Manhaj al-Ashaira fi al-Aqida - Taqib ala Maqalat al-Sabuni
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Manhaj al-Ashāʿira fī al-ʿAqīdah: Taʿqīb ʿalā Maqālāt al-Ṣābūnī (The Methodology of the Ash'arites in Creed: A Commentary on the Articles of al-Sabuni) is a theological treatise by the Saudi scholar Safar al-Hawali, written as a critical rejoinder to a series of press articles on the Ash'arite school published by Muhammad Ali al-Sabuni .
Background and Purpose
The treatise was prompted by an exchange published in al-Mujtamaʿ magazine (issues 627–632 and issue 646), which featured articles and discussions on the Ash'arite creed between Muhammad Ali al-Sabuni and Salih al-Fawzan . Al-Hawali—then a lecturer at the College of Da'wah and Usul al-Din—addressed the debate from the perspective of his doctoral research on the concept of irjāʾ in Islamic thought, in which he categorized the Ash'arite school as an offshoot of extreme irjāʾ .
Al-Hawali stated that his aim was not merely to refute al-Sabuni individually, but to critique a broader theological trend whose doctrines had permeated commentaries on the Quran and Hadith, Arabic linguistic treatises, and contemporary curricula . He commended al-Fawzan's contribution but sought to provide a more detailed refutation of claims that could not be fully addressed within the confines of a brief magazine article .
Key Arguments and Content
Al-Hawali structures his critique around several core methodological and historical arguments:
- Correction of Textual Attributions: He refutes al-Sabuni's repeated claim that Ibn Taymiyyah praised the Ash'arites by asserting that they were "the defenders of the fundamentals of religion while scholars were defenders of its branches" . Al-Hawali traces the passage in Ibn Taymiyyah's Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (vol. 4) to show that Ibn Taymiyyah was quoting a fatwa by Abu Muhammad al-Juwayni rather than expressing his own view, and that Ibn Taymiyyah went on to condemn the position and align its logic with speculative theology .
- The Definition of Ahl al-Sunnah: He distinguishes between two usages of the designation Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah. In its broadest sense, it denotes non-Shi'i Muslims—under which Ash'arites are included alongside other groups—whereas in its specific, technical sense, it applies strictly to those who adhere exclusively to the Quran and the Sunnah and abandon scholastic theology (kalām) . Al-Hawali argues that under the specific definition, early authorities such as Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Ali ibn al-Madini excluded practitioners of kalām from Ahl al-Sunnah .
- Positions of the Four Juristic Schools: To illustrate historical opposition to Ash'arite theological methodology across the four Sunni legal schools, he cites statements from figures including the Maliki jurist Ibn Khuwayz Mindad, Shafi'i scholars such as Ibn Surayj, Abu Hamid al-Isfara'ini, and Abu al-Hasan al-Karji, and early Hanafi and Hanbali positions against speculative theology and allegorical interpretation .
- Survey of Classical Polemics: Al-Hawali enumerates multiple treatises composed by Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya specifically addressing Ash'arite propositions, including Dar Taarud al-Aql wa-l-Naql (Averting the Conflict Between Reason and Revelation), Bayān Talbīs al-Jahmiyyah, al-Tisʿīniyyah, Mukhtaṣar al-Ṣawāʿiq al-Mursalah, and Shifāʾ al-ʿAlīl .
Publication History
The work was published as an academic article in the journal of the Islamic University of Madinah (Majallat al-Jāmiʿah al-Islāmiyyah bi-l-Madīnah al-Munawwarah, issue 62, pp. 65–104) . It was also issued as an independent monograph, including an edition published by al-Dār al-Salafiyyah in Algeria in 1990 CE .
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