Editing Ash'arism (section)

== Beliefs ==
{{Confusing section|date=November 2023}}
Two popular sources for Ash'ari creeds are ''Maqalat al-Islamiyyin'' and ''Ibana'an Usul al-Diyana''.<ref>Richard  McCarthy ''The theology of al-ash'ari'' 1953 Appendix IV</ref>

=== God and God's attributes ===
Ashʿarites also hold beliefs about God's attributes that are unique to them, such as:<ref>{{Cite book|last=Al Numan ibn Thabit|first=Abu Hanifa|title=Al-Fiqh-Al-Akbar-An-Accurate-Translation|publisher=SunnahMuakada.com|pages=43–44}}</ref>
* Existence;
* Permanence without beginning;
* Endurance without end;
* Absoluteness and independence;
* Dissimilarity to created things;
* Oneness;
* God is all-powerful, willful, knowing, living, seeing, hearing, and speaking (signifying attributes).

=== God and relationship with humans ===
The Ashʿarī school of Islamic theology holds that:
* [[God in Islam|God]] is all-powerful ([[omnipotence|omnipotent]]).
* Good is what God commands—as revealed in the [[Quran]] and the ''[[Hadith|ḥadīth]]''—and is by definition just; evil is what God forbids and is likewise unjust.<ref name="ReferenceA">John L. Esposito ''The Oxford History of Islam'' Oxford University Press 2000 {{ISBN|978-0-199-88041-6}} p. 281</ref> Right and wrong are in no way determined intuitively or naturally, they are not objective realities.<ref name=brown-2014-53>{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Jonathan A. C. |author-link=Jonathan A. C. Brown |title=Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy |date=2014 |publisher=[[Oneworld Publications]] |isbn=978-1-78074-420-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/misquotingmuhamm0000brow/page/53 |access-date=4 June 2018 |ref=JACBMM2014 |page=[https://archive.org/details/misquotingmuhamm0000brow/page/53 53]}}</ref> ([[Divine command theory]])
* Because of Divine omnipotence, there are no "natural laws" (of things like thermodynamics or gravity), because such laws would put limitations on His actions. There are, however, Divine "customs", whereby "certain so-called 'effects{{'"}} usually follow certain "causes" in the natural world.<ref name="Gibb-Mohammedanism-117">{{cite book |last1=Gibb |first1=H.A.R. |title=Mohammedanism |date=1953 |publisher=Oxford University Press |orig-date=1949 |page=117}}</ref>
* Also because of Divine power, all human acts—even the decision to raise a finger—are created by God. This had caused [[Predestination in Islam#History|controversy earlier in Islamic history]] because human acts are what humans are judged for when being sent to heaven (''[[jannah]]'') or hell (''[[jahannam]]''). Ashʿaris reconciled the doctrines of [[free will]], justice, and divine omnipotence, with their own doctrine of ''kasb'' ("acquisition"), by which human beings "acquire" responsibility for their actions,<ref name=glasse-62-3 /> although these "actions are willed and created by God".<ref name="Gibb-Mohammedanism-117" /> Humans still possess [[Free will in theology|free will]] (or, more accurately, freedom of [[intention]]) under this doctrine, although their freedom is limited to the power to decide between the given possibilities God has created.{{sfn|Hughes|2013|pages=193-194}} (This doctrine is now known in [[Western philosophy]] as [[occasionalism]].)
* God has created time as a framework for the creation of other things, but He is not limited by it. Duration is dependent on God, yet it is independent and subsists by itself. God is exalted above space and time, and both space and time originate from God.<ref>Peter Adamson and Andreas Lammer (2020). "Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s Platonist Account of the Essence of Time" In: Ayman Shihadeh and Jan Thiele (eds.) ''Philosophical Theology in Islam. Later Ashʿarism East and West''. Leiden - Boston: Brill, p. 118-119</ref>
* The [[I'jaz|Quran is the uncreated word of God]], that is, it was not created ''by'' God, but like God has always been. It can also be said to be ''created'' when it takes on a form in letters or sound.<ref name=glasse-62-3>Cyril Glassé, Huston Smith ''The New Encyclopedia of Islam'' Rowman Altamira 2003 {{ISBN|978-0-759-10190-6}} page 62-3</ref>
* The unique nature and attributes of God cannot be understood fully by human reason and the physical senses.<ref name="ReferenceA" />
* Reason is God-given and must be employed over the source of knowledge.{{sfn|Hughes|2013|pages=193-194}}{{clarify|reason=poor grammar renders this sentence incomprehensible|date=September 2020}}
* Intellectual inquiry is decreed by the Quran and the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad in Islam|Muhammad]], therefore the interpretation (''[[Tafsir|tafsīr]]'') of the Quran and the ''ḥadīth'' should keep developing with the aid of older interpretations.<ref>Alexander Knysh ''Islam in Historical Perspective'' Taylor & Francis 2016 {{ISBN|978-1-317-27339-4}} page 163</ref>
* Only God knows the [[Qalb|heart]], who belongs to the faithful and who does not.<ref>Ron Geaves ''Islam Today: An Introduction'' A&C Black 2010 {{ISBN|978-1-847-06478-3}} page 21</ref>
* God has "absolute freedom" to "punish or reward as He wills",<ref name="Gibb-Mohammedanism-117" /> and so may forgive the sins of those in [[Jahannam|Hell]].<ref>Ian Richard Netton ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' Routledge 2013 {{ISBN|978-1-135-17960-1}} page 183</ref>
* Support of ''[[Kalam|kalām]]'' (rationalistic Islamic theology).

=== Prophets and ''the unseen'' ===
Ashʿarites further affirm that Muslims beliefs include:
* In all the [[Prophets and messengers in Islam|prophets and messengers of Islam]], from [[Adam in Islam|Adam]] to Muhammad.<ref name=Saeed-chap-5 />
* [[Jesus in Islam|Jesus]] will return to earth and defeat the [[Dajjal]].<ref name=":0">Richard  McCarthy ''The theology of al-ash'ari'' 1953 p. 250</ref>
* Belief in the [[Angels in Islam|angels]].<ref name=Saeed-chap-5 />
* Including the angels of the grave ([[Munkar and Nakir]]).<ref name=":0" />
* That [[Iblis|Satan]] tempts man, contrarily to the Mu'tazila and Jahmiyya (the mention of the latter two branches only appears in ''Ibana'').<ref>Richard  McCarthy ''The theology of al-ash'ari'' 1953 p. 252</ref>
* The reality of Paradise and Hell.
* That prayers for dead Muslims and almsgiving reach them.<ref name=":1">Richard  McCarthy ''The theology of al-ash'ari'' 1953 p. 251</ref>
* [[Barzakh|During sleep]], [[Vision (spirituality)|visions]] can be seen and they have an interpretation ("interpretation" only found in ''Ibana'').<ref name=":1" />
* The existence of sorcerers and that magic is a reality in the world.<ref name=":1" />
* That [[jinn]] are real and able to physically possess people, although not mentioned in the works above, many Ash'arites consider this as part of the ''aqida''.<ref name="Böttcher–2021">Islam, Migration and Jinn: Spiritual Medicine in Muslim Health Management. (2021). Deutschland: Springer International Publishing.</ref>