Ibn Taymiyyah said:
“As for cursing the Imams of the Ash’aris: the one who curses them gets punishment/ta’zir… And the scholars are the supporters of the branches of the religion, but the Ash’aris are the protectors of the foundations of religion.” [Majmu’ al-Fatawa, 4/16]
He also said:
“The Ash’aris, despite having some Innovations (Bid’ah) within their views, are the closest of the theological sects (Ahl al-Kalam) to Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah and Hadith.” [Dar’ Ta’arud al-‘Aql wa-l-Naql, 2/30]
He further stated:
“To affirm that the Lord speaks with an internal speech (Kalam Nafsi) —as the Kullabiyyah and Ash’ariyyah believe— is closer to reason and intellect than the view of the Mu’tazilah who completely deny that speech is an attribute of Allah’s essence or say He does not speak at all.” [Minhaj as-Sunnah, 5/413]
And he described them as:
“The Ash’aris are the defenders of the traditions of the Prophet (Nasiru li-Sunnat al-Rasool). They are the ones who weaponized their intellect and speech to refute the enemies of the Sunnah.” [Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyyah, 3/49]
He also said:
“I do not want to take revenge on anyone who lied about me and was unjust to me; I acquit for the sake of Allah any Muslim who did me wrong. I wish all the good for my brothers [the Ash’aris] just as I do for myself.” [Majmu’ al-Fatawa, 28/55]
These statements show that Ibn Taymiyyah didn’t make takfir on every Ash‘ari. He criticized some of their innovations while simultaneously describing them as the closest of the theological sects to Ahl al-Sunnah, defending them against those who cursed their scholars, and referring to Ash‘aris as his Muslim brothers.
Read here to learn more about the many kufr of the Asharis and how the real scholars made takfir on them.