Praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds.
Asha'irah are the majority of Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jama’aa from the Maliki and Shafie schools of thought. As for the Hanifies, they are named Maturidiyya after their Imam Abu Mansour Al-Matiridee (333 AH). The disagreement between the Maturidiyaa and the Asha`irah revolves around a small number of minor issues. Further, some of the Hanbali jurists are Asha’irah and some are known as "Hanabilah", and later they were called “Salafiyah.” However, all these sects constitute Ahuls-Sunnah Wal-Jama’aa. On the opposite side, there are the Mu'tazila and the Khawarij.
Ahuls-Sunnah Wal-Jamma’a derive the Islamic creed from the Holy Qur’an and the Prophetic tradition. Minor issues that they have disagreed on are based on Ijtihad, and they forgave one another in that.
The Asha`irah are named so after their Imam Abu Al-Hassan Al-Asha`ri (324 AH). The Muslim nation have learnt monotheistic sciences from this renowned scholar while scholars have highly appreciated his different views for he adopts a moderate approach. In addition, Al-Bayhaqee (May Allah have mercy on his soul) reported in his book {Al-Sunan Al-Kobra /vol.10/pp.207} that when Abu Al-Hassan Al-Asha’ri was on his death bed he said to some of his companions: “Bear witness that I don`t label any of the people of Qibla {Place where Muslims turn when performing prayers} as disbeliever, because they all worship Allah."
Moreover, Abu Al-Hasan Al-Asha’ri lived in an era in which the Mu'tazila and other philosophers have prevailed and these have given precedence to reasoning over Quranic and Prophetic texts. On the opposite side, some Hanafie scholars gave precedence to the apparent meaning of texts over reasoning. As a result, Abu Al-Hasan adopted an approach, which combined both. His disciples said: ”Sharia texts are like the sun while reasoning is like the eyes. It takes both to be able to see."
In conclusion, prominent scholars from the Hanafie, Maliki and Shafie schools, in addition to a large number of Hanabali scholars have, approved Al-Ash`ari`s approach. And Allah The Almighty Knows Best.
