Manhaj al-Ashaira fi al-Aqida - al-Kabir
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Dar Manabir al-Fikr
Manhaj al-Ashaira fi al-Aqida (The Methodology of the Ash'arites in Creed) is a contemporary theological treatise written by the Saudi scholar Safar al-Hawali that analyzes and critiques the theological framework of the Ash'arite school (الأشاعرة) from a Salafi perspective .
Background and Context
The treatise was composed as a critical rejoinder (ta'qib) to a series of articles written by Muhammad Ali al-Sabuni published in the Kuwaiti magazine al-Mujtama' (issues 627–632, an interview, and issue 646), which discussed the status of the Ash'ari school following an exchange between al-Sabuni and Salih al-Fawzan . In his articles, al-Sabuni maintained that the Ash'arites represent the mainstream Sunni community (أهل السنة والجماعة) . Al-Hawali, then a lecturer at the Faculty of Dawah and Usul al-Din at Umm al-Qura University, intervened in the debate, noting that the study of Ash'arism fell within his academic specialization, as the school constituted a major component of his doctoral dissertation on the phenomenon of irja' in Islamic thought (Zahirat al-Irja' fi al-Fikr al-Islami) .
Content and Method
The primary objective of the work is to demonstrate that the Ash'arite school constitutes an independent intellectual system that diverges from the methodology of classical Sunni traditionalism (أهل السنة والجماعة) across the core areas of theology, from their epistemological sources (masdar al-talaqqi) to eschatology (al-sam'iyyat) .
In examining the sources of religious knowledge, al-Hawali argues that classical Ash'ari authorities—including Abu al-Ma'ali al-Juwayni, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Sayf al-Din al-Amidi, Adud al-Din al-Iji, Ibn Furak, Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Sanusi, and commentators on Ibrahim al-Laqani's Jawharat al-Tawhid—systematically give precedence to rational demonstration (al-aql) over transmitted texts (al-naql) when an apparent contradiction arises . He cites statements from prominent figures within the school warning against taking the literal outward meanings of the Quran and the Sunna .
The book also addresses the classification of prominent classical scholars, such as Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani and Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi, who are frequently claimed by Ash'ari authors . Al-Hawali argues that in traditional biographical evaluation (al-jarh wa-l-ta'dil), scholars who agreed with certain positions of theological groups like the Mu'tazila or the Khawarij were not classified as members of those groups; on this basis, he maintains that scholars such as Ibn Hajar and al-Nawawi should not be classified as Ash'arites, but rather as traditionalist scholars who concurred with the Ash'arites on specific issues that require identification and critique .
Answer updated