Al-Ash'ari publicly renounces Mu'tazilism in the Great Mosque of Basra, 300/912-13

The historians of al-Ash'ari place his change from the Mu'tazilite doctrine to the party of the orthodox traditionists in 300/912-13 ¹. Ibn al-Nadim relates that he repented of the doctrines of divine justice and the createdness of the Qur'an in the Great Mosque of Basra on a Friday, mounting a chair and proclaiming at the top of his voice: 'Whoever knows me knows me; whoever does not, I tell him who I am: I am so-and-so; I used to say the Qur'an was created, that God cannot be seen with the eyes, and that I myself do evil deeds; I repent and renounce, resolved to refute the Mu'tazila and expose their scandals' ².

The books also relate that in Ramadan he saw a vision three times commanding him to hold fast to true tradition without abandoning kalam; whatever the details, the story summarises his position — leaving the foundations of the Mu'tazila for those of the Sunnis while defending them with the tools of kalam argument itself ¹.