There's that number a thousand again. this is the second time in this thread I point this out. the ash'aris have a pattern of mentioning a thousand instead of 1,400. the atharis have a pattern of talking about the salaf.
just this whole business of using "1,000" makes me think the Ash'aris themselves know they aren't following the salaf.
About a thousand years ago there was Ibn Arabi al-Maliki whose tafsir I greatly respect. But from what I've read he was an Ash'ari. And Nawawi obviously is extremely important in the Shafi'i madhhab. I'm not saying ppl shouldn't learn his fiqh. But in aqeedah- should we follow the salaf or follow figures like Nawawi and Ibn Arabi al-Maliki? It would be crazy to give more weight to later scholars than to the salaf al salih. The correct way is Quran and Sunnah upon understanding of salaf, not Quran and Sunnah upon understanding of a thousand years ago.
Both the Ashari and Athari aqeedah is from the Salaf, however the Salafi aqeedah is from Ibn Taymiyyah and completely distinct. This is what Imam Nawawi said regarding the hadith of descent:
“This ĥadīth [of Nuzūl] is of the ĥadīths mentioning attributes. There are two famous ways of the scholars regarding them, that have been explained previously in the chapter on belief.
Their brief description is that one is the approach of most of the Salaf, and some Kalām scholars, which is to believe it is true in a sense that befits Allāh, and that it's apparent, usual meaning for us, is not meant, and one does not speak about its meaning, accompanied with the belief that Allāh is clear of having attributes of created things, and of translocation, movements, and all descriptions that are for created things.
The other approach is that of most Kalām scholars, and groups among the Salaf, and they are narrated here from Mālik and Awzāýī, is to interpret these according to what befits the context. Accordingly, they interpreted this ĥadīth in two ways. One of them: Is that of Mālik ibn Anas and others, which is to say that it means: His Mercy, command, and angels descend, as it is said, ‘the Sultān did so and so’, when it was actually his subjects that did it by his command. The other: Is that it is metaphorical, and its meaning is, ‘accepting those who call by answering them and [showing them] benevolence.’”
And this is what Imam Nawawi said regarding the hadith of the slave girl:
“This hadith is from the narrations of the attributes of Allah, and there are two madhdhabs regarding this, and I have mentioned them both in the chapter of Iman. The first is to believe in it without delving into its meaning, while believing that Allah has no similitude to Him at all, and negating for him the attributes of created beings. And the second school is that it is interpreted in a manner that befits Him.”