The theological school of al-Ash'ari, which defends the Sunna with reason: the Qur'an uncreated, God's attributes affirmed without asking how, and human acts created by God and acquired by persons.
Ash'ari theology became, with the Maturidi school, the doctrinal mainstream of Sunni Islam, taught wherever the Shafi'i and Maliki schools of law are taught. It arose as the middle way between bare literalism and the Mu'tazila's rationalism.
Ash'ari Theology across the site
Sources
Primary
- Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, al-Ibana.
Secondary
- Richard M. Frank, Early Islamic Theology: The Mu'tazilites and al-Ash'ari (2007).