In Baghdād, Imām al-Barbahārī (d. 329H) was the shaykh of those upon the way of Imām Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal (d. 241H). He had shown rejection against Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (d. 324H) when he came to Baghdād and claimed attachment to madhhab of Imām Aḥmad. The Ḥanbalīs in general had hatred of al-Ashʿarī and his madhhab which was rooted in the approach of Ibn Kullāb and Ḥārith al-Muḥāsibī whom Imām Aḥmad had severely warned against. This trend among the followers of the creed of Imām Aḥmad, which is the creed of the Salaf, continued with Abū Ḥāmid al-Isfarāyīnī (d. 406H), and he was the shaykh of the Shāfīʾis. He would openly warn against Abū Bakr al-Bāqillānī (d. 403H) who was spreading the Ashʿarī ideology. Download PDF File