Editing Sunni Islam (section)

=== Narrow definition ===
There were also Muslim scholars who wanted to limit the Sunni term to the ''[[Ash'ari]]tes'' and ''[[Maturidi|Māturīdites]]'' alone. For example, Murtadā az-Zabīdī (d. 1790) wrote in his commentary on [[al-Ghazali]]s "Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm ad-dīn": "When (sc. The term) ''ahl as-sunna wal jamaʿa'' is used, the Ashʿarites and Māturīdites are meant."<ref name="Zabidi6">Murtaḍā az-Zabīdī. [https://archive.org/stream/FP78871/ithafsm02#page/n6/mode/2up ''Itḥāf as-sāda al-muttaqīn bi-šarḥ Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm ad-dīn'']. Muʾassasat at-taʾrīḫ al-ʿArabī, Beirut, 1994. Vol. II, p. 6.</ref> This position was also taken over by the Egyptian Fatwa Office in July 2013.<ref name="Daralifta2366">[https://www.dar-alifta.org/AR/ViewFatwa.aspx?ID=12579 ''al-Murād bi-ahl as-sunna wa-l-ǧamāʿa''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417060444/https://www.dar-alifta.org/AR/ViewFatwa.aspx?ID=12579 |date=17 April 2021 }} Fatwa No. 2366 of the Egyptian Fatwa Office of 24 July 2013.</ref> In [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] times, many efforts were made to establish a good harmony between the teachings of the Ashʿarīya and the Māturīdīya.<ref name="Daralifta2366"/> Finally, there were also scholars who regarded the Ashʿarites alone as Sunnis. For example, the Moroccan Sufi Ahmad ibn ʿAdschiba (d. 1809) stated in his commentary on [[al-Fatiha|Fatiha]]: "As far as the Sunnis are concerned, it is the Ashʿarites and those who follow in their correct belief."<ref>Aḥmad b. ʿAǧība: ''Tafsīr al-Fātiḥa al-kabīr''. Ed. ʿĀṣim Ibrāhīm al-Kaiyālī. Dār al-kutub al-ʿilmīya, Beirut, 2005. p. 347.</ref>

Conversely, there were also scholars who excluded the Ashʿarites from Sunnism. The Andalusian scholar [[Ibn Hazm]] (d. 1064) said that Abu l-Hasan al-Ashʿarī belonged to the [[Murji'a]], namely those who were particularly far removed from the Sunnis in terms of faith.<ref name="Ibn Hazm265f">Ibn Ḥazm: ''al-Faṣl fi-l-milal wa-l-ahwāʾ wa-n-niḥal.'' Ed. Muḥammad Ibrāhīm Naṣr; ʿAbd-ar-Raḥmān ʿUmaira. Dār al-Jīl, Beirut 1985. Vol. II, pp. 265ff.</ref> Twentieth-century [[Syrians|Syrian]]-[[Albanians|Albanian]] Athari [[Salafi movement|Salafi]] theologian [[Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani|Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani]] rejected extremism in excluding [[Ash'ari]]s from Sunni Islam. He believed that despite that their fundamental differences from Atharis, not every Ash'ari is to be excluded from ''Ahl al-Sunna wal Jama'ah'', unless they openly disapprove of the doctrines of the ''[[Salaf]]'' (''mad'hab as-Salaf''). According to Albani:

{{quote|I do not share [the view of] some of the noble scholars of the past and present that we say about a group from the [many] Islamic groups that it is not from ''Ahlus-Sunnah'' due to its deviation in one issue or another&nbsp;...  as for whether the Ash’aris or the Maaturidis are from ''Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah'', I say that they are from ''Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah'' in many things related to ''aqidah'' but in other ''[[aqidah]]'' issues they have deviated away from ''Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah&nbsp;...'' I don't hold that we should say that they are not from ''Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah'' whatsoever<ref>{{Cite web|title=Are the Ash'aris from Ahlus-Sunnah?|url=https://www.salafiri.com/are-asharis-from-ahlus-sunnah/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025091711/https://www.salafiri.com/are-asharis-from-ahlus-sunnah/|archive-date=25 October 2021|website=Salafi Research Institute|date=14 August 2016}}</ref>}}