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Fatwa CenterThe Ashaa‘irah and Maatureediyyah were refuted by others as well as by Ibn Taymiyyah
Question
You claim that you follow the Manhaj Al-Wasatiyyah (Methodology of Moderation); however, I notice that you speak improperly about the Ashaa‘irah. No one did so except Ibn Taymiyyah and his followers. All followers of scholastic theology, including the Maaturidyyah and the Ashaa‘irah, are followers of the Sunnah. Therefore, beware of your statements because you will be held accountable before Allaah The Almighty.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
The methodology of the Ashaa‘irah and Maatureediyyah in terms of creed is not that of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa‘ah (the people of the Sunnah and Majority). In fact, Al-Ash‘ari revoked many of the opinions which are adopted nowadays by those who claim to be his followers. The part of his creed that conforms to that of Ahlus-Sunnah was recorded in his last compilations such as Al-Ibaanah.
Ibn Taymiyyah 
was not the only one to refute their false opinions. You can review the creed of the Salaf (righteous predecessors) in the compilations of Al-Laalakaa’i, Al-Asfahaani, and Ath-Thahabi, and before them ‘Abd Allaah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Mandah and other reliable references in the field of creed.
It is incorrect to say that all religious scholars are from Ahlus-Sunnah. The Ashaa‘irah and the Maatureediyyah themselves consider the Mu‘tazilah, who are the founders of scholastic theology, to have deviated from the right path and to be perpetrators of Bid‘ah (religious innovation). Many scholars of scholastic theology follow the Ashaa‘irah and Maatureediyyah, while others follow Ahlus-Sunnah.
The person with a just opinion and sound judgment compares the opinions of the Ashaa‘irah and the Maatureediyyah to what is revealed in the Book of Allaah, the Sunnah of His Messenger, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, the sayings of the Companions and those who succeeded them in the first three generations and the opinions of Muslim scholars such as the four Imaams of Fiqh (Jurisprudence). By doing so, he will know for certain that the opinions of Ibn Taymiyyah and those who follow him, not those of the Ashaa‘irah and Maatureediyyah, are in conformity with the sound Islamic sources mentioned above.
And Allaah knows best.
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