Ash’ari, al-

Abu al-Hasan al-Ash’ari (d. 935), founder of the school of theology that most Sunnis follow.

What it means

Al-Ash’ari lived in Basra and Baghdad. He was first a Mu’tazili and then left the school, and set out to defend the traditional creed with the method of reasoned argument. His followers are the Ash’aris, one of the two main Sunni theological schools with the Maturidis.