Alusi and his Intermediate Position between Ash ariyyah and Salafiyyah with a Focus on his Ideas on the Issue of Narrated Attributes

One of the constitutive elements of the Salafist School is its approach to God’s attributes. The Salafist unique interpretation which is presented as the school of proof for attributes lacks compatibility with forefathers’ views in addition to its being extremely dogmatic. Extreme dogmatism has provided opportunities for the opponents to satirize Salafist views. The present article aims at examining Alusi’s approach to interpretation in terms of its adherence to the Salafi School. In his opposition to the Salafist School of proof, Alusi takes side with the approach of delegating the meaning of attributes to the forefathers’ generally accepted views and rejects the manifest meanings due to the corrupted requirements like incarnation. He also agrees with the popular interpretation of attribute verses upon which there is unanimous agreement. The authors take the view that Alusi’s interpretation of narrated attributes do not show any affinities with the Salafist interpretations but they are rather in agreement with the latest Ash’ariyyah theological school of thought. However, it should be mentioned that his liberalistic theology and jurisprudence has had a minor effect on the distinctions in this field.