The Ash’aris and Maturidis disregard taking the names of Allaah literally claiming that the ‘Ulama throughout history have never taken the literal meaning except Ibn Taymiyah.
How can this claim be refuted?
This argument is incorrect. A study of the books of early scholar will show that they took the literal meaning of Allah’s names. This can be found in Aqeedah books written by Imam Tahawi, Ibn Qudama and many others. The Ash'ari method did not exist until the 3rd century after Hijrah as a reaction to the Mu’tazilah.
None of the generations before that were Ash'ari or Maturidi in their approach. Rather, the first three generations of Muslims took the names and attributes literally, and therefore that is the correct approach. If anybody wishes to research the matter further, I recommend reading the biographies of the early scholars and the early books of Aqeedah like Aqeedah At-Tahawiyyah and Lum’atulItiqad (Radiance of Faith) by Ibn Qudama.
Allah knows best
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