Ebu Mansur Maturidi ( 853 – 944 )


Muslim theologian, and a scholar of Islamic jurisprudence and Qur’anic exegesis. Al Maturidi is one of the pioneers of Islamic Jurisprudence scholars and his two works are considered to be authoritative on the subject

When al-Maturidi was growing up there was an emerging reaction against some schools within Islam, notably Mu’tazilis, Qarmati, and Shi’a. The Sunni scholars who were following Abu Hanifa. Al-Maturidi with other two preeminent scholars() wrote especially on the creed of Islam and elaborated Abu Hanifa‘s doctrin, the other two being Abu al-Hasan al-Ash’ari in Iraq, and Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tahawi in Egypt.

While Al-Ash’ari and Al-Tahawi were Sunni togather with Al-Maturidi, they constructed their own theologies diverging slightly from Abu Hanifa‘s school. Al Maturidi, followed in Abu Hanifa‘s footsteps, and presented the “notion that God was the creator of man’s acts, although man possessed his own capacity and will to act”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Mansur_Maturidi

In his views, religion is a matter of reason and the mind. The human intellect and mind may comprehend religion by using the limits of its potential. The religious relationship of people exists at different levels because the level of human intellect is different. Philosophers and scholars may understand by thinking and applying proof through intellectual struggle. Other people may only comprehend through narration. Like children, they may understand through education, direction and stimulation.

According to Maturidi, the role and importance of evidence in religion cannot be avoided because superiority and rightness of religion can be comprehended not by “imagination” but by evidence. With this view, Maturidi as a Turkish scholar developed a realistic approach to religion deprived of superstition and a “God-human” relationship which would not contradict reality. As long as the perception of “the unity and oneness of God” is protected as principle, human beings can interpret Quran within the realities of their own period. He proposes the “individual-centered” perspective in religion and thus solves the problem of “God-human being” relation without annihilating the individual freedom. It leaves human beings to their own heart, allowing them to go beyond daily perceptions of religion and reach the highest point of mystic vision and a real and permanent freedom.

http://www.transanatolie.com/english/turkey/Turks/Turkish%20Philosophers/maturidi.htm

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