Al-Ashʿarī established a middle way between the doctrines of theAtharī andMuʿtazila schools of Islamic theology, based both on reliance on thesacred scriptures of Islam and theological rationalism concerning theagency andattributes of God.[1][4][7] Ashʿarism eventually became the predominant school of theological thought within Sunnī Islam,[3][4][11] and is regarded as the single most important school of Islamic theology in thehistory of Islam.[3]
Two popular sources for Asharism creeds areMaqalat al-Islamiyyin andIbana'an Usul al-Diyana.[12] Asharism adheres toTheological voluntarism (Divine command theory), thus right and wrong can not be determined intuitively or naturally, since they are not objective realities, but God commands – as revealed in theQuran and theḥadīth — what is right and wrong.[13] Good is what God commands and is by definition just; evil is what God forbids and is likewise unjust.[14]
^Aaron Spevack,The Archetypal Sunni Scholar: Law, Theology, and Mysticism in the Synthesis of Al-Bajuri, p 55. State University of New York Press, 1 Oct 2014. ISBN 143845371X
^Bulliet, Richard (1970). "A quantitative approach to medieval Muslim biographical dictionaries".Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient.13 (1):195–211.doi:10.1163/156852070X00123.The great Ash'ari theological school was flourishing under Abu at-Tayyib as-Su'laki (d. 398), Ibn Furak (d. 406), al-Hakim an-Naisaburi (d. 405) and Abu Ishaq al-Isfara'ini
^Muhammad ibn 'Alawi al-Maliki (18 July 2008)."The Ash'ari School".As-Sunnah Foundation of America. Archived fromthe original on 12 January 2021.Shaykh al-Islam Ahmad ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani (d. 852/1449;Rahimahullah), the mentor of Hadith scholars and author of the book "Fath al-Bari bi-Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari", which not a single Islamic scholar can dispense with, was Ash'ari. The shaykh of the scholars of Sunni Islam, Imamal-Nawawi (d. 676/1277; Rahimahullah), author of "Sharh Sahih Muslim" and many other famous works, was Ash'ari. The master of Qur'anic exegetes, Imamal-Qurtubi (d. 671/1273; Rahimahullah), author of "al-Jami' li-Ahkam al-Qur'an", was Ash'ari. Shaykh al-IslamIbn Hajar al-Haytami (d. 974/1567; Rahimahullah), who wrote "al-Zawajir 'an Iqtiraf al-Kaba'ir", was Ash'ari. The Shaykh of Sacred Law and Hadith, the conclusive definitiveZakariyya al-Ansari (d. 926/1520; Rahimahullah), was Ash'ari. ImamAbu Bakr al-Baqillani (d. 403/1013; Rahimahullah), Imam al-'Asqalani; Imamal-Nasafi (d. 710/1310; Rahimahullah); Imamal-Shirbini (d. 977/1570; Rahimahullah);Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi, author of the Qur'anic commentary "al-Bahr al-Muhit"; ImamIbn Juzayy (d. 741/1340; Rahimahullah); author of "al-Tashil fi 'Ulum al-Tanzil"; and others – all of these were Imams of the Ash'aris.
^Boyle, J.A. (January 1, 1968).The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 5: The Saljuq and Mongol Periods (Volume 5). Cambridge University Press. p. 299.Talbis Iblis, by the Ash'ari theologian Ibn al-Jauzi, contains strong attacks on the Sufis, though the author makes a distinction between an older purer Sufism and the "modern" one,
