Schools of Islamic theology
The main issues of Muslim theological dispute prove to be hidden under the wording of the qurʾānic message, which is closely tied to Muḥammad's biography.[1] Shīʿas believe ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib is the true successor to Muhammad, while Sunnīs consider Abu Bakr to hold that position.[3][6] In the 9th–10th century CE, the Ashʿarī school developed as a response to the Muʿtazila, founded by the 10th-century Muslim scholar and theologian Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī.[7] This position was opposed by the Māturīdī school;[8] according to its founder, the 10th-century Muslim scholar and theologian Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī, human reason is supposed to acknowledge the existence of a creator deity (bāriʾ) solely based on rational thought and independently from divine revelation.After the Rashidun, the position turned into a hereditary right and the caliph's role was limited to being a political symbol of Muslim strength and unity.[citation needed] Earliest atharist such as Amir al-Sha'bi denounced the use of Qiyas (analogic deduction), as he strongly relied primarily on scriptural traditions.[17] For followers of the Athari movement, the "clear" meaning of the Qur'an, and especially the prophetic traditions, has sole authority in matters of belief, and to engage in rational disputation (kalam), even if one arrives at the truth, is absolutely forbidden.[citation needed] In theory, Ahmad ibn Hanbal has stated this means rejecting any attribution of God with creatures; such as the doctrine of the rationalists (Mu'tazilah).[30] Muʿtazila is a school of theology that appeared in early Islāmic history and were known for their neutrality in the dispute between Alī and his opponents after the death of the third caliph, Uthman.[34] The later Mu'tazila school developed an Islamic type of rationalism, partly influenced by Ancient Greek philosophy, based around three fundamental principles: the oneness (Tawhid) and justice (Al-'adl) of God,[35] human freedom of action, and the creation of the Quran.[39] One of the most notable episode of Mu'tazila conflict with the Atharist orthodoxy was during the reign of Abbasid caliph Al-Ma'mun, where the long feud of Mu'tazila Quran creationism doctrine opposed by the atharist doctrine that Quran as shifat (attribution) of God which championed by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the founder of Hanbali school.[56][57] He was noted for his teachings on atomism,[58] among the earliest Islamic philosophies, and for al-Ashʿarī this was the basis for propagating the view that God created every moment in time and every particle of matter.[67] In matters of the six articles of faith, Māturīdism notably holds the idea that paradise and hell coexist with the current world, and does not adhere to the doctrine of impeccability of angels.[74][75] Amr ibn Ubayd (died 761), one of Hasan's later students, became a leading figure in the Mutazilite movement, still advocating the Qadariyya belief in free will independent of God.They believed that all participants in the Battle of Jamal, including Talha, Zubayr (both being companions of Muhammad) and Aisha had committed a Kabira (major sin in Islam).Ordinary Muslims were also declared disbelievers because first, they were not free of sin; secondly they regarded the above-mentioned Ṣaḥābah as believers and considered them as religious leaders, even inferring Islamic jurisprudence from the Hadeeth narrated by them.[77] Additionally, Kharijites believed that obedience to the caliph is binding as long as he is managing the affairs with justice and consultation, but if he deviates, then it becomes obligatory to confront him, demote him and even kill him.They have many Tasawwufī characteristics and express belief in the Qur'an and The Twelve Imams, but reject polygamy and accept religious traditions predating Islam, like Turkic shamanism.This order gained a great following in rural areas and it later developed in two branches: the Çelebi clan, who claimed to be physical descendants of Haji Bektash Veli, were called "Bel evladları" (children of the loins), and became the hereditary spiritual leaders of the rural Alevis; and the Babağan, those faithful to the path "Yol evladları" (children of the way), who dominated the official Bektashi Sufi order with its elected leadership.[citation needed] Bektashism places much emphasis on the concept of Wahdat-ul-Wujood وحدة الوجود, the "Unity of Being" that was formulated by Ibn Arabi.There are many other practices and ceremonies that share similarity with other faiths, such as a ritual meal (muhabbet) and yearly confession of sins to a baba (magfirat-i zunub مغفرة الذنوب).The Bektashi Order is a Sufi order and shares much in common with other Islamic mystical movements, such as the need for an experienced spiritual guide — called a baba in Bektashi parlance — as well as the doctrine of "the four gates that must be traversed": the "Sharia" (religious law), "Tariqah" (the spiritual path), "Haqiqah" (truth), and "Marifa" (true knowledge).Traditionally the residence of the dedebaba was the Pir Evi (The Saint's Home) which was located in the shrine of Hajji Bektash Wali in the central Anatolian town of Hacıbektaş (Solucakarahüyük).They are the largest Shia school of thought (93%), predominant in Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and Bahrain and have a significant population in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Kuwait and the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia.[114] The Sunni Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini issued a fatwa recognising them as part of the Muslim community in the interest of Arab nationalism.[122] Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies, writes that Hafiz al-Assad "tried to turn Alawites into 'good' (read Sunnified) Muslims in exchange for preserving a modicum of secularism and tolerance in society".Isolated from both the Sunni Ottomans and the Twelver Shi`a Safavids, Qizilbash and Bektashi developed traditions, practices, and doctrines by the early 17th century which marked them as a closed autonomous religious community.As a result of the immense pressures to conform to Sunni Islam, all members of Alevism developed a tradition of opposition (ibāḥa) to all forms of external religion.[citation needed] The doctrine of Qizilbashism is well explained in the following poem written by the Shaykh of Safaviyya tariqah Shāh Ismāʿīl Khaṭāʾī: من داها نسنه بيلمه زه م / Men daha nesne bilmezem, (I don't know any other object) ١ّللَه بير محممد على́دير / Allah bir Muhammad-Ali'dir.(Allah is unique Muhammad-Ali)The lines of poetry above may easily be judged as an act of "Shirk" (polytheism) by the Sunni Ulama, but they have a bāṭenī[94] taʾwīl (inner explanation) in Qizilbashism.
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