Editing Sunni Islam (section)

====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>