imām Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī (683 – 756 H), wrote a work called al-Durar al-Mudiyyah fi l-Radd ‘ala Ibn Taymiyyah, in which he mentions Ibn Taymiyyah’s anthropomorphism and his view of “originated entities that have no beginning”. Imām Taqī al-Dīn Abū Bakr al-Husnī (752 – 829 H), a great jurist of the Shāfi‘ī madhhab, also wrote a refutation of Ibn Taymiyyah, called Daf‘ Shubah man Shabbaha wa Tamarrada wa Nasaba dhālika ila l-Imām Ahmada (Repelling the Doubts of the one Who Made a Likeness [between Allāh and creation] and Rebelled and Attributed that to Imām Ahmad). In it, he made reference to, and refuted, all the abovementioned aberrations of Ibn Taymiyyah.

Hence, Muslims should avoid any creed presenting itself as the so-called “Hanbalī ‘aqīdah,” or the ‘aqīdah of Ibn Taymiyyah.

Instead, for a common Muslim, the statements on Islāmic belief contained in al-‘Aqīdat al-Tahāwiyyah of Imām Abū Ja‘far al-Tahāwī (239 – 321 H) rahimahullāh, which has been endorsed by the ‘ulamā’ of Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jamā‘ah[6], is sufficient.

Refuting the notion of any similarity between Creator and creation, Imām al-Tahāwī mentions:

“The one who attributes Allāh with a property from the properties of man, he has disbelieved.”

Rejecting anthropomorphism, he says:

“[Allāh] is elevated beyond limits and boundaries, and parts, limbs and instruments. The six directions do not encompass Him like [they do] all created things.”

Rejecting the concept of the termination of Hellfire, he mentions:

“Jannah and Nār are created. They will never perish nor come to an end.”

Rejecting the view that created things have always existed with Allāh, he writes:

“He had the property of Lordship when there was nothing lorded over and the property of Creator when there was no creation.”

One should learn the clear creed of the Salaf (righteous predecessors) as presented by Imām al-Tahāwī in his ‘Aqīdah, and avoid dabbling in dubious presentations of Islāmic beliefs. Muslims who are not ‘ulamā’ or do not have a background in the Islāmic sciences should suffice with the brief exposition found in al-‘Aqīdat al-Tahāwiyyah and must not delve into intricate matters of ‘aqīdah, as this will lead to confusion and may cause errors in belief.

Learned Muslims should beware of some unreliable commentaries of al-‘Aqīdat al-Tahāwiyyah which oppose the clear statements of Imām al-Tahāwī, famous amongst them, Sharh al-‘Aqīdat al-Tahāwiyyah of Ibn Abi l-‘Izz (d. 792 H), in which the commentator adopted some of the erroneous views of Ibn Taymiyyah. Some of the reliable commentaries of Imām al-Tahāwī’s ‘Aqīdah are those by Qādī Ismā‘īl ibn Ibrāhīm al-Shaybānī (d. 629 H), Abū Hafs Sirāj al-Dīn al-Ghaznawī (d. 773) and ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Maydānī (d. 1298), all of which are in print[7]. (P007/R07)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)