Are the Asha'irah and the Maturidiyyah among the people of the Sunnah, as some university professors claim?

The questioner : From your words, Professor, it is understood that you do not consider the Maturidiyyah and the Asha'irah to be among the people of the Sunnah. However, in our Faculty of Shari'ah, our professors of 'Aqeedah consider them to be Salafis as well. They say, "Yes, they are among the people of the Sunnah, but they erred in their ijtihad." I hope you will clarify: are they among the people of the Sunnah, and what is your opinion?

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you. This is a good question, but this statement is too general and vague; it needs detail. When one of them says, "They are among the people of the Sunnah, but they erred," who exactly is he referring to? Let us take an example: Abu Hanifah erred when he said that faith does not increase or decrease. Yes, he is among the people of the Sunnah, but he erred, that is correct. But what about those who came after him? Did they also err, or did they become stagnant and turn away from the Book and the Sunnah and the evidence that was revealed? Therefore, I believe that this teaching you are referring to is misguidance; it is like throwing dust in people's eyes. Because I am passionate about the Book and the Sunnah. We do not misguide the righteous Salaf, and among them are the four Imams. We do not include them in the ranks of the people of the Sunnah—no. But we hold them to be in error in what they adopted through ijtihad, whether in the branches or the principles, as detailed in the explanation given earlier. These professors and others like them, such as preachers and orators, when they say, "These are among the people of the Sunnah, but they erred"—the people of the Sunnah are two groups: the Imams and the followers of the Imams. The Imams exercised ijtihad; if they were correct, they have two rewards, and if they erred, they have one reward. Perhaps you remember that my previous explanation was broader than how they broaden the narrow matter. They consider the followers who practice taqlid to be free from the obligation of disagreement in the Sunnah, whereas they themselves are held accountable. But I said earlier that there is no difference between error in the principles and error in the branches. Do you remember this? Why? Because they exercised ijtihad. But also, there is no difference in error in the principles and branches for one who practices taqlid while he is capable of exercising ijtihad, or for one who practices taqlid while he is capable of asking the people of knowledge, as Allah the Exalted said: Therefore, the Muslim community today needs to be made aware of their reality and informed of the truth in which people differ. We do not disagree that any Imam who exercised ijtihad and was correct has two rewards, and if he erred, he has one reward. Abu Hanifah erred in 'Aqeedah when he said, contrary to the Quran and the Sunnah, that faith does not increase or decrease. It is not permissible to say, "I am a believer, if Allah wills." He erred in 'Aqeedah, yet we did not say that he left the fold. Even though he erred in 'Aqeedah, it was because he exercised ijtihad. But what about the Hanafis? What about the Shi'ah, even to this day? What about the Mu'tazilah? They insist on saying that faith does not increase or decrease, which is contrary to the explicit Quran and the explicit Sunnah. So this vague, floating talk that "these are among the people of the Sunnah, but they erred"—we do not judge the Imams; we judge the followers of the Imams. Earlier, at the end of my speech, I reminded the audience of the statement of the four Imams: "If a hadith is authentic, then it is my madhhab." If a hadith is authentic in one of the branches, what about in one of the 'Aqaid? Then it is my madhhab. Today, the followers of the madhahib do not follow this agreed-upon text from among the four Imams. There are issues in which the four Imams agreed in the branches, but most of them differ on them. This is a principle of usul al-fiqh: "If a hadith is authentic, then it is my madhhab." Why do they not apply it? Because their inner state, and some of them openly say, "This is how we found our fathers." We do not want Muslims to be like the first polytheists who used to say, "This is how we found our fathers." So, what is being told to you today in the Faculty of Shari'ah, that "these are among the people of the Sunnah, and they only erred"—if they mean the Imams, then we are among them. But if they mean the followers, as is their custom, then we are not with them. And this is the point of disagreement.