Maqalat al-Islamiyyin
- Author died
- 324 AH
- Editions
- t Zarzur · t Riter
Maqalat al-Islamiyyin (full title: Maqalat al-Islamiyyin wa-Ikhtilaf al-Musallin, "Discourses of the Proponents of Islam and the Disagreements of Those Who Pray") is a foundational heresiographical and theological treatise by the theologian Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (260–324 AH / 874–936 CE) detailing the doctrines, sects, and speculative theological disputes of early Islam .
Purpose and Scope
Al-Ash'ari states in his introduction that discerning among religious doctrines requires an accurate understanding of the various schools of thought and their discourses (al-madhahib wa-al-maqalat) . He composed the work after observing that earlier authors on sects either fell short in their reporting, committed errors regarding their opponents' stances, fabricated falsehoods to defame rivals, neglected thorough investigation, or attributed logically entailed conclusions to adversaries rather than stating what they actually professed .
The work intentionally confines itself to Muslim groups, presenting their disagreements while maintaining that the overarching framework of Islam encompasses them . Al-Ash'ari treated non-Islamic beliefs in a separate, larger treatise titled Maqalat Ghayr al-Islamiyyin ("Discourses of Non-Muslims") .
Structure and Content
The treatise classifies the Muslims into ten primary groups: the Shi'a, Khawarij, Murji'a, Mu'tazilah, Jahmiyyah, Dirariyyah, Husayniyyah (the followers of Husayn al-Najjar), Bakriyyah, the generalists and Ashab al-Hadith, and the Kullabiyyah (the followers of Abd Allah ibn Kullab) . Within these divisions, it documents historical and political developments, including the rebellions of various Alid claimants to the caliphate, doctrines regarding the imamate, and theological assessments of the arbitration (al-hakamayn) during the First Fitna .
Beyond sectarian taxonomy, the text divides broadly into:
- Major theological disputes (al-jalil min al-kalam), covering foundational doctrines such as divine attributes, anthropomorphism (tajsim), the nature of the Quran, free will, and the status of the sinner .
- Subtle and technical philosophical questions (al-daqiq min al-kalam), examining speculative problems concerning atoms, accidents, bodies, motion, perception, and causality .
The book also contains a dedicated summary of the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-Ashab al-Hadith concerning God's unity, attributes, and scriptural descriptions without modal qualification (bila kayf), concluding with al-Ash'ari's affirmation that he adheres to and adopts their stated creed .
Method and Sources
Al-Ash'ari approaches his subject with descriptive detachment, avoiding polemical abuse, curses, and insults . Having spent forty years within the Mu'tazilite school before renouncing it, he possessed direct mastery of Mu'tazilite doctrine and internal debates . For older positions and early figures, he relied on early heresiographical works that are now lost, such as the Maqalat compilations of al-Ka'bi, al-Karabisi, al-Yaman ibn Ribab, and Zurqan .
Reception and Evaluation
Scholars consider Maqalat al-Islamiyyin one of the earliest extant comprehensive sources for Islamic heresiography, predating later classical compendia such as Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi's al-Farq bayn al-Firaq, Ibn Hazm's al-Fisal fi al-Milal wa-al-Ahwa' wa-al-Nihal, and al-Shahrastani's al-Milal wa-al-Nihal .
Ibn Taymiyyah praised the book as one of the most comprehensive compendia on theological opinions, observing that al-Ash'ari provided exhaustive details on speculative theologians (mutakallimun) that were omitted by other authors . He noted, however, that while al-Ash'ari's account of Mu'tazilite positions was precise and detailed, his rendering of the positions of Ahl al-Sunnah was presented in broad summary form based on what had reached him from figures such as Zakariyya al-Saji and the Hanbalis of Baghdad .
Editions
The work was first critically edited by the German Orientalist Hellmut Ritter, who collated five manuscripts and published the text with analytical indices in Istanbul under the auspices of the German Oriental Society . Subsequent editions have been published in the Arab world, including editions prepared by Muhammad Muhyi al-Din Abd al-Hamid and a two-volume edition edited by Na'im Zarzur .
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