How power shaped orthodox Sunni creed

Yasir Qadhi Library Chat #20 and #21: Rise of Sunni kalām

This is part 3 of the Creed & Power series. Here are the links to Part 1 and Part 2. Part 1 discusses the Christian influences on the origination of the creed debates. Part 2 is a discussion of how the Karrami creed began and vanished. For good reason, the terms — Athari, Hanbalite, and Salafi — are all used interchangeably in these Library Chats.

Today, there are three mainstream Sunni creeds. Those are Athari, Asharite, and Maturidi. The Asharite creed is the most dominant creed for the last millennia. Most of the Islamic scholars today probably belong to the Asharite creed. The Istanbul, Azhar, and Deoband ulema are all advocates of the Asharite creed. Have you wondered why the Asharite creed is dominant?

The Atharis were supported by the Abbasid Caliphate. The Karrami were supported by the Ghaznavid. And, the Asharites were supported by the Seljuk sultans. Because of the Seljuk influence, the Asharite creed became the dominant creed.

Beliefs of the early generation of Muslims

You will be comforted to know that the early Islamic scholars didn’t care about the debates of creed. They were Quran and Hadith scholars.

These debates were nonexistent prior to the Abbasid era. They didn’t emerge until much after the first generation of Companions. These debates are still irrelevant to most Muslims today.

During the time of Imam Malik at 815 CE, there wasn’t a single hadith scholar that believed in the Asharite creed. If anything, their creed was Athari. In fact, the first group of hadith scholars who were Asharite was in the time of Imam Bayhaqi, who was among the last compilers of hadith. The hadith collection began during Imam Malik’s time and ended during Imam Bayhaqi. Bayhaqi died in 1066 CE.

Unlike today, early Shafii and Maliki were not Asharite. For example, Ibn Khuzayma was one of the most prominent Shafii scholars in the early 900s CE, and he was Athari. The early Malikis would burn the books of Ghazali, who was Asharite. This changed, and soon Asharite influence would dominate the Shaffii and Maliki school of thought.

Muatazilites vs Hanbalites joust for Abbasid endorsement

The Abbasid caliphate ruled from 750 CE to 861 CE. After the death of Al-Mutawakkil, the Abbasid became puppets of foreign regimes for the next four hundred years. The dynasty devolved to ceremonial power, wielding as much influence as the Queen of England today. They lasted as a rubberstamp until the Mongols mercilessly vanquished them.

Islam’s first divisions in creed emerged around 750 CE in Damascus. Some Muslims took the Christian ideas of John of Damascus, and they began spreading it in the Muslim world.

These ideas soon led to two factions. One faction was the Muatizilite, who adopted some of these ideas. And the other faction absolutely rejected these ideas. They were famously led by Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal. Hence, the Hanbalites.

The Abbasids initially endorsed Muatizilite creed in 827 CE. They did an inquisition that led to the arrest of Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal. The inquisition led to a public uprising that forced the Abbasid to reverse course. By 848 CE, the Abbasid had endorsed Imam Ahmad’s viewpoint. Baghdad would remain a stronghold for Hanbalite creed for hundreds of years.

When the Shia ruled the Arab world (969 CE - 1055 CE)

You can call it the Shia Golden Age. Roughly a hundred years marking the peak of Shia power.

All the Muslim lands except Iran and its neighbors were ruled by Shia! Yes, you read that right. Except Iran. Iran didn’t convert to Shia theology until the Safavid dynasty in the 1500s.

Both major empires — Buyid and Fatamid — were Shia. But Shia isn’t monolithic. The Buyid were Twelver. And the Fatamid were Ismaili.

The Buyid took over Baghdad in 945 CE. After several failed attempts throughout the 10th century, the Fatamid finally conquered Egypt in 969 CE.

Although the Buyid were Twelver, they were tolerant of Sunni Islam. They allowed Sunni Muslims to worship as they pleased. Baghdad remained Sunni, and fully Hanbalite. But they did wield soft power, by providing state sponsorship to Shia theology. This soft power manifested with government funding of Shia institutions and holidays. Interestingly, the Buyid codified Twelver creed.

The Fatamid were Ismailis. But they were different from today’s heretic Ismailis. When we say Ismailis we are often referring to the Aga Khan, whose faith is different from the Fatamid Shia. The Ismailis departed completely from mainstream Islamic theology around 1200 CE.

This Shia Golden Age lasted until 1055 CE, when the Seljuks conquered Baghdad. The banner of Sunni Islam was predominantly in the hands of the Seljuks with the conquer of the Ghaznavid and Buyid dyansties.

Ghaznavid endorse Karrami creed

While much of the Middle East was under the shade of Shia rule, the Ghaznavid were ruling present-day Iran. They were Sunni. And their leader Mahmud Ghaznavid endorsed the Karrami creed towards the end of 900s CE.

The Karrami creed originated in the 800s. And Karrami creed dominated Ghaznavid territory. When the Seljuks conquered the Ghaznavid at Nishapur in 1038, the Karrami lost influence within three decades. They were supplanted by the Asharites. By 1400, the Karrami creed had completely vanished from the Muslim world. I discuss the rise and fall of the Karrami in this article.

Beginning of Asharite creed

The Asharite creed originated with Harith Muhasibi in the 800s CE. But they weren’t popular anywhere in the Muslim world until Abu Hasan al-Ashari. He popularized the Asharite creed in Nishapur. He died in 936 CE. Interestingly, he failed to secure the endorsement of Imam Barbahari, who controlled the Sunni masjids in Baghdad. Qadhi has discussed Barbahari before.

Harith Muhasibi was the first Asharite scholar. He lived in Baghdad. If he was alive today, he would be a mainstream Islamic preacher. Unfortunately for him, he was a contemporary of Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal.

Imam Ahmad was critical of Muhasibi’s views, and advised people to boycott his lectures. Imam Ahmad was successful. When Muhasibi died, only four people attended his janaza.

Was such intolerance warranted? Probably not.

Asharite come to power through Nizam al-Mulk

Although the Asharite creed started in Baghdad, it wasn’t widespread until Seljuk took power in Nishapur in 1063. The Seljuks appointed Nizam al-Mulk as their vizier. That means Nizam al-Mulk was their prime minister. And by 1072, he was ruling the entire empire. He had absolute authority for the next three decades. A true visionary, he created the world’s first universities. These were Islamic universities. He established university endowments. He created scholarships for students to study at these universities. People no longer had to travel to learn. The learned men were in one place. City by city, these universities spread. And…. he was Asharite.

Because of his influence, the Asharite creed became widespread. Its important to note that the rise of Asharite teachings paralled the rise of Shafii madhab for much of the same reason. Every city readily accepted the new teachings. Except one. Baghdad. The Hanbalite stronghold. And the crown of Islam’s cities.

After a few years, tensions erupted when the Asharite took over the pulpit of one of the main Baghdad masjids. Quite foolishly, the Asharite appointed a 30-year-old firebrand for this pulpit. And the match was lit. The sects broke out in a physical brawl. A fistfight that led to a person’s death. A melee right outside the masjid. Fighting over what it means when Allah says “He established Himself above the Throne” in the Quran? The insanity of this fight couldn’t be more obvious.

Nizam al-Mulk was wise. He shut down the Asharite classes at the university. He said there was no reason for these creed debates to cause feuds. In 1077 CE, news of his decision eventually led to another brawl on the Baghdad streets. 12 people died in this brawl. A despicable low among “students of knowledge”. Learn from history. What was the benefit of this bloodshed?

Years later, when tensions had soothed over, Nizam al-Mulk was looking for another professor to launch the Asharite project in Baghdad. He was looking for a cooler headed person. This time, in 1091 CE, he chose Imam Al-Ghazali to lead the Baghdad university.

The rest is history. Nizam al-Mulk’s Asharite project was successful. Today, Ghazali is a household name. Roughly a century later, a young Salahadin Ayoubi would study in one of these universities. And when Salahadin conquered Egypt in 1171 CE, he established more of these universities. He converted the Fatamid Shia madarsas to Sunni madarasas. Including Al-Azhar University. That is why Al-Azhar is Shafii. That is why Al-Azhar is Asharite. They even linked Al-Azhar construction to Imam Shafii’s grave for symbolic effect. Is Nizam al-Mulk one of the most influential Muslims?

Six months after writing this article, I discovered that Qadhi published an academic article in 2016 on the same topic. Its titled, “Salafı¯-Ashari Polemics of the 3rd & 4th Islamic Centuries”. I recommend reading it.

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