Athari
The Athariyya or traditionalist theology ( Arabic الأثرية, DMG al-Aṯarīya ) is a theological school of the Sunnis , which is later mostly represented by Hanbalites and Shafiites , the followers of one of the four dominant schools of law today.
"Athariyya" comes from the word "Athar" , which in this context means "tradition / reports of the righteous Muslims of the first generations". The term goes back to Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Ibn Qudama .
An important commonality between the theologies of faith ( Maturidi and Aschari ) on the one hand and the Athari on the other is how to deal with the verses in the Koran in which God ( Allah ) apparently describes himself with human characteristics (attributes), such as the hand ( Yad ), “ rising to the throne” ( al-istiwa ) or seeing ( al-basar ).
All recognized positions have in common that one does not allow meanings in the interpretation which give God material or material properties. In athariyya it is not permissible to say that his sight, his hand, his "rising" are biological-human in nature. However, while the school of the Asharites and Maturidis consider a tawil , a preference for one of several possibilities without categorical conclusion or testimony, possible, the Atharis reject this.
The main difference in the Atharis methodology on this issue is to avoid extensive theological research into the attributes of the Creator, which are found in the Qur'an . They believe in God, in his names and in his properties (attributes), as they are described in the Koran and in the Sunna . Neither Tahrif (distortion), Ta'wil (figurative or metaphorical interpretation), Tamthil (comparison of divine attributes with creation), Tashbih , (to give Allah attributes that are similar to material creation, cf. Tamthil) nor Ta'til (Denial of the attributes) are accepted.
Until the beginning of the 19th century, the three Sunni schools of theology (Aschari, Maturidi and Athari) accepted each other as legitimate. This is also evident from Imam Al-Saffarini's Lawami al-Anwar (d. 1188), when he describes all three groups as "Ahl as-Sunna" (followers of the tradition).
Unlike the Kalam practitioners , the Athari avoid participating in purely rational discussions on matters of faith. The Hanbalite Ibn Taimiya is considered to be one of the most famous representatives of the Athari . His work Al-Aqidah Al-Waasitiyyah is one of the most important basic texts of the Athari to this day.
With regard to the prophet's parents problem , the Athari take the same opinion as the Maturidiyyah that the prophet's parents died as unbelievers. When it comes to the question of the "Marifetullah" (existence of God), they also accept the view of the Maturidiyyah, but refer to a defused view on their part.
Individual evidence
- ↑ al-Safarayni, Muhamad bin Ahmad. Lawami 'al-anwar al-Bahiyah. Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyah. p. 1/128.
- ↑ Ibn Abil-'Izz. Sharh al 'Aqeedah at-Tahaawiyyah of Ibn Abil-'Izz, (p. 75); Sharhus-Sunnah (1/218) of Imaam al-Baghawee. "My ruling regarding the people of kalam is that they should be beaten with palm leaves and shoes and be paraded amongst the kinsfolk and the tribes with it being announced; This is the reward of the one who abandons the Book (Qur'aan) and the Sunnah and turns to theological rhetoric (kalaam). "