Ash'aris are those who adhere to Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari in his school of theology. Ashʿarism or Ashʿarī theology[1] (/æʃəˈriː/;[2] Arabic: الأشعرية: al-ʾAshʿarīyah)[3] is one of the main Sunnī schools of Islamic theology, founded by the Arab Muslim scholar, Shāfiʿī jurist, and scholastic theologian Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī in the 9th–10th century.[1][3][4] It established an orthodox guideline[5][6] based on scriptural authority,[7] rationality.[8][9][10]
Al-Ashʿarī established a middle way between the doctrines of the Atharī and Muʿtazila schools of Islamic theology, based both on reliance on the sacred scriptures of Islam and theological rationalism concerning the agency and attributes of God.[1][4][7] Ashʿarism eventually became the predominant school of theological thought within Sunnī Islam,[3][4][11] and is regarded as the single most important school of Islamic theology in the history of Islam.[3]
Two popular sources for Asharism creeds are Maqalat al-Islamiyyin and Ibana'an Usul al-Diyana.[12] Asharism adheres to Theological voluntarism (Divine command theory), thus right and wrong can not be determined intuitively or naturally, since they are not objective realities, but God commands – as revealed in the Quran and the ḥadīth — what is right and wrong.[13] Good is what God commands and is by definition just; evil is what God forbids and is likewise unjust.[14]
Some of the Hanafis follow the Ash'ari school of thought, such as:
The great Ash'ari theological school was flourishing under Abu at-Tayyib as-Su'laki (d. 398), Ibn Furak (d. 406), al-Hakim an-Naisaburi (d. 405) and Abu Ishaq al-Isfara'ini
Shaykh al-Islam Ahmad ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani (d. 852/1449; Rahimahullah), the mentor of Hadith scholars and author of the book "Fath al-Bari bi-Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari", which not a single Islamic scholar can dispense with, was Ash'ari. The shaykh of the scholars of Sunni Islam, Imam al-Nawawi (d. 676/1277; Rahimahullah), author of "Sharh Sahih Muslim" and many other famous works, was Ash'ari. The master of Qur'anic exegetes, Imam al-Qurtubi (d. 671/1273; Rahimahullah), author of "al-Jami' li-Ahkam al-Qur'an", was Ash'ari. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (d. 974/1567; Rahimahullah), who wrote "al-Zawajir 'an Iqtiraf al-Kaba'ir", was Ash'ari. The Shaykh of Sacred Law and Hadith, the conclusive definitive Zakariyya al-Ansari (d. 926/1520; Rahimahullah), was Ash'ari. Imam Abu Bakr al-Baqillani (d. 403/1013; Rahimahullah), Imam al-'Asqalani; Imam al-Nasafi (d. 710/1310; Rahimahullah); Imam al-Shirbini (d. 977/1570; Rahimahullah); Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi, author of the Qur'anic commentary "al-Bahr al-Muhit"; Imam Ibn Juzayy (d. 741/1340; Rahimahullah); author of "al-Tashil fi 'Ulum al-Tanzil"; and others – all of these were Imams of the Ash'aris.
Talbis Iblis, by the Ash'ari theologian Ibn al-Jauzi, contains strong attacks on the Sufis, though the author makes a distinction between an older purer Sufism and the "modern" one,