Editing Sunni Islam (section)

=== Three group doctrines ===
There is no agreement among Muslim scholars as to which dogmatic tendencies are to be assigned to Sunni tradition. Since the early modern period, is the idea that a total of three groups belong to the Sunnis: 1. those named after [[Al-Ash'ari|Abu l-Hasan al-Aschʿari]] (d. 935) [[Ash'ari|Ashʿarites]], 2. those named after [[Abu Mansur al-Maturidi]] (d. 941) named [[Maturidi]]tes and 3. a differently named third group, which is traditionalistic-oriented and rejects the rational discourse of [[Kalām]] advocated by the Maturidites and Ashʿarites. The Syrian scholar ʿAbd al-Baqi Ibn Faqih Fussa (d. 1661) calls this third traditionalist group the Hanbalites.<ref>[[Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad]] aṣ-Ṣaffārīnī ''Lawāmiʿ al-anwār al-bahīya wa-sawāṭiʿ al-asrār al-aṯarīya''. Muʾassasat al-Ḫāfiqain, Damaskus, 1982. Bd. I, S. 73. [https://archive.org/stream/lawme3/labsaa1#page/n71/mode/2up Digitalisat]</ref> The late Ottoman thinker {{ill|İsmail Hakkı İzmirli|tr|İsmail Hakkı İzmirli}} (d. 1946), who agreed to dividing Sunnis into these three groups, called the traditionalist group [[Salafism|Salafiyya]], but also used ''Athariyya'' as an alternative term. For the Maturidiyya he gives ''Nasafīyya'' as a possible alternative name.<ref name="IsmailHakki75">İsmail Hakkı İzmirli: ''Muḥaṣṣalü l-kelâm ve-l-ḥikme''. Istanbul 1336h (= 1917/18 n.Chr.). S. 75. [https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/eyayin/pdf/OGT01091.pdf#page=122 Digitalisat]</ref> Another used for the traditionalist-oriented group is "people of [[Hadith]]" (''ahl al-ḥadīṯ''). It is used, for example, in the final document of the [[2016 international conference on Sunni Islam in Grozny|Grozny Conference]]. Only those "people of the Hadith" are assigned to Sunnism who practice ''[[Tafwid|tafwīḍ]]'', i.e. who refrain from interpreting the ambiguous statements of the Quran.<ref name="Grosny">Abschlussdokument der Grosny-Konferenz von 2016, [https://chechnyaconference.org/material/chechnya-conference-statement-arabic.pdf arabisches Original] und [https://chechnyaconference.org/material/chechnya-conference-statement-german.pdf deutsche Übersetzung].</ref>

====Ash'ari====
{{Main|Ash'ari}}
Founded by [[Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari]] (873–935). This [[theological school]] of Aqeedah was embraced by many [[Muslim scholars]] and developed in parts of the Islamic world throughout history; [[al-Ghazali]] wrote on the creed discussing it and agreeing upon some of its principles.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fethullahgulenforum.org/articles/13/fethullah-gulen-al-ghazzali-on-tolerance |title=Fethullah Gülen and Al-Ghazzali on Tolerance |author=J. B. Schlubach |access-date=2010-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100304153120/http://fethullahgulenforum.org/articles/13/fethullah-gulen-al-ghazzali-on-tolerance |archive-date=2010-03-04 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Ash'ari theology stresses [[divine revelation]] over human reason. Contrary to the Mu'tazilites, they say that [[ethics]] cannot be derived from human reason, but that God's commands, as revealed in the ''Quran'' and the ''Sunnah'' (the practices of Muhammad and his companions as recorded in the traditions, or [[hadith]]), are the sole source of all morality and ethics.

Regarding the [[nature of God]] and the divine attributes, the Ash'ari rejected the [[Mu'tazili]] position that all Quranic references to God as having real attributes were metaphorical. The Ash'aris insisted that these attributes were as they "best befit His Majesty". The Arabic language is a wide language in which one word can have 15 different meanings, so the Ash'aris endeavor to find the meaning that best befits God and is not contradicted by the Quran. Therefore, when God states in the Quran, "He who does not resemble any of His creation", this clearly means that God cannot be attributed with body parts because He created body parts. Ash'aris tend to stress divine [[omnipotence]] over human free will and they believe that the Quran is eternal and uncreated.

====Maturidi====
{{Main|Maturidi}}
Founded by [[Abu Mansur al-Maturidi]] (d. 944), Maturidiyyah was the major tradition in [[Central Asia]]<ref>Marlène Laruelle Being ''Muslim in Central Asia: Practices, Politics, and Identities'' Brill, 2018 {{ISBN|978-9004357242}} p. 21</ref> based on [[Hanafi]]-law. It is more influenced by Persian interpretations of Islam and less on the traditions established within Arabian culture.<ref>Marlène Laruelle ''Being Muslim in Central Asia: Practices, Politics, and Identities'' Brill, 2018 {{ISBN|978-9004357242}} p. 21</ref> In contrast to the traditionalistic approach, Maturidism allows to reject [[hadith]]s based on reason alone.<ref>Rico Isaacs, Alessandro Frigerio ''Theorizing Central Asian Politics: The State, Ideology and Power'' Springer, 2018 {{ISBN|978-3319973555}} p. 108</ref> Nevertheless, revelation remains important to inform humans about that is beyond their intellectual limits, such as the concept of an afterlife. [[Ethics]] on the other hand, do not need prophecy or revelation, but can be understood by reason alone. One of the tribes, the [[Seljuk Turks]], migrated to [[Turkey]], where later the [[Ottoman Empire]] was established.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/islam/sunni/matur.html |title=Maturidiyyah |work=Philtar |access-date=2006-04-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060223020644/http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/islam/sunni/matur.html |archive-date=2006-02-23 }}</ref> Their preferred school of law achieved a new prominence throughout their whole empire although it continued to be followed almost exclusively by followers of the [[Hanafi]] school while followers of the [[Shafi]] and [[Maliki]] schools within the empire followed the Ash'ari and Athari schools of thought. Thus, wherever can be found [[Hanafi]] followers, there can be found the [[Maturidi]] creed.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jeffry R. Halverson |title=Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IYzGAAAAQBAJ |date=2010 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |isbn=978-0230106581 |pages=23–24}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Shamim Akhter |title=Faith & Philosophy of Islam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wikG_iOhSc8C |date=2009 |publisher=Kalpaz Publications |isbn=978-8178357195 |page=174}}</ref>

====Athari====
{{Main|Athari}}

Traditionalist or Athari theology is a movement of [[Islam]]ic scholars who reject rationalistic Islamic theology (''[[kalam]]'') in favor of strict textualism in interpreting the ''[[Quran|Qur'an]]'' and ''[[sunnah]]''.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Binyamin |last=Abrahamov |title=Scripturalist and Traditionalist Theology |editor=Sabine Schmidtke |encyclopedia=The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=2014 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199696703.013.025 |isbn=978-0199696703 |url=http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199696703.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199696703-e-025 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The name derives from "tradition" in its technical sense as translation of the Arabic word ''[[hadith]]''. It is also sometimes referred to as ''athari'' as by [[Traditionalist Theology (Islam)#Terminology|several other names]].

Adherents of traditionalist theology believe that the ''[[Zahir (Islam)|zahir]]'' (literal, apparent) meaning of the ''Qur'an'' and the [[hadith]] have sole authority in matters of belief and law; and that the use of rational disputation is forbidden even if it verifies the truth.<ref name="Halverson-36">{{cite book |last=Halverson |first=Jeffry R. |title=Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism |url=https://archive.org/details/theologycreedsun00halv |url-access=limited |date=2010 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1137473578 |page=[https://archive.org/details/theologycreedsun00halv/page/n44 36]}}</ref> They engage in a literal reading of the ''Qur'an'', as opposed to one engaged in ''[[ta'wil]]'' (metaphorical interpretation). They do not attempt to conceptualize the meanings of the ''Qur'an'' rationally, and believe that their realities should be consigned to God alone (''[[tafwid]]'').<ref name="Halverson-3637">{{cite book |last=Halverson |first=Jeffry R. |title=Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism |url=https://archive.org/details/theologycreedsun00halv |url-access=limited |date=2010 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1137473578 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/theologycreedsun00halv/page/n44 36]–37}}</ref> In essence, the text of the Qur'an and Hadith is accepted without asking "how" or "[[Bi-la kaifa]]".

Traditionalist theology emerged among scholars of hadith who eventually coalesced into a movement called ''[[Ahl al-Hadith|ahl al-hadith]]'' under the leadership of [[Ahmad ibn Hanbal]].<ref name="Lapidus130">{{Cite book |last=Lapidus |first=Ira M. |author-link=Ira M. Lapidus |title=A History of Islamic Societies |publisher=Cambridge University Press (Kindle edition) |year=2014 |isbn=978-0521514309 |page=130}}</ref> In matters of faith, they were pitted against [[Mu'tazilites]] and other theological currents, condemning many points of their doctrine as well as the rationalistic methods they used in defending them.<ref name="Lapidus130" /> In the 10th century AD [[al-Ash'ari]] and [[al-Maturidi]] found a middle ground between Mu'tazilite rationalism and [[Hanbalite]] literalism, using the rationalistic methods championed by Mu'tazilites to defend most tenets of the traditionalist doctrine.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lapidus |first=Ira M. |author-link=Ira M. Lapidus |title=A History of Islamic Societies |publisher=Cambridge University Press (Kindle edition) |year=2014 |isbn=978-0521514309 |pages=123–124}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Khalid |last=Blankinship |author-link=Khalid Yahya Blankinship |year=2008 |chapter=The early creed |editor=Tim Winter |title=The Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology |publisher=Cambridge University Press (Kindle edition) |page=53}}</ref> Although the mainly Hanbali scholars who rejected this synthesis were in the minority, their emotive, narrative-based approach to faith remained influential among the urban masses in some areas, particularly in [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] [[Baghdad]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Halverson |first=Jeffry R. |title=Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism |url=https://archive.org/details/theologycreedsun00halv |url-access=limited |date=2010 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1137473578 |page=[https://archive.org/details/theologycreedsun00halv/page/n43 35]}}</ref>

While [[Ash'arism]] and [[Maturidism]] are often called the Sunni "orthodoxy", traditionalist theology has thrived alongside it, laying rival claims to be the orthodox Sunni faith.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Jonathan A.C. |last=Brown |year=2009 |title=Hadith: Muhammad's Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World |publisher=Oneworld Publications (Kindle edition) |page=180 |quote=The Ash'ari school of theology is often called the Sunni 'orthodoxy.' But the original ahl al-hadith, early Sunni creed from which Ash'arism evolved has continued to thrive alongside it as a rival Sunni 'orthodoxy' as well.}}</ref> In the modern era, it has had a disproportionate impact on Islamic theology, having been appropriated by [[Wahhabi]] and other traditionalist [[Salafi]] currents and have spread well beyond the confines of the [[Hanbali]] school of law.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Jon |last=Hoover |entry=Ḥanbalī Theology |volume=1 |editor=Sabine Schmidtke |encyclopedia=The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=2014 |entry-url=http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199696703.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199696703-e-014 |entry-url-access=subscription |page=625 |isbn=978-0199696703 |access-date=2016-08-02}}</ref>