Was Kalam (Islamic scholastic theology) something that did not exist during the era of the Companions and their Successors?

First: The meaning of ilm al-kalām (scholastic theology) is "that which the mutakallimūn (scholastic theologians) innovated in the fundamentals of religion, by establishing doctrines through methods they devised, and by which they turned away from what the Book and Sunnah brought." It is the blameworthy polemical theology according to Islamic law. It was given this name because it relies on excessive discourse and delving into what is unbeneficial.

Second: The difference between ilm al-tawḥīd (theology of monotheism) and ilm al-kalām lies in the fact that ilm al-tawḥīd relies on the Qur’an, Sunnah, and sound intellect based upon them. It is a legitimate Islamic science free of innovation and philosophical terminology. As for ilm al-kalām, it relies on logical expressions and scholastic syllogisms. It is an innovated science that includes many innovated terms and logical terminologies, and its foundations were not present in the favored eras. The effects of ilm al-tawḥīd are praiseworthy, while the effects of ilm al-kalām are blameworthy.

Third: The Salaf condemned ilm al-kalām and warned against it due to the invalid methods of argumentation that led to denying religious truths, the corrupt principles based on specious arguments, excessive delving and over-elaboration, speaking about Allah without knowledge, and turning away from revelation. Some of the mutakallimūn themselves acknowledged its innovated nature, and their skilled ones admitted confusion and regret for what they wasted therein.