Ali ibn Isma'il al-Ash'ari was born in Basra in 874 CE and was raised in the Mu'tazili school, studying under its master al-Jubba'i, until, in mid-life, he announced his departure from Mu'tazilism following deep intellectual reconsideration.
He then founded a middle-path theological school, employing the same tools of logic and dialectic he had mastered among the Mu'tazila, but now to establish and defend Sunni creed through rational argument alongside scriptural text.
Legacy
The Ash'ari school spread widely after his death in Baghdad in 936 CE, adopted by leading jurists and theologians such as al-Baqillani, al-Juwayni, and al-Ghazali, becoming one of the most important schools of creed among the majority of Sunni Muslims throughout history.
