Was Ibn Hajr an ash'ari?

The Ash'aris of today claim that Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani (rahimahullaah) was a subscriber to the Ash'ari madhhab, and Ibn Hajr's name is often mentioned in a long list of those whom they claim were Ash'aris.
The Ash'aris have certain fundamental principles (usool) that characterize their madhhab, and though Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani fell into their way of ta'weel in relation to many of Allaah's attributes, that does not make him an Ash'ari (in the manner that al-Baqillani, al-Juwaynee and others were Ash'ari). There is a great difference between a person's usool (foundations) being Ash'ari and a person agreeing with the Ash'aris in some affairs.

As will be shown in later articles, Ibn Hajr was not upon many of the false usool of the Ash'aris, and it cannot be said that Ibn Hajr was an Ash'ari (in the manner that al-Baqillani, al-Juwaynee and others were Ash'ari by way of example), merely because of his ta'weel of the attributes. For someone to be considered an Ash'ari, they have to propound and validate the usool of the madhhab - and Ibn Hajr certainly was not upon that.

For he opposes the Ash'aris in some of the views held by them as a faction - some of which are from their usool - the issue of the first obligation upon the servant, and likewise, the entrance into the affairs of theological philosophy (ilm ul-kalaam), and the issue of khabar al-waahid, and also whether Allaah's speech is just of a single type (i.e. there being no difference between a command, a prohibition, a threat, a promise and so on) and other affairs.

So if someone says "Ibn Hajr was an Ash'ari", we say he agreed with the Ash'aris in their ta'weelaat, or we say he fell into some of what the Ash'aris fell into of ta'weel of the attributes, or he was influenced by the path of the Ash'aris but he did not propound the generality of their usool from the angle of validating them, or deeming them correct.

In this series, inshaa'Allaah, we will show all the places in Fath ul-Baaree where Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani mentions the sect "Ashaa'irah", or "Ash'ariyyah". The purpose behind this is to indicate that Ibn Hajr (rahimahullaah) speaks of the Ash'aris as a faction, a sect, outlining their viewpoints on certain issues as they are raised in the course of his explanation of the ahaadeeth (indicating thereby that he did not identify himself as an Ash'ari).

for more go to http://www.asharis.com/creed/articles/osliq-ibn-hajr-al-asqalanis-mention-of-the-ashari-sect-by-name-in-fath-ul-baaree---part-1.cfm