Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth — Page 21
ISLAMIC SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT. However, it should be remembered that every school that claims to be based on the Holy Quran and Sunnah ought to be carefully evaluated with direct reference to the evidence they quote in their support. Of the various ideologies and points of view thriving in the age of Muslim domination, not all could be described as Islamic in character. Some of them were partially contradictory or even diametrically opposed to each other. This however does not divest them of the right to be referred to as Islamic by their proponents. . A sháriyyah. The Asháriyyah school of thought is indebted to. Imam Abul Hassan ‘Alī Bin Isma'il Ál-Áshárī (260330 AH) for giving it its distinctive style among the other prevalent schools of thinking. This was an era when some. Muslim scholars of the period were rapidly inclining towards rationalism, a need was thus felt to react against this trend. At the head of this reactionary movement was the famous Imam Ismā'īl Ál-Áshárī. It is ironic that ÁlÁshári's own teacher, Al-Jubbãi (d. 303 AH), was one of the leading rationalist scholars of the time. Imam Áshárī not only voiced his disagreement with the rationalist, but also powerfully revealed the inadequacies of any system placing total reliance upon rationality for the discernment of truth. . For the Asháriyyah, rationality led neither to the acquisition of certain knowledge nor to eternal truth, rather they considered that it led to greater doubt and contradictions. The Ásha'irah stressed that real knowledge applied only to the recognition and acceptance of revelation as the only means to reach eternal truth because the ultimate source of truth is God Himself. Therefore the only way to attain it is through Divine revelation. . In their reaction against rationality, some Ásha'irah went to such extremes as to reject any explanation of 21