al-Ashʿarī
At a glance:
- Series: Dictionary of World Biography: Middle Ages
- Categories: Philosophy, Religion, Ethics
- Subcategories: Philosophers, Theology, Theologians
- Curriculum: Middle Eastern History
Article abstract: Al-Ashʿarī initiated a theological movement which gave human reason only a limited role in demonstrating religious truths: Dialectical argument was acceptable if it remained subordinate to revealed facts.
Early Life
Al-Ashʿarī (full name, Abu al-Hasan ʿAli ibn Ismail al-Ashʿarī) was born in Basra in southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) in 873 or 874. He may have been a descendant of the famous Abu Musa al-Ashʿarī (died 662 or 663), a Companion of the Prophet Muhammad. Nothing is known about al-Ashʿarī’s early life, though it...
[The entire page is 2731 words long]
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