Athari

Athari, also known as Ahl al-Hadith or traditionalists, is a Sunni Islamic theological approach that emphasizes reliance on the Qur’an and the Sunnah (hadith) as the primary sources of belief and practice. It developed as a reaction against early rationalist speculative theology (kalam), especially Muʿtazilī discourse, and is associated with a text‑centered method in both creed and law.

Doctrinally, the Athari approach holds that matters of faith should be established through revelation rather than through theoretical philosophical argument. They affirm the divine attributes described in Scripture and typically refrain from metaphysical speculation about their modality or essence. While they accept that God’s nature is beyond human comprehension and avoid anthropomorphism, they insist that verbal descriptions in the revealed texts are taken as stated and not reinterpreted through speculative reason.

Origins and influence, in broad terms, trace to early hadith scholars in Basra and Baghdad during the 8th and 9th centuries. Ahmad ibn Hanbal is often cited as a central figure, and the Hanbali school of jurisprudence is commonly associated with Athari theology. In later centuries, thinkers such as Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah articulated an Athari-leaning stance, shaping certain conservative, text‑oriented strands of Sunni Islam. In the modern era, Salafi currents have popularized Athari-style textualism, especially in their emphasis on Qur’an and hadith over speculative theology.

Reception and legacy of Athari thought vary. Supporters praise its fidelity to revealed texts and its resistance to overreach by philosophical systems, while critics argue that it can hinder systematic theological clarification. The label is used both to describe a distinct method within the Hanbali tradition and, more broadly, to characterize traditionalist currents within Sunni Islam.