Islamic neo-traditionalism
Islamic neo-traditionalism is a contemporary strand of Sunni Islam that emphasizes adherence to the four principal Sunni schools of law, belief in one of the three schools of theology (Hanbali, Ash'ari or Maturidi) and the practice of tasawuff (Sufism), which its followers consider to be representative of the classical Sunni tradition. It is opposed to Wahhabism, Salafism and other modernist trends within Islam. Beliefs. Islamic neo-traditionalists believe Islam fundamentally consists of three concepts defined in the Hadith of Gabriel: "islam", "iman" and "ihsan".These are believed to correspond to the fields of fiqh, "aqidah" and  Sufism within the Islamic intellectual tradition respectively. Fiqh is regarded as being delineated by the Shafiʽi, Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali schools of law, "aqidah" by the Ash'ari and Maturidi schools of theology, and Sufism by "tariqas". The orthodox understanding of the religion is therefore thought to lie with the scholars of these fields who possess an unbroken scholarly lineage or chain of transmission ("isnad") to their classical authorities, which ultimately end with Muhammad. A scholar's authoritativeness is judged by whether he has been issued an "ijazah" by his teachers, which lists their scholarly chain and grants him a license  to teach on its authority. Neo-traditionalists argue against the position that strict adherence ("taqlid") to a school of law is unnecessary, claiming that it implies previous generations of Sunni Muslims were mistaken in their understanding of Islam, that it is impossible to derive correct rulings without relying on a school's legal principles, and that it will lead to laypeople making "ijtihad", thereby irreversibly disrupting Sunni legal unity and introducing new practices to the religion. The literalist Taymiyyan approach to interpreting the attributes of Allah is considered to be anthropomorphic by neo-traditionalists, who are staunch advocates of the  Ash'ari and Maturidi schools of theology. Those who subscribe to it are accordingly branded as heterodox. History. Western neo-traditionalism. Islamic neo-traditionalism emerged in the West during the 1990s following the return of several Muslim scholars who had studied at 'traditional' centres of Islamic learning in the Arab world, including Hamza Yusuf, Timothy Winter and Umar Faruq Abdullah, who intended to disseminate the 'traditional' knowledge they had learned throughout their communities. Western Islamic neo-traditionalism is characterised by isolated spiritual retreats during which neo-traditionalist scholars, seen as a living link to the 'authentic' Sunni tradition, instruct their students  known as 'seekers of sacred knowledge'. Critiques of modernity are prevalent in the movement, which is held responsible for spiritual decay, the decline of Islamic metaphysics and the rise of 'reformist' Islamist and liberal movements. Western neo-traditionalists have established their own religious educational institutes, including Zaytuna College and the online Islamic seminary SeekersGuidance. Arab Spring. Following the Arab Spring, neo-traditionalist scholars adopted a counter-revolutionary politically quietist stance citing the prohibition of resistance against ruling authorities by a number of pre-modern Sunni jurists and concerns that political upheaval would empower Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood . Their subsequent alliance with the governments of the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, and their silence towards or outright approval of their actions, attracted criticism, particularly the conduct of Ali Gomaa and Hamza Yusuf after the August 2013 Rabaa massacre. Contemporary adherents. Muslim scholars in the Arab world that have been described as neo-traditionalist include Gibril Haddad, Abdallah bin Bayyah, Ali Gomaa, Nuh Ha Mim Keller, Muhammad Said Ramadan al-Bouti, and Ahmad al-Tayyeb. The Lebanese Sufi movement Al-Ahbash has also been described as neo-traditionalist."" In the West, Muslim scholars Hamza Yusuf and Timothy Winter have  been described as such.