Imām al-Māturīdī's Theological Methodology in His Discussion with the Opponents

Abstract

This study analyzes the theological method adopted by Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī (d. 333/944) in his debates with some prominent figures, sects, and religions in theological thought. The study focuses on al-Māturīdī's debates with various intellectual rivals such as the Muʿtazila, heretics, and philosophers, as well as his refutations of belief systems and philosophical/theistic schools such as Christians, Jews, the Dhahriyya (naturalists, ascetics, Sūmāniyya and other materialist schools), the Sanāwiyyah, Manichaeans, Daysāniyya, and M Markūniyya. Al-Māturīdī's kalām methodology presents a holistic paradigm based on a balance between reason (ʿaql) and transmission (naql) and shaped by the principles of in-depth analysis and objectivity. This approach is particularly evident in his masterpiece, Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, where doubts and objections to the 'aqīdah are meticulously addressed and the truth of tawḥīd and prophethood (nubuwwa) are justified with strong evidence and nuanced argumentation. The main aim of this study is to demonstrate Imam al-Māturīdī's competent methodology in combating both rival views within the Islamic intellectual tradition and external intellectual challenges. In this way, his distinguished position as one of the most important defenders of Sunnī aqīdah in the fourth century Hijr is confirmed from an academic perspective.