يهدف هذا البحث إلى الرد على دعوى يرددها كل من «السلفية المعاصرة» وبعض المستشرقين المهتمين بالدراسات العقدية، وهذه الدعوى مفادها أن الإمام الأشعري قد مر في أطواره الفكرية بثلاث مراحل: حيث بدأ حياته بانتمائه لمدرسة المعتزلة، ثم ثنى بمدرسة ابن كلاب، ثم ختم حياته بانتمائه لما يقال عنه بأنه «مذهب السلف».
ويزعم أصحاب هذه الدعوى أن أتباع الإمام الأشعري الذين يقال لهم «الأشاعرة»، قد خالفوه في المرحلة الأخيرة له، وأنهم ما تابعوه إلا في مرحلته الوسطى.
فرد البحث على هذه الدعوى مبينًا أن الإمام الأشعري لم يمر إلا بمرحلتين: مرحلة انتمائه للمعتزلة، ثم مرحلة انتمائه لمدرسة ابن كلاب التي لا تخالف في حقيقتها عقيدة السلف.
واعتمد الرد على هذه الدعوى على تراث تلميذ من أخص تلامذة الإمام الأشعري، وهو ابن خفيف الشيرازي.
وبَيَّنَ البحث حقيقة دعوى المرحلة الثالثة للإمام الأشعري، وعرض الجهود السابقة في الرد على هذه الدعوى.
كما فَنَّدَ البحث دعوى المرحلة الثالثة للإمام الأشعري من خلال تراث تلميذه ابن خفيف، فَبَيَّنَ أن تراث ابن خفيف يُفيد رجحان أن «اللمع» هو المُصَوِّر النهائي لمنهج الإمام الأشعري، وأنه لا منافاة بين «اللمع» و«الإبانة»، ولا تعارض بين أهل الحديث ونُظَّار أهل السنة.
 
This research aims to respond to a claim echoed by both "contemporary Salafism" and some orientalists interested in doctrinal studies, and this claim is that Imam Al-Ash'ari went through three stages in his intellectual phases: he began his life by belonging to the Mu'tazila school, then he belonged to the school of Ibn Kilab, then He ended his life with his affiliation to what is called the “Salaf Doctrine".
The proponents of this claim claim that the followers of Imam al-Ash'ari, who are called “the Ash'aris," did not follow him in his last stage, and that they only followed him in his middle stage.
The research responded to this claim, indicating that Imam Al-Ash'ari did not pass except through two stages: the stage of his affiliation with the Mu'tazila, and then the stage of his affiliation with the school of Ibn Kilab, which in fact does not differ from the belief of the predecessors.
The response to this claim relied on the legacy of one of the most special students of Imam Al-Ash'ari, who is Ibn Khafif Al-Shirazi. By extrapolating the legacy of Ibn Khafif, which God Almighty made it easy to see, it has been relying on texts from: “Almuetaqad Alsaghir"and “Aliqtisad" and “Alusiat lilmuridin" and “Almuqamat alshiyrazia", and what Ibn Taymiyyah transmitted from Ibn Khafif's book “aetiqad altawhid bi'iithbat al'asma' walsafati", and some of what the book of biographers transmitted on the authority of Ibn Khafif.
The research relied on the inductive approach, and the analytical approach, as it traced the origin of the claim of the third stage of Imam Al-Ash'ari, and the responses to it, as well as tracking through the indexes of publications and manuscripts the heritage left by Ibn Khafif, and the texts contained in this heritage that are useful in the subject of the research, and analyzed in such a way that It can be used in the research topic.
This, this research gave a brief overview of Imam Al-Ash'ari, and his student Ibn Khafif Al-Shirazi, then detailed the saying in the heritage of Ibn Khafif.
The research showed the reality of the claim of the third stage of Imam Al-Ash'ari, and presented the previous efforts in responding to this claim.
The research also refuted the claim of the third stage of Imam Al-Ash'ari through the heritage of his student Ibn Khafif, and it showed that the heritage of Ibn Khafif indicates the preponderance that “Al-Lum'a" is the final illustration of the approach of Imam Al-Ash'ari, and that there is no contradiction between “Al-Lum'a" and “Al-Ibana", and there is no contradiction between the people of Hadith And the theorists of the Sunnis.