Ḥanafī Theological Tradition and Māturīdism
Abstract
The theological tradition which can be traced back to Abū Ḥanīfa was initially a minor branch of Islamic theology, well established in North-Eastern Iran and Transoxania but hardly known in the central lands of the caliphate. Later on, however, its teaching became more elaborate and more prominent and was finally accepted as one of the two authoritative expressions of Sunnīkalām(the other being Ashʿarism). The chapter discusses this historical development by focusing on three of its major stages: the formation of the Ḥanafī theological tradition in the third/ninth century, its intellectual elaboration and transformation by Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī (d. 333/944) and the emergence of Māturīdism as a well-establishedkalāmschool in the late fifth/eleventh and early sixth/twelfth century.