Sunni Islam

Sunni theological traditions (kalam)

Muslims of the centuries following Muhammad had to face many questions that were not specifically answered in the Qur'an, especially questions with regard to philosophical conundrums like the nature of God, the possibility of human free will, or the eternal existence of the Qur'an. Various schools of theology and philosophy developed to answer these questions, each claiming to be true to the Qur'an and the Muslim tradition (sunnah). There were three dominant traditions:

Related Topics:
Qur'an - Free will - Theology - Philosophy - Sunnah

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• Athariyya, a school that existed before the appearance of the following schools of theology or kalaam. It was the school followed by the vast majority of the early generations of Muslims. It comes from the Arabic word Aathar loosely meaning tradition. The followers of this school strictly follow the narrations and traditions of Muhammad. They do not dwelve into philosophy and strictly base their views of any matter in Islamic theology on the pure unaltered texts of the Quran, the holy book of the Muslims and the authentic Sunnah, the traditions of Muhammad. They take these as their only sources of Islamic aqeeda (belief) and they interpret them according to the understanding of the Sahaaba (companions).
• The Athariyya are also known as the Hanaabilah in Islamic Theology because of the alliance of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal with this school of thought when he rejected the theology of the Mu'tazila and stood firm against it. Due to this he has earned the title of Imam Ahl As Sunnah by many scholars. It was following the demise of the Mu'tazila that the other groups that took parts or types of philosophy into the Islamic aqeeda (belief/theology) sprung up. And throughout the ages there were scholars from this group like Ahmad Ibn Hanbal refuting and defending the Islamic Aqeedah from being mixed with other philosophies. Due to the accepting of different Islamic Beliefs either Ashariyya or Maturidiyya, the others became more dominant and wide spread.
• The position of this group in comparision to the others regarding the Names and Attributes of Allah is unique. In summary they accept the Names and Attributes of Allah as they are mentioned in the Qur'an and in the Sunnah. They do not distort the meaning of the Names and Attributes, and the meaning of the names and attributes are taken by the meaning understood by the Sahaaba (companions of Muhammad). They do not make figurative interpretation of the Names and Attributes of Allah as some other groups did. They completely reject making any likeness or resemblance of Allah's names and attributes to the creation and neither do they deny any of them. Making a likeness, resembelence or denying the names and attributes of Allah can put a person outside the fold of Islam according to this school.
• Some books that one can reference to read more about the Athari Aqidah or research the above material are
• Al-Fiqh al-Akbar by Abu Haneefa (d.150 AH)
• Kitab Al-Iman of Abu Ubayd al-Qasim Ibn Salaam (d. 213 AH)
• As-Sunnah by Imam Ahmed (d.241 AH)
• Kitaab at-Tawheed by Bukhari (d. 265 AH) the last book of Sahih al-Bukhari.
• At-Tawheed by Ibn Khuzaymah (d. 311 AH)
• Sharh as-Sunnah: explanation of Sunnah. Al Barbahari(student of Ibn Hanbal) (d. 329 AH)
• Al-Sharee?ah by Al- Aajurree (d. 360 AH)
• Usool as-Sunnah: the essence of Sunnah. By Ibn Abi Zamineen (d. 399 AH)
• Sharh Usool I?tiqaad Ahlis-Sunnah wal Jamaa?ah by Al Lalikhaaee (d.418 AH) printed in 9 volumes.
• Al-Mahajah by Abul Qassim at-Tayimi (d. 535 AH)
• Lum'at-ul-'Itiqaad by Muwaffaq Ad Din Ibn Qudama Al Maqdisee (d. 620 AH)
• Mu'tazilah, the school established in Iraq by Wasil bin 'Ata (699-749), a student of the distinguished scholar Hasan al-Basri (642-728). The Mu'tazilites rose to prominence in 750 C.E., under the new Abbasid dynasty of caliphs. One caliph, al-Ma'mun, declared Mu'tazilah doctrine to be the state creed, and persecuted dissenters. This completely alienated the Sunni Muslim clergy, the ulema, and Mu'tazilism fell into disrepute after the death of al-Ma'mun. There are no current Sunni adherents of Mu'tazilism, though their texts are still read and preserved as important to understanding the history of Sunni theology. The Shi'a follow a Mu'tazili tradition.
• The Mu'tazilites were heavily influenced by Greek philosophy, and attempted to establish religion and ethics on the basis of reason alone. While they accepted the authority of the Qur'an, they argued that it should be accepted because it was reasonable. They understood many Quranic passages metaphorically, particularly those implying that God has a human body. They stressed human free will, and taught that the Qur'an was created in time, existing only from the moment it was revealed to Muhammad.
• Ash'ariyyah, founded by Abu al-Hasan (873-935). The dominant theology, and the tradition embraced by al-Ghazali, a Muslim jurist and mystic whom many Sunnis follow and revere.
• Ash'ariyyah theology stresses divine revelation over human reason. Ethics, they say, cannot be derived from human reason: God's commands, as revealed in the Qur'an and the practice of Muhammad and his companions (the sunnah, as recorded in the traditions, or hadith), are the source of all morality.
• Regarding the nature of God and the divine attributes, the Ash'ari rejected the Mu'tazilite position that all Quranic references to God as having physical attributes (that is, a body) were metaphorical. Ash'aris insisted that these attributes were "true", since the Qur'an could not be in error, but that they were not to be understood as implying a crude anthropomorphism.
• Ash'aris tend to stress divine omnipotence over human free will. They believe that the Qur'an is eternal and uncreated.
• Maturidiyyah, founded by Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (d.944). Maturidiyyah was a minority tradition until it was accepted by the Turkish tribes of Central Asia (previously they had been Ashari and followers of the Shafi school, it was only later on migration into Anatolia that they became Hanafi and followers of the Maturidi creed). One of the those tribes, the Seljuk Turks, migrated to Turkey, where later the Ottoman Empire was established. Their preferred school of law achieved a new prominence throughout their whole empire although it continued to be followed almost exclusively by followers of the Hanafi school while followers of the Shafi Maliki and Hanbali schools followed the Ashari school. Thus, wherever can be found Hanafi follwers, there can be found the Maturidi creed).
• Maturidiyyah argue that knowledge of God's existence can be derived through reason alone, thus following the Mu'tazilites.