Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari
c. 873 – 935 · 62 years · Basra · Middle East
Philosophy: Kalam
Originally a Mu'tazilite, around the age of forty he broke with them and began defending traditional Sunni doctrine with rational argument. His school of kalam became the dominant one in Sunni Islam.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 9th century
Portrait: ShafiNotes · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Æthelstan — first king of all England, victor at Brunanburh, 21 years younger
- Alfred the Great — King of Wessex who held off the Vikings, 24 years older
- Otto the Great — founder of the Holy Roman Empire who crushed the Magyars at the Lech, 39 years younger
- Edward the Elder — Alfred's son who won back East Anglia and Mercia from the Danes, 1 year younger
Eastern Europe & Russia
- Igor of Kiev — prince of Kiev killed by the Drevlians over a second tribute, 5 years younger
- Oleg the Wise — prince who united Novgorod and Kiev and campaigned against Constantinople, 28 years older
- Olga of Kiev — grand princess of Kiev, 47 years younger
Middle East
- Al-Farabi — philosopher of the Islamic world, 1 year older
The world in their lifetime
- 882 Oleg takes Kiev — aged 9, Eastern Europe & Russia
- c. 895 Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin — aged 22, Eastern Europe & Russia
- c. 900 The bronzes of Igbo-Ukwu — aged 27, Africa
- c. 900 Rise of Chichen Itza — aged 27, Americas
- 909 Proclamation of the Fatimid Caliphate — aged 36, Africa