The Issue Concerning the Explanation of the Mutashabih Verses in the First Period of Ash'ari Kalam

Abstract

The principles of Ash'ari kalam, whose founder is Abu'l-Hasan alAsh'ari, completed their first period after one century with Ibn Furak and al-Bakillani. In this period, Ash'ari and his second-generation students adhered to the apparent meaning of the verses. In particular, they did not choose to explain the metaphorical meanings of the expressions of the Qur'an which caused separations in the history of Belief. In this period, Ash'ari scholars avoided to explain the verses regarding the attributes of Allah. They only tried to understand the attributes literally and kept silent about the essence of the attributes. Regarding the controversial issues in kalam history which are the creation of kelamullah and seeing Allah, in contrast to Mu'tazila belief, they asserted by adducing from Qur'an and Sunnah that Qur'an is not a creature, but an eternal Kalam and Allah can be seen in Heaven. In conclusion, in the first period of Ash'ari kalam, it was clearly seen a reactional approach to Mu'tazila's rational method to explain verses. In the first period of Ash'ari kalam, importance was attached to the fact that literal meaning should be used in the explanation of Mutashabih verses and salaf belief issues should be explained and interpreted by adhering to the apparent meaning of the verses.