And likewise al-Harawī in Dhamm al-Kalām (5/131-144), for he said: (A chapter mentioning the speech of al-Ashʿarī), then he compared the school of law of the Ash'arites and the school of law of the Jahmīs, and between their misguidance, deception, and obfuscation upon the commoners, until he called them the females of the Jahmīs, in a long speech of his, and from it is his statement: "So they [meaning: the Ash'arites] came with tricks that appear to the foolish as other than what is in the innards, with the look of the understanding observer into its root, so he sees the marrow of philosophy in the clothing of the bark of the Sunna, and the creed of the Jahmīs with the attribution of the titles of wisdom."
Then he compared the two schools of law -, and said: "And it is not hidden from those of intellect that the speech of their early ones and the speech of their later ones is like the thread of a sorceress, so listen now, O those of intellect, and see what is the superiority of these over those... etc." And what he mentioned will come shortly.
And Ibn al-Ḥanbalī said in al-Risāla al-Wāḍiḥa fī al-Radd ʿalā al-Ashāʿira (2/451): "And the Mu'tazilites appeared in the time of al-Maʾmūn, and there occurred from them what occurred, so the last of the innovations to appear was the school of law of al-Ashʿarī, and its support was undertaken by the oppressors, the lords of the world, and the people of injustices who establish what contradicts the Sharia, such as astrology, philosophy, and addiction to injustices and transgression (fisq), so that you may know that this innovation is the worst of innovations due to its appearance at the end of time, its spread in corrupt lands, and its callers embarking upon obfuscation, absurdity, and embellished speech while in its inner reality is disbelief and misguidance. Thus, the time of this innovation is the most wicked of times, its followers are the most wicked of the nation, and its callers have the least religion in this community." End quote.
And Abū Saʿd al-Zanjānī (d. 471 AH), may Allah have mercy on him, said in his explanation of his poem on the Sunna (p. 108) after his mentioning of the killing of Jahm b. Ṣafwān: "And the evil of his statements was cut off from the nation and obliterated, and no one remained saying them except where he was not noticed, until there was ʿAlī b. Ismāʿīl al-Ashʿarī, and relations soured between him and Abū ʿAlī al-Jubbāʾī, and he expelled him from his gathering and banished him, so he turned to some of his statements, and began to support it and debate the Mu'tazilites upon it, so its evil returned to the nation." End quote.
And Abū al-Ḥasan al-Karajī al-Shāfiʿī (d. 532 AH), may Allah have mercy on him, said — and he has a poem on the Sunna titled ʿArūs al-Qaṣāʾid fī Shumūs al-ʿAqāʾid, about which Ibn al-Samʿānī said: "I saw him in al-Karkh; an Imam, scrupulous (wara'), a jurist, a mufti, good, most pleasant... he has a poem rhyming in bāʾ on the Sunna in which he explained his creed, and the creed of the predecessors, exceeding two hundred verses." End quote.
And among what he said in it:
- وكذا الهروي في «ذم الكلام» (٥/ ١٣١-١٤٤) فقـد قـال: (بـاب في ذكـر كلام الأشعري)، ثم قارن بين مذهب الأشاعرة ومذهب الجهمية، وبين ضلالهم وخداعهم وتمويههم على العامة، حتى سماهم إناث الجهمية، في كلام طويـل لـه، ومنه قوله: فجاءت [يعني: الأشاعرة] بمخاريق تراءا للغبي بغير ما في الحـشايا، بنظر الناظر الفهم في جذرها، فيرى مخ الفلسفة بكساء لحاء الـسُّنّة، وعقـد الجهميـة بنحل ألقاب الحكمة.
- ثم قارَن بـين المـذهبين -، وقـال: ولا يخفـى عـلى ذوي الألباب أن كلام أوليهم وكلام آخريهم كخيط السحارة، فاسـمعوا الآن يـا ذوي الألباب، وانظروا ما فضْلُ هؤلاء على أولئك.. إلخ وسيأتي ما ذَكَره قريبًا.
وقال ابن الحنـبلي في «الرسـالة الواضـحة في الـرد عـلى الأشـاعرة» (٢/ ٤٥١): وظـهرت المعتزلة في زمن المأمون، وجرى منهم ما جـرى، فكـان آخـر البـدع ظهـورًا مذهب الأشعري، وتولى نصرته الظَّلَمَةُ وأرباب الدنيا، وأصحاب المظالم القائمين بما يخالف الشَّرع من النجامة، والفلسفة، والإدمان على المظالم والفـسق، لـتعلم أن هـذه البدعة شـرُّ البدع بظهورها آخر الزمان، وانتشارها في فاسد البلدان، وركـوب دعاتهـا التمويه والمحال، والكلام المزخـرف وفي باطنـه الكفـر والـضلال، فزمـان هـذه البدعـة أخبث الأزمنـة، وأتباعهـا أخبث الأمة، ودعاتها أقل أديان هذه الملة. اهـ
وقـال أبـو ســعد الزنجـاني (٤٧١ هـ) رحمه الله في شرحــه لمنظومتـه في الــسُّنة (ص١٠٨) بعد ذكره لمقتل الجهم بـن صـفون: وانقطـع عـن الأمـة شـرُّ مقالاتـه واندرست، ولم يبق أحدٌ يقولها إلَّا حيثُ لا يُفطَنُ له، إلى أنْ كان علي بن إسماعيل الأشعري، وفسد بينه وبين أبي علي الجُبَّائي، وأخرجه عن مجلسه ونفاه، فعدل إلى بعض أقواله، وصار ينصرُه ويناظر عليه المعتزلة، فعاد شـرُّها إلى الأمة. اهـ
وقال أبو الحسن الكرجي الشافعي (٥٣٢ هـ) رحمه الله – وله قـصيد في الـسُّنة تلقـب بـ«عروس القصائد في شموس العقائد»، قال ابـن الـسمعاني: رأيتـه بـالكرخ، إمـام، ورع، فقيه، مفت، خير، أطيب.. له قصيدة بائية في السُّنة شرح فيها اعتقاده، واعتقـاد السلف، تزيد على مائتي بيت. اهـ
ومما قال فيها: =
