There is no doubt that the people of the Maghreb knew the Ash'ari school of thought from an early time, perhaps in the era of its founder himself. And perhaps the aforementioned sayings mean the spread of this school of thought in the Maghreb, the spread of knowledge in it, not the spread of its adoption. In that case, they would not be correct. As for adopting the Ash'ari method in theological conception, its existence in the Maghreb before the Mahdi was limited to individuals. Since knowledge of the school of thought is a prelude to adopting it, we will try in the following to trace these preliminary steps, referring to the reasons for adoption.

Kairouan was the primary center in the Maghreb for accepting and spreading Ash'arism before the middle of the fifth century. This is because, before its destruction by the Hilalians, it was a point of scientific radiation to all of the Maghreb and Andalusia. Students flocked to it to receive knowledge, both what its scholars produced and what they imported from the East. From there, they returned with the works of its people, which were studied throughout Andalusia and the Maghreb.

An intellectual climate conducive to accepting Ash'ari thought emerged in Kairouan from an early time. This is because, along with the dominance of Salafism in creed and Malikism in jurisprudence, there were dissenting groups such as the Kharijites, Shiites, and Mu'tazilites, and even some Christians and Jews. This led to the emergence of a movement of dialogue and debate among these different groups, which created a need for the people of Sunnah for methods of argumentation based on engaging opponents. This was a catalyst for some scholars of Kairouan to become acquainted with Ash'arism, sometimes traveling to the East for pilgrimage or to seek knowledge.

Perhaps the first seed of Ash'arism in Kairouan was that brought by Ibrahim bin Abdullah.