The Problem of Classification of Islamic Sects in the Context of Hanafite-Maturidite

Abstract

Heresiography. In recent times, a certain increase has been observed in the number of studieson the methodological approach in the field of History of Islamic Sects, and in this sense, theattention has particularly been focused on the heresiographical literature as the primary sources ofthe field. However, given the fact that these works were composed within different heresiographicaltraditions, some problems may arise in analyzing the method and contents of the works properly,and identifying the interaction among them. One of these heresiographical traditions that appearedin the Islamic culture is Hanefite-Maturidite heresiography. Although recently some studies havebeen done on this heresiography, except for a few, they basically consist of brief considerations, ina sense, introductory notes to the matter. In this context, this article aims to identify some of basictexts belonging to the tradition in question, to analyze their distinctive literary features and to giveinformation of their contents