Al-Ashari and Asharism in the process of evolving from the conception of Allah as the fail-i mukhtar in favor of traditional Sunnism

Imam al-Ash'ari's placing the concept of Allah as the Fâil-i-mukhtar at the centre of his thought led to his break with the Mutazilite understanding. Ashʿarism developed as a sect around this idea, which was systematised through the activities of Ibn al-Fûrek and al-Bâqillânî. Ashʿarism, which came to the fore with its rationalist character in the representation of the theologians, gained a reconciliatory character with the understanding of Ashâb al-Hadith (Traditional Sunnism) in the representation of the hadithists. With the construction of a memory to support this understanding, the reference ground of Imam al-Ashari's opposition to the Mutazilites and his association with the Ashâb al-Hadith was strengthened, and the perception within this framework gained stability in the process. Given the nature of the problem, our study is divided into an introduction and four chapters. The introduction analyses the religious politics of the Abbasids in a framework that concretises the theo-political debate network of the period in which Imam al-Ash'arî lived. The first chapter is devoted to an examination of the Ashâb al-Hadith, the Mutazilites and Imam al-Shafi'i as the main elements of the equation in which Imam al-Ash'arî was positioned. Contrary to popular belief, it was found that there was no positive link between the Ashâb al-Hadith and Imam Shâfi'î, and that the Mutazila also recognised the authority of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, but their understanding of the Sunnah was different from that of the Ashâb al-Hadith. In addition to a more consistent explanation of the understanding of Allah, there was also a search within the Mutazila for the value of knowledge based solely on rational inference. In the second part, an attempt was made to analyse the various claims made about Imam al-Ashari's association with Ashâb al-Hadith, Mutazila and Shafi'ism in the context of the facts. In this context, the most important conclusion reached is that the element among which Imam al-Ashari settled after leaving the Mutazila was the Shafi'i circles, which were not alien to the science of theology and had some relations with the Mutazila. In the third chapter, an attempt is made to analyse the pattern of thought centred on the concept of Allah as the fâil-i mukhtar, which led to al-Ashari's separation from the Mutazila and shaped his thought, and to concretise its effect on the shaping of his thought. In addition, this section includes a description of the activities of Ibn al-Fûrek and al-Bâqillânî's generation to transform Imam al-Ashari's ideas into a sectarian identity. The fourth chapter is devoted to the study of the activity carried out by the generation of al-Bayhaqî to associate Imam al-Ashari and his thought with the Ashâb al-Hadith. An attempt is made to determine by whom, in what context, and with what motives this activity was carried out. Keywords: Ashari, Asharism, Ahl al-Hadith, Ashâb al-Hadith, Ahl al-Sunnah, Shafi'i, Mutazila, Fâil al-Mukhtâr.