Atharism

Atharism is a Sunni theological approach that gives priority to the Qur’an, hadith, and reports from the early Muslim community. It affirms divine attributes as transmitted while rejecting speculative interpretation of their modality or likeness to creation.

Qur’an: The central religious text of Islam, understood by Muslims as God’s revelation to Muhammad. Atharism treats its wording as the primary source for claims about God.
Divine attributes in Islam: Qualities attributed to God in Islamic scripture, including knowledge, hearing, and the face or hand. Their affirmation without speculative qualification is the approach's defining theological problem.
Ash'arism: A Sunni theological school that uses kalam to defend doctrine while affirming divine attributes. Its use of rational theology and interpretive strategies differs from Atharist restraint.
Ahmad ibn Hanbal: An eighth- and ninth-century Muslim jurist and hadith scholar, and the eponym of the Hanbali school. His resistance to the Mihna became a landmark in the defense of transmitted doctrine.
Salafism: A modern Sunni movement that calls for emulation of the earliest generations of Muslims. Its appeal to the Salaf often draws on theological commitments associated with Atharism.
Hadith: Reports about the sayings, actions, and approvals of Muhammad, transmitted through chains of narrators. Hadith supplies transmitted evidence that Athari theologians place above speculative reasoning.
Bila kayf: The principle of affirming scriptural descriptions of God without specifying how they apply. It captures the Athari refusal to explain the modality of divine attributes.
Maturidism: A Sunni theological school associated with Abu Mansur al-Maturidi and systematic use of reason. It offers a major Sunni alternative to Atharism's emphasis on transmitted evidence.
Mihna: An Abbasid inquisition that tested scholars over the createdness of the Qur’an in the ninth century. Ahmad ibn Hanbal's opposition made the episode central to Athari accounts of theological authority.
Islamic theology: The study and systematic formulation of doctrines within Islamic traditions. Atharism has shaped Sunni debates about which methods may establish religious belief.

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