Kalami arguments in Tarikh-e Beyhaqi

Abolfazl Beyhaqi, no doubt, was a Sunni Muslim, but of what branch of it is open to question. In his Tarikh, there is such a strong belief in destiny that he appears as a fatalist. On the other hand, regarding the responsibility he believes his historical characters had, he does not seemingly deny free will. Moreover, wisdom and rationalism are widely praised there, while he considers the Mo’tazileh rationalists as foes of Islam as Zendiqs (atheists) and Dahris (materialists). So, what religion could it be called? It cannot be marked as Ashari because the Ash’aris do not agree with rationalism. They do not even consider distinguishing between the good and bad as a matter of rationalistic practice. They had commitment just to what the Shar’ (Divine Law) knows as good or bad. Besides, they were not in a politically good position until the Seljuk took power in about the latter half of the fifth century AH, while in the time when in Basrah and Baqdad, Ash’ari began to reform religious beliefs, in Samarqand district, Abu-Mansour Matoridi (died in 333 AH) emerged with the ideology close to that of Ash’ari’s. Due to the importance he gave to rationalism, of course not so much as Ash’ari did, he attracted Ash’ari’s students who defended his views as revival of perfect Sunni Religion. Abolfazl Beyhaqi praises Abu Hanifah in his Tarikh; since most Hanafis were Matoridis, he can be considered as “Matoridi”. The present article, comparing and contrasting some writings of Beihaqi with Ash’ari and Matoridi beliefs, brings up and studies the probablity of his being Matoridi.