The Creed Of The Two Imams Of Ahlus-Sunnah Abūl Hasan Al-Ash^ariyy And Abū Mansour Al-Māturīdiyy

The creed that was established by the two the two imams of ahlus-sunnah Abūl Hasan Al-Ash^ariyy and Abū Mansour Al-Māturīdiyy, and both of them are among the elites of the scholars of the Salaf may Allāh raise their ranks.

Ahlus-sunnah has been adhering to that creed in all corners of this world since their era until our days and no one went against it except a small group of misguided heretics like the Mu^tazilah and those like them and those who attribute bodily attributes to Allāh and those who followed them in their blasphemy and others that are not taken into consideration.

These benefits are taken from our masters among the people of knowledge who are Sufis those have the authentic correct knowledge with a continuous chain to the two Imams Al-Ash^ariyy and Al-Māturīdiyy by way of the likes of the Hāfidh Al-Bayhaqiyy and the Imām of the two Harams in Makkah and Madīnah and ^Abdul Qāhir Al-Baghdādiyy and Al-Ghazāliyy and Al-Khattābiyy and Fakhrud-dīn Ar-rāziyy and countless other scholars of Ahlus-sunnah from the Salaf and the Khalaf among the Mālikiyys, Hanafiyys, Shāfi^iyys, and Hanbaliyys from the people of truth and not those who went astray.

It is the creed which has been confirmed by the scholars of the honorable Azhar in Cairo and in Zaytounah in Tunisia and Qurawiyyīn in Morocco, rather, in all corners of the world up to Indonesia and India and others among what is hard to list in full.

Ibnu Hamdoun the Mālikiyy said from the Imām Al-Ash^ariyy in his commentary on Mayyārah in the Mālikiyy Fiqh, and it is among the first things that the students of knowledge learn in the vast lands “Certainly, Al-Ash^ariyy is the first who stepped up to affirm the creeds of Ahlus-suunah and summarizing them and refuting those who try to cast doubt and fallacy and nullifying the claims of those who try to argue against us.”

The Judge Ibn Farhoun said in his biography of Al-Ash^ariyy “He authored books for Ahlus-sunnah and presented the proofs to establish the methodology of the Prophet and what the heretics negated.”  Then he said “And he established the clear proofs for that from the Qur’ān and the Sunnah and the clear intellectual proofs and he refuted the fallacies of the Mu^tazilah and those who came after them among the atheists, and he authored in depth books which Allāh made beneficial to the nation, and he debated the Mu^tazilah and he defeated them.  Abul Hasan Al-Qābisiyy used to praise him and he has a booklet in reply to those who asked him about his school of thought and he praised him with fairness.”

The son of As-subkiyy in his biography in At-tabaqāt said:  “Know that Abul Hasan Al-Ash^ariyy did not invent and opinion and he did not invent a school of thought rather he confirms the schools of thought of the Salaf, supporting what the companions of the Prophet peace be upon him were on.  Therefore affiliating with him is from the aspect that he adheres to the way of the Salaf and he clings to it and he established the proofs for that and so whoever followed his style in presenting the evidence is called an Ash^ariyy.”

He also said “Those Hanafiyys, Shāfi^iyys, Mālikiyys, and virtuous among the Hanbaliyys all have the same creed, they are all on the creed of Ahlus-sunnah and they believe the correct creed by way of Abul Hasan Al-Ash^ariyy may Allāh have mercy upon him.  Then he says “In general, the creed of Al-Ash^ariyy is what is contained in the creed of Abū Ja^far At-tahāwiyy which the scholars of the schools of though acquired with acceptance and they were pleased with the creed.”

Also in another part he said “المآيرقي The Mālikiyy said ‘Abul Hasan was not the first one to speak with the words of Ahlus-sunnah rather he went according to the way of others and upon the way of supporting the known school and so he added to the school evidences and clarification and he did not invent a saying nor a school.  Don’t you see that the school of Ahlus-sunnah has been attributed to Mālik and those who are upon the school of the people of Madīnah are called Mālikiyys, and Mālik just went according to the way of those who came before him and he followed them alot.  However, when he added to the school evidences and more in depth explanations it was named after him, likewise Abul Hasan Al-Ash^ariyy there is no difference between him and the school of the Salaf except that he added more in depth explanation and what he authored to support it.”

Ibn ^Ābidīn The Hanafiyy in Radd Al-Muhtār said “Ahlus-sunnah are the Ash^ariyys and the Māturīdiyys” and like him says the Hāfidh the great scholar  and linguist Murtadā Az-zabīdiyy in the explanation of Al-Ihyā by Al-Ghazāliyy may Allāh have mercy upon them.