ABSTRACT
After 950 many of the actual works of the theologians are extant, but in some respects this makes the study more difficult. Thus the study of Islamic theology in this period can be wearisome, and on the whole has attracted far less attention than that of the early formative period. Although it is possible to give an account of al-Ash'ari himself, the origins of the Ash'arite school are obscure. It has even been suggested that he was only one of many who were introducing rational methods into theology and that it was largely chance that caused him later to be adopted as figure-head. The first theologian about whom it is possible to say much is al-Baqillani. Even of him biographical details are scanty. The conclusion that was reached by al-Baqillani and many Sunnites was that the Qur'an itself was the miracle that showed that Muhammad was a prophet.
