Who Are the Maturidis

The Maturidis are a group in belief named after Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Mahmoud al Maturidi (d. 333 AH). He was a Hanafi in fiqh and lived in the lands beyond the river, around Samarkand and Bukhara.

His way spread among the Hanafis, so almost every Maturidi is Hanafi, but not every Hanafi is Maturidi, because some Hanafis follow the way of Ahl al Sunnah wal Jamaah. The Maturidis are the people who follow his path in belief and kept close to his method without going through the later changes that happened in the Ashari madhhab.

What the Maturidis Believe

In belief the Maturidis are very close to the Asharis. They affirm for Allah attributes such as knowledge, life, power, will, hearing, sight, speech, and an attribute they call bringing into existence, through which Allah brings what does not exist into existence.

They do not affirm reported attributes like face, hands, and feet on their apparent meaning, but either interpret them or leave their exact meaning to Allah.

For the actions of Allah that occur by His will and choice, they reduce them to this one eternal attribute of bringing into existence and say that what is created are the effects, not the action itself. In iman, most of them say iman is the belief of the heart only, and some add the tongue, but they agree that apparent actions are not part of the reality of iman.

In predestination they sometimes say Allah creates the basic existence of the human action and the human power affects its description, and at other times they speak in a way that gives the human will an independent role in action, which brings them close to the saying of the Muatazilah.

The Maturidiyyah

The fourth group is the Maturidiyyah, and they were named after their leader Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Mahmoud al Maturidi (d.333 AH).

He lived at the same time as Abu al Hasan al Ashari (d.324 AH). Abu Mansur was on the Hanafi madhhab in fiqh, and for this reason his approach spread among the Hanafis. You will hardly find a Maturidi except that he is a Hanafi. Every Maturidi is a Hanafi, but not every Hanafi is a Maturidi, because some Hanafis follow the path of Ahl al Sunnah wal Jamaah.

A student of sects will hardly find a definition of the Maturidiyyah in the classical books of sects, even though some authors wrote biographies of people who lived at the same time as al Maturidi. It seems the reason for this is that al Maturidi lived far from the main centres of the Muslim lands, as he lived in the region beyond the river in Samarkand and Bukhara.

We can describe the Maturidi direction by saying: it is the theological current that follows the approach of Abu Mansur al Maturidi (d.333 AH) in studying the science of belief.

His words follow the approach of, and this is intended, because the Maturidiyyah truly kept to their teacher in how they studied beliefs, and they did not go outside the principles of the method he set.

You see that here we used the phrase follows the approach of, and when speaking of the Ashari madhhab we used the phrase belongs to, because the Asharis did not remain upon the original way of al Ashari. Instead they changed it and added to it. As for the Maturidiyyah, they did not differ with Abu Mansur al Maturidi.

For this reason the Maturidi madhhab did not go through visible development and shifts in theological study as happened in the Ashari madhhab.

The phrase the way of Abu Mansur al Maturidi in studying belief means that al Maturidi had a method that differed from the method of the imams of the Salaf in the study of belief. He took the way of Ibn Kullab, which is defending the creed of Ahl al Hadith through the philosophical method.

Abu Mansur al Maturidi made great efforts in refuting the Muatazilah, and his well known book called Al Tawhid is in reality a refutation of some of the leading Muatazilah in matters of belief.

He is very close in belief to Abu al Hasan al Ashari (d.324 AH) even though he never met him. Scholars and researchers differed over how to explain this closeness. Some said it was because the opponent was the same in most discussions. Since the opponent for both of them was usually the Muatazilah, their views became close. Some said it was because they shared the same aim.

Abu al Hasan al Ashari (d.324 AH) wanted to bring together the philosophical method and the method of Ahl al Sunnah wal Jamaah, and Abu Mansur al Maturidi (d.333 AH) wanted the same. When the aim became one, their beliefs became close. Some said it was because of unity in their source, meaning that both of them followed the method of Ibn Kullab and took from him, so when their source was united their beliefs became close. This last view is the closest to being correct. (Al Maturidiyyah, Study and Evaluation, by Ahmad al Harbi, page 419)

Because the closeness between Abu al Hasan al Ashari and Abu Mansur al Maturidi was great and strong, researchers worked hard to identify their exact points of difference, writing and collecting material on it.

They differed on the number of issues in which the Ashari madhhab differs from the Maturidi madhhab while agreeing that the two madhhabs are very close. It was said they differ in forty issues, and it was said twenty issues, and it was said thirteen, and it was said fifty, and other numbers have also been mentioned. (Al Maturidiyyah, Study and Evaluation, by Ahmad al Harbi, page 494)

The Maturidi madhhab is not less in size and detail than the Ashari madhhab. In fact it is its counterpart. It covers all areas of belief, and it is difficult to summarise its views in this brief space. However, we will point to the main matters that became settled in the most important principles of their beliefs.

The First Principle: The Attributes

The Maturidiyyah affirmed eight attributes. These are the attributes of meaning affirmed by the Asharis, and they added one more attribute. The attributes are knowledge, life, power, will, hearing, sight, speech, and bringing into existence.

This last attribute is what brings the non existent from nothing into existence. As for the reported attributes such as face, hands, and feet, they did not affirm them upon their apparent sense. Instead they interpreted them or left them to Allah without giving a definite meaning.

As for the voluntary attributes, which Allah does by His will and choice, they reduced all of them to the attribute of bringing into existence. Its meaning is bringing the non existent from nothing into existence, and they intend by it the action of Allah that affects things that do not yet exist and transforms them into existent matters.

According to them this attribute is eternal. Based on this they do not affirm the voluntary attributes as the imams of the Salaf affirm them, because they say that the action of Allah, which is bringing into existence, is eternal, while its effects are created. So the createdness relates to the effects, not to the action itself.

The Second Principle: The Reality of Iman

The Maturidiyyah adopted the position of irja. The majority of them held that iman is the belief of the heart. Some of them said iman is the belief of the heart and the tongue. They agreed that the apparent actions do not enter into the reality of iman.

The Third Principle: Predestination

Their statements in relation to the actions of the human being differ. In some places they say that the power of Allah affects the basic existence of the human action while the human being’s power affects its description. In other places they say that the human being has a will that makes him independent in his actions, and this brought them close to the saying of the Muatazilah.

Qanun at-Ta’sis al-ʿAqa’id by Sultan Al Umayri page 148-150