# Maqalat al-Islamiyyin

Part of a series on :
Ash'arism :
Rock carved with al-'Aqida al-Murshida by Ibn Tumart :
Background :
Sunni Islam
Kullabiyya
Ahl al-Ra'y
Kalam :
Eminent scholars
3rd AH/9th AD
Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari (d. 324/936)
Ibn Khafif (d. 371/982)
4th AH/10th AD
Al-Baqillani (d. 403/1013)
Ibn Furak (d. 406/1015)
Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini (d. 418/1027)
'Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi (d. 429/1037)
Abu 'Imran al-Fasi (d. 430/1038-9)
Abu Dharr al-Harawi (d. 434/1043)
Al-Mawardi (d. 450/1058)
Al-Bayhaqi (d. 458/1066)
Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (d. 463/1071)
Al-Qushayri (d. 465/1072)
Abu al-Walid al-Baji (d. 474/1081)
Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi (d. 476/1083)
Al-Juwayni (d. 478/1085)
5th AH/11th AD
Al-Raghib al-Isfahani (d. 502/1108)
Al-Ghazali (d. 505/1111)
Abu al-Qasim al-Ansari (d. 511 or 512/1117-19)
Ibn 'Aqil (d. 513/1119)
Ibn Rushd al-Jadd (d. 520/1126)
Al-Mazari (d. 536/1141)
Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi (d. 543/1148)
Al-Qadi 'Iyad (d. 544/1149)
Al-Shahrastani (d. 548/1153)
Ibn 'Asakir (d. 571/1176)
Ahmad al-Rifa'i (d. 578/1182)
6th AH/12th AD
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 606/1209)
Ibn al-Athir (d. 630/ 1233)
Sayf al-Din al-Amidi (d. 631/1233)
Ibn al-Hajib (d. 646/1248)
'Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam (d. 660/1262)
Al-Qurtubi (d. 671/1272)
Al-Nawawi (d. 676/1277)
Shihab al-Din al-Qarafi (d. 684/1285)
Al-Baydawi (d. c. 685/1286)
Ibn al-Nafis (d. 687/1288)
7th AH/13th AD
Ibn Daqiq al-'Id (d. 702/1302)
Ibn 'Ata' Allah (d. 709/1309)
Safi al-Din al-Hindi (d. 715/1315)
Ibn Juzayy (d. 741/1340)
Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati (d. 745/1344)
Taqi al-Din al-Subki (d. 756/1355)
'Adud al-Din al-'Iji (d. 757/1355)
Taj al-Din al-Subki (d. 771/1370)
Shams al-Din al-Kirmani (d. 786/1384)
Al-Taftazani (d. 793/1390)
Badr al-Din al-Zarkashi (d. 794/1392)
8th AH/14th AD
Ibn 'Arafa (d. 803/1401)
Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini (d. 805/1405)
Zain al-Din al-'Iraqi (d. 806/1404)
Nur al-Din al-Haythami (d. 807/1404-5)
Ibn Khaldun (d. 808/1406)
Al-Sharif al-Jurjani (d. 816/1413)
Ibn al-Jazari (d. 833/1429)
Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani (d. 852/1449)
Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli (d. 864/1459)
'Abd al-Rahman al-Tha'alibi (d. 875/1470)
Ahmad Zarruq (d. 899/1493)
9th AH/15th AD
Al-Sakhawi (d. 902/1497)
Jalal al-Din al-Dawani (d. 907/1501 or 908/1502)
Al-Suyuti (d. 911/1505)
Al-Qastallani (d. 923/1517)
Zakariyya al-Ansari (d. 926/1520)
Al-Sha'rani (d. 973/1565)
Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (d. 974/1567)
Al-Khatib al-Shirbini (d. 977/1570)
10th AH/16th AD
Ibn 'Ashir (d. 1040/1631)
Ahmad al-Maqqari (d. 1041/1632)
Ibrahim al-Laqqani (d. 1041/1631)
Muhammad Mayyara (d. 1072/1662)
11th AH/17th AD
Al-Hasan al-Yusi (d. 1102/1691)
Muhammad al-Zurqani (d. 1122/1710)
'Abdallah ibn 'Alawi al-Haddad (d. 1132/1720)
Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (d. 1176/1762)
12th AH/18th AD
Ahmad al-Dardir (d. 1204/1786)
Ahmad ibn 'Ajiba (d. 1224/1809)
Ibn Kiran (d. 1227/1812)
Ahmad al-Tijani (d. 1230/1815)
Ibrahim al-Bajuri (d. 1276/1859-60)
Muhammad 'Ilish (d. 1299/1882)
13th AH/19th AD
Ahmad Zayni Dahlan (d. 1304/1886)
Yusuf al-Nabhani (d. 1350/1931)
Bediüzzaman Said Nursi (d. 1379/1960)
Muhammad al-'Arabi al-Tabbani (d. 1390/1970)
Muhammad al-Tahir ibn 'Ashur (d. 1393/1973)
14th AH/20th AD
Muhammad Mitwalli al-Sha'rawi (d. 1419/1998)
Muhammad 'Alawi al-Maliki (d. 1425/2004)
'Abdullah al-Harari (d. 1429/2008)
Nuh al-Qudah (d. 1432/2010)
Muhammad Sa'id Ramadan al-Buti (d. 1434/2013)
Wahbah al-Zuhayli (d. 1436/2015)
Muhammad 'Ali al-Sabuni (d. 1442/2021) :
Theological works
Istihsan al-Khawd fi 'Ilm al-Kalam
Mujarrad Maqalat al-Ash'ari
Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari
Al-'Aqida al-Tahawiyya
Sharh al-'Aqa'id al-Nasafiyya
Al-Insaf
Al-Irshad
Al-Iqtisad
Tahafut al-Falasifa
Al-Asma' wa al-Sifat
Al-Risala al-Qushayriyya
Al-Farq bayn al-Firaq
Al-Milal wa al-Nihal
Asas al-Taqdis
Daf' Shubah al-Tashbih
Lubab al-Muhassal
Al-Murshid al-Mu'een
Jawharat al-Tawhid :
Institutions
Abi al-Hasan al-Ash'ari Center
Al-Nizamiyya of Baghdad
Al-Azhar University
Al-Qarawiyyin University
Al-Zaytuna Mosque
Umayyad Mosque
Dar al-Hadith al-Ashrafiyya
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)
Islamic Education Movement
International Islamic University Malaysia :
Events
2016 International Islamic Conference :
Related groups
Classic
Maturidis
Sufis
Ahl al-Hadith
Modern
Al-Ahbash
Deobandis
Barelvis :
Islam portal
Category :
vte :
Maqalat al-Islamiyyin wa Ikhtilaf al-Musallin (Arabic: مقالات الإسلاميين واختلاف المصلين, lit. 'The Treatises/Teachings of the Muslims and the Differences of the Prayerful/Worshippers') is one of the main heresiographical works of early Islamic sects written by the Sunni scholar Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (d. 324/935), the eponym of the Ash'ari theological school.
Most likely, al-Ash'ari wrote this book following the Mu'tazili theologian Abu al-Qasim al-Balkhi [de] (d. 319/931) in his book with the same title (Maqalat al-Islamiyyin). Therefore, it was probably written during his Mu'tazili period and then modified; thus it may incorporate parts which he wrote earlier when he was still a Mu'tazili. However, according to al-Dhahabi (d.748/1348), this book was written in his last years, which indicates tolerance with Islamic sects, because Islam contains them.

## Content

Al-Ash'ari first gives an objective account of the views of the Muslim sects; then he gives the views of non-Muslim sects and of the philosophers; and finally he gives a critical discussion of the attributes and the names of God.
It is in two parts, the first a short account of the historical origins of schism in Islam and a long patient listing of the major groups of his day, and the second a thematic tabulation of the various questions debated among Muslim intellectuals.
Al-Ash'ari's Maqalat does not contain criticism to any notable degree. As its title indicates, all those who are included in the work are regarded as Muslims and 'those who pray', and so the work is a somewhat impartial survey rather than an appraisal of correct and incorrect doctrines. It serves as a handbook of theological views that might aid the reader in knowing what particular sects and individuals thought, and then what range of opinions was offered on the various questions debated within theology.

## Reception and influence

This work became a model for similar works produced afterward, such as al-Farq bayna al-Firaq by 'Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi (d. 429/1037), al-Tabsir fi al-Din [ar] by Abu al-Muzaffar al-Isfarayini [ar] (d. 471/1078), al-Milal wa al-Nihal by al-Shahrastani (d. 548/1153), and I'tiqadat Firaq al-Muslimin wa al-Mushrikin by Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 606/1210).
Ahmad al-Tayyib, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, highly praised the book by saying that it has several words that deserve to be written in gold water.