Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, Who honored the nation of Muhammad, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam
After the opening of Makkah the people started embracing Islam in large groups, one batch after the other. Prior to that people used to embrace the Religion one or two at a time. Ahmad (in his Musnad) and ^Abd ar-Razzaq in his (Tafsir) narrated from the route of AbuHurayrah that he said: ‘when Surah an-Nasr was revealed to the Prophet, he said:
“أتاكم أهل اليمن هم أرق أفئده وألين قلوبا. الإيمان يمان الحكمة يمانية”
This means: <<The people of Yemen have come to you and they have thin and soft hearts. The belief is Yemeni and the wisdom is Yemeni>>. This is in al-Bukhariyy and Muslim.
The people mentioned in the hadith are the ones about whom Ayah 54 of Surah al-Ma’idah was revealed:
{فسوف ياتي الله بقوم يحبهم و يحبونه اذلة على المؤمنين اعزة على الكافرين يجاهدون في سبيل الله و لا يخافون لومة لائم ذلك فضل الله يؤتيه من يشاء و الله واسع عليم}
This means: [Allah will bring forth a people whom He accepts and they love Him. They are humble with the believers, rough and proud over the blasphemers, and they perform Jihad for the sake of Allah, not fearing anyone’s blame in their pursuit.]
Al-Hakim (in his Mustadrak) and Ibn ^Asakir narrated that when the ayah was revealed, the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, pointed at Abu Musa al-Ash^ariyy and said: <<هم قوم هذا>> which means: <<They are the people of this man.>>
Al-Qurtubiyy said in his Tafsir: that al-Qushayriyy said: The followers of Abu al-Hasan al-Ash^ariyy are his people because every time a people are attributed to a prophet, what is meant is his followers. The Hafidh Ibn ^Asakir said when he mentioned this hadith: <<هم قوم هذا>>
“It is known by the intellectual proofs and the proofs of the fundamental texts that no one among the offspring of Abu Musa al-Ash^ariyy refuted the falsehood of the innovators by irrefutable proofs from the Qur’an, Sunnah, Ijma^ (Consensus), and Qiyas except Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash^ariyy. The hadith of Abu Musa is a clear evidence of the merit of Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash^ariyy. He endeavored against the enemies of the truth and defeated them. Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash^ariyy shattered their words and gatherings with irrefutable intellectual proofs and transmitted texts.”
We have mentioned this beneficial information because of it’s conformity to the honorable ayahs. Also, to elucidate and introduce what many scholars have said, like the Hafidhal-Bayhaqiyy and Ibn Hajar and, the explainer of Al-Qamus and the author of Ithaf Assadah Al-Muttaqqin. Az-Zabidiyy said in the second chapter: If the term Ahlus-Sunnah Wal Jama^ah is used without restriction then what is meant by it is the Ash^ariyys and Maturidiyys.
In short, Imam Abul-Hassan al-As^ari and his students after him (The Ash^aris) briefed the creed of the Prophet and the companions with Islamic and intellectual proofs and thus refuted the many sects that emerged in time.
Allah knows best.
