al-Ashaira fi Mizan Ahl al-Sunna
- Author died
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- Editions
- al-Mabarrah al-Khayriyyah li-ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān wa-al-Sunnah
al-Ashāʿira fī Mīzān Ahl al-Sunna (The Ashʿarites in the Balance of Ahl al-Sunna) is a contemporary theological treatise authored by the Kuwaiti scholar Faisal ibn Qazzar al-Jasim, written as a detailed critique of the Ashʿarite theological school and its claim to represent Sunni orthodoxy. The book was published in 1428 AH (2007 CE) by al-Mabarrah al-Khayriyyah li-ʿUlum al-Qurʾan wa-al-Sunna in Kuwait.
Background and Purpose
The work was composed as a direct polemical response to the book Ahl al-Sunna al-Ashāʿira: Shahādat ʿUlamāʾ al-Umma wa-Adillatuhum (The Ashʿarite Ahl al-Sunna: The Testimony of the Ummah's Scholars and Their Proofs), authored by Hamad al-Sinan and Fawzi al-Anjari. Al-Jasim wrote the refutation to counter the claim that the followers of Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari represent Ahl al-Sunna wa-al-Jamaʿah in creed, arguing that the authors lacked foundational scriptural evidence from the Quran, the prophetic Sunnah, and the early generations (Salaf), and that their arguments largely drew upon writings by modern polemicists such as Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari, Wahbi Sulayman Ghawji, and Hasan al-Saqqaf.
Structure and Contents
The book is arranged into an introduction and five major parts (abwāb), each subdivided into multiple chapters:
- Part One: Details the principles of Ahl al-Sunna wa-al-Jamaʿah concerning God's names and attributes and demonstrates where the Ashʿarites diverged from them (divided into seven chapters).
- Part Two: Presents textual and theological evidence affirming specific divine attributes that the Ashʿarites disputed or denied (divided into five chapters).
- Part Three: Rebuts instances where the authors of the opposed work attributed figurative interpretation (taʾwīl) to early authorities of the Salaf (divided into twelve chapters).
- Part Four: Exonerates prominent early Sunni imams and scholars from affiliation with Ashʿarite theology (divided into seven chapters).
- Part Five: Argues that both the early Kullabiyya and the Ashʿariyya represent factions distinct from Ahl al-Sunna wa-al-Jamaʿah (divided into four chapters).
Methodology and Reception
Al-Jasim's method relies heavily on documenting textual citations from early Sunni authorities across various Islamic sciences and historical eras. In constructing his counterarguments, he intentionally minimized direct reliance on later figures such as Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, seeking instead to demonstrate that opposition to Ashʿarite tenets was well-rooted among earlier mainstream jurists and hadith scholars. The work also examines manuscript traditions and transmission records of early texts, defending the authenticity of al-Ashʿari's late work al-Ibanah 'an Usul al-Diyanah against claims of interpolation.
The book received written commendations (taqrīẓ) from several Salafi scholars, including Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrawi of Morocco and Sa'ud ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Khalaf, head of the Creed Department at the Islamic University of Madinah. It has since been cited as a primary Salafi reference on the Ashʿarite controversy and the doctrine of divine attributes.
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