In Defence of the Ash’ari School

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following is a defence of the Ash’ari school of creed, by one of the foremost scholars of ahadits and fiqh, Shaykh Muhammad al-Hasan ibn ‘Alawi al-Maliki (r.a.). 

Shaykh Muhammad al-Hasan ibn ‘Alawi al-Maliki (r.a.) said that Many Muslims are ignorant of the Ash’ari school, whom it represents, and its positions on the tenets of ‘aqidah, and yet some of them are not God-fearing enough to refrain from accusing it of deviance, departure from the religion of Islam, and heresy about the Attributes of Allah (s.w.t.).  The ignorance of the Ash’ari school is a cause of rendering the unity of the Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah dispersing its ranks.  Some have gone as far as to consider the Ash’ariyyah among the categories of heretical sects, though it is beyond me how believers can be linked with misbelievers, or how Sunni Muslims can be considered equal with the most extreme faction of the Mu’taziliyyah, the Jahmiyyah. 

سُوۡرَةُ القَلَم

أَفَنَجۡعَلُ ٱلۡمُسۡلِمِينَ كَٱلۡمُجۡرِمِينَ (٣٥) مَا لَكُمۡ كَيۡفَ تَحۡكُمُونَ (٣٦) 

Shall We then treat the people of faith like the people of sin?  What is the matter with you?  How do you judge? (Surah al-Qalam:35-36) 

The Ash’ariyyah are the a’immah of the distinguished figures of guidance among the scholars of the Muslims, whose knowledge has filled the world from east to west, and whom people have unanimously concurred upon their excellence, scholarship, and religiousness.  They include the first rank of Sunni scholars and the most brilliant of their luminaries, who stood in the face of the excesses committed by the Mu’taziliyyah, and who constitute whole sections of the foremost a’immah of ahadits, shari’ah, and tafsir.  Shaykh al-Islam Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani (r.a.), was the mentor of scholars of ahadits, and author of Fath al-Bari bi Sharh Swahih al-Bukhari, which not a single Islamic scholar can dispense with, was Ash’ari.  The shaykh of the scholars of Sunni Islam, Imam Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi (r.a.), author of Sharh Swahih Muslim, and many other famous works, was Ash’ari.  The master of Qur’anic exegetes, Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Qurthubi (r.a.), author of Jami’ li Ahkam al-Qur’an, was Ash’ari.  Shaykh al-Islam Imam Shibab ad-Din Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hajr al-Haytsami (r.a.), author of Zawajir ‘an Iqtiraf al-Kaba’ir, was Ash’ari.  The shaykh of shari’ah and ahadits, the conclusive definitive Imam Zayn al-‘Abidin Abu Yahya Zakariyyah ibn Muhammad al-Answari (r.a.), was Ash’ari.  Imam Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn ath-Thayyib al-Baqillani (r.a.); Imam Najm ad-Din Abu Hafsw ‘Umar ibn Muhammad an-Nasafi (r.a.); Imam Shams ad-Din Muhammad ibn Ahmad Khathib ash-Shirbini (r.a.); Imam Atsir ad-Din Abu Hayyan Muhammad ibn Yusuf an-Nahwi al-Ghanathi (r.a.), author of Bahr al-Muhith; Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Juzay al-Kalbi al-Gharnathi (r.a.); author of Tashil fi ‘Ulum at-Tanzil; and others - all of these were a’immah of the Ash’ariyyah. 

If we wanted to name all of the top scholars of ahadits, tafsir, and shari’ah who were a’immah of the Ash’ariyyah, we would be hard put to do so and would require volumes merely to list these illustrious figures whose wisdom has filled the earth from east to west.  It is incumbent upon us to give credit where credit is due, recognising the merit of those of knowledge and virtue who have served the shari’ah of the Greatest Messenger (s.a.w.).  What good is to be hoped for us if we impugn our foremost scholars and righteous forbearers with charges of aberrancy and misguidance?  How should Allah (s.w.t.) give us the benefit of their scholarship if we believe it is deviance and departure from the way of Islam?  Is there a single Islamic scholar of the present day, among all the doctorates and geniuses, who has done what Imam ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani (r.a.) or Imam an-Nawawi (r.a.) have, of the service rendered by these two noble a’immah to the pure Prophetic sunnah?  How should we charge them and all Ash’ariyyah with aberrancy when it is we who are in need of their scholarship?  How can we take knowledge from them if they were in error?  As Imam Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Shihab az-Zuhri (r.a.) said, “This knowledge is religion, so look well to whom you are taking your religion from.” 

In conclusion, the Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah are the true followers of the Prophet (s.a.w.) and his Companions, followed by those who trod their path for the last 1,400 years.  It is in summary the followers of Imam Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Isma’il al-Ash’ari (r.a.) and Imam Abu Manswur Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Maturidi (r.a.) in ‘aqidah, and this Saved sect is represented by the adherents of one of the four schools - Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i and Hanbali today.  This is the sect which has had the largest following throughout Islamic history, as confirmed by the Qur’an evidence and it will remain dominant until the Hour is Established.