Schools of Islamic theology

Schools of Islamic theology are various branches in different schools of thought regarding Islamic creed (ʿAqīdah). According to Muhammad Abu Zahra, Qadariyyah, Jahmites, Murji'ah, Mu'tazila, Batiniyyah, Ash'ari, Maturidi, Athari (also known as Hadith collectors, Hanbalites and their followers Salafiyyah) are the ancient schools of Islamic divinity.

The main split between Sunni and Shia Islam was initially more political than theological, but over time theological differences have developed. Still, differences in "creed" or aqidah occur as divisions orthogonal to the main divisions in Islam along political or legalistic lines, such that a Mu'tazili might, for example, have belong to the Jafari, Zaidi or even Hanafi school of jurisprudence.

Divinity schools in Islam

Aqidah is an Islamic term meaning "creed" or "belief". Any religious belief system, or creed, can be considered an example of aqidah. However this term has taken a significant technical usage in Muslim history and theology, denoting those matters over which Muslims hold conviction. The term is usually translated as "theology". Such traditions are divisions orthogonal to sectarian divisions of Islam, and a Mu'tazili may for example, belong to Jafari, Zaidi or even Hanafi school of jurisprudence. One of the earliest systematic theological school to develop, in the mid 8th-century, was Mu'tazila. It emphasized reason and rational thought, positing that the injunctions of God are accessible to rational thought and inquiry and that the Qur'an, albeit the word of God, was created rather than uncreated, which would develop into one of the most contentious questions in Islamic theology.

Aqidah

Aqidah (Arabic: عقيدة‎, plural Arabic: عقائد‎, ʿaqāʾid, also sometimes spelled Aqeeda, ʿAqīdah or ʿAqīda) is an Islamic term meaning creed. Many Schools of Islamic Theology expressing different views on aqidah exist. Any religious belief system, or creed, can be considered an example of aqidah. However, this term has taken a significant technical usage in Muslim history and theology, denoting those matters over which Muslims hold conviction. It is a branch of Islamic studies describing the beliefs of the Islamic faith.

Literally, the word ʿaqīdah is derived from the triconsonantal root ʿqd (ʿaqada), which means "to tie" or "knot".

Introduction

According to Muslim scholar Cyril Glasse, "systematic statements of belief became necessary, from early Islam on, initially to refute heresies, and later to distinguish points of view and to present them, as the divergences of schools of theology or opinion increased.

The "first" creed written as "a short answer to the pressing heresies of the time" is known as Fiqh Akbar and ascribed to Abū Ḥanīfa. Two well known creeds were the Fiqh Akbar II "representative" of the al-Ash'ari, and Fiqh Akbar III, "representative" of the Ash-Shafi'i.Al-Ghazali also had a ʿAqīdah. These creeds were more detailed than those described below.