THE BELIEF OF THE SUNNI-1-

WHAT IS AHL-I SUNNAH? -1-
      Imam Ibn Subki says in his work titled Sharh-u Aqidah-i Ibn-il-Hajib: "The Ahl-i Sunnah wa'l Jama'ah agreed on a single belief. They did not disagree on the attributes of Allah Almighty that are obligatory, permissible and impossible. However, they disagreed on some issues that could lead to this belief. In other words, they disagreed on the evidence. After long research, it was understood that the Ahl-i Sunnah wa'l Jama'ah are three groups:

  The first is the people of hadith. They rely only on the Book and the Sunnah; they do not pay heed to anything else. Their evidence is the Book, the Sunnah and the consensus of the Ummah.
   The second is the group that establishes their issues with thought, art and rational evidence. They are called Ash'ari and Hanafi. The imam of the Ash'ari is Abu-l-Hasan al-Ash'ari; the imam of the Hanafi is Abu Mansur al-Māturīdī. They are unanimous in rational evidence and purposes. They are also unanimous in matters that reason deems possible from the evidence of the heavens. However, they differed in the proofs of some of the issues of belief that are intended, such as the issues of takwīn and taqlid.
    The third is the group of discovery and people of conscience. They are called Sufis. Sufis are also like the people of sight and reasoning, that is, the Ash'ari and Maturis, at the beginning. Finally, they rule by discovery and inspiration.
NOTE: (According to the belief of Ahl as-Sunnah wa'l-Jama'at, there is no such third section. This third section is entirely the author's own imagination. If a bid'ah is to be mentioned in this regard, this is the real bid'ah. You can look at the "Sofiyyun" sect on the Aqaid page of our website.)
      Hafiz Zabidi says: It is known that Imam Abu-l-Hasan al-Ash'ari and Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (may Allah be pleased with them) were extremely cautious about the issues that came before them. They did not invent a bid'ah. Their schools did not deviate from the path of the Companions, Tabi'een and Tabi'een. On the contrary, they based the beliefs of the Salaf on rational and traditional evidence. For example, Imam Ashari supported the school of thought of Imam Shafi'i by confirming his views and ijtihads with clear texts.

Imam Maturidi, on the other hand, supported the school of Imam Abu Hanifa with rational and traditional evidence in the same way. Both of them fought against the heretics and Allah the Almighty made them successful. In fact, the essence of jihad is the jihad they carried out. In this case, affiliation with them is affiliation with the companions, tabi'een and tabi'een. Attachment to them means attachment to them. As a matter of fact, Izz ubnu Abd-i-Issalam says: "The Shafi'is, the Malikis, the majority of the Hanafis and the virtuous among the Hanbalis have reached a consensus on the belief of Imam Ash'ari.

Indeed, although Abu Amr-ubn-ul-Hajib, one of the contemporaries of Imam Ashari, was a Maliki, and Sheikh Jamaladdin, the sheikh of the Hanafis, was also a Hanafi, they wrote works similar to Ashari's creed." Imam Takyaddin Ibn Subki approved of this narration of Ibn Abdissalam.
     From their time until now, no scholar among them has ever excommunicated, converted or excommunicated another scholar. This is evidence that they are on the right path.
    In short, the sole reason for the hostility of the deviants towards the Ahl as-Sunnah wa'l Jama'ah is their inability to practice Islam. Their inability has turned them away from love and led them astray into enmity. Whoever comes across them writes books, draws, and sketches. Some call them "scientists"; some say "verses, hadiths".
   We should draw attention to this. The belief and practical standards of the Ahl-i Sunnah wa'l Jama'ah have reached our time through tawatur documents. The Nâciye sect is the Ahl-i Sunnah wa'l Jama'ah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) described this sect with the sentence: "What I and my companions are on is (belief, action and morals)." Those who are on the belief and morals of the honorable companions, who enjoin what is good, forbid what is evil, and avoid the grave, and worship like them are the Ahl-i Sunnah wa'l Jama'ah. It is obligatory to be on their path.
(It was written based on the book titled The View of the Ahl al-Sunnah is the Measure of Belief published by Dilara Publications.)