After the death of the Prophet ﷺ, Muslims encountered philosophers.

They said that since Allah has the Name "The All-Knowing" and the Attribute "Knowledge", this amounts to having "two eternals" and thus polytheism.

This is how the group known as the Jahmis was born, people who rejected Allah's Names and Attributes so as not to be polytheists from the perspective of these philosophers.

Then another group called the Mu'tazila, said that the Jahmis went too far and that one must accept God's Names, but reject the Attributes.

Then a group called the Ash'aris came later, and they refuted the belief of the Jahmis and Mu'tazila, who no longer really exist today.

Their belief has been the majority among Sunni scholars for the past 800 years.

The Ash'aris accept Allah's Names and His Attributes, but they interpret some of them to avoid the criticism of making Allah resemble creation.

For example, they interpret the attribute of Allah's "Hand" as meaning "Power."

To understand their error, we must go back to the source: how to prove God?

The Ash'aris prove God with the Cosmological Argument:

• The Universe changes.
• Everything that changes must have been created.
• Therefore, the Universe has a cause that does not change (God).

When Allah says He becomes angry, for them, this implies a change, and according to their proof, a change implies creation, so they interpret to save their proof.

In the same way, the Shia prove God with the Argument of the Truthful.

This philosophical proof concludes that God is without limit or direction.

When Allah says He is above the Throne, for them, this implies a direction, and according to their proof, a direction implies a limit, so they interpret to save their proof.

Should we interpret Allah's Names and Attributes using proofs of God?

This simple question refutes Shi'ism, Ash'arism and other philosophical Aqidas.

To go further : Why don't they have the same proof of God?

While Aqida is unified, divergence in Fiqh has existed since the time of the Prophet ﷺ.

The Prophet ﷺ sent a troop on an expedition and told them:

"Let no one pray the afternoon prayer before arriving at Bani Qurayza."

On the way, prayer time arrives. Two groups form:

• Those who prayed along the way to respect the time.
• Those who waited until arrival to follow the order literally.

Upon returning, they told the Prophet ﷺ about the incident.

He did not blame either group.

To understand divergence, one must distinguish:

• The Dalil (Evidence): A verse or Hadith.
• The Hukm (Ruling): The rule extracted from these texts.

Let us take a concrete example: Can one eat a fish found dead?

The Quran (Dalil) says: "Forbidden to you are carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, and that over which any name other than Allah's has been invoked [...]" (5:3)

One might think that the Hukm is that eating a dead fish is forbidden.

But a hadith (Dalil) reports: "The water of the sea is pure and its dead creatures are lawful."

So if one ignores a Dalil or rules of Fiqh, one risks making an error in the Hukm.

To structure Fiqh, 4 great Imams founded schools called Madhabs :

• Imam Abu Hanifa
• Imam Malik
• Imam Al-Shafi'i
• Imam Ahmed

They all use the same basic sources: Quran, Sunnah, Ijma, Sahaba, Qiyas.

To continue learning, I have not found anything better than the Dourous Sunnah channel.

To structure your learning, follow the playlists, including this one on the Usul.

And if you want to become a student of knowledge, then I recommend this site.

To go further : Blind following of schools Quranism