Mu'tazilism (, singular ) was an Islamic theological school that appeared in early Islamic history and flourished in Basra and Baghdad. Its adherents, the Mu'tazilites, were known for their neutrality in the dispute between Ali and his opponents such as Mu'awiya after the death of the third caliph, Uthman. By the 10th century the term al-muʿtazilah had come to refer to a distinctive Islamic school of speculative theology (kalām)."Muʿtazilah ", Encyclopaedia Britannica. This school of theology was founded by Wasil ibn Ata.
The later Mu'tazila school developed an Islamic type of rationalism, based around fundamental principles: the oneness (Tawhid) and justice (Al-'adl) of God, human freedom of action, and the creation of the Quran. The Mu'tazilites are best known for rejecting the doctrine of the Quran as uncreated and co-eternal with God,Abdullah Saeed. The Qur'an: an introduction. 2008, page 203 asserting that if the Quran is the literal word of God, he logically "must have preceded his own speech". This went against a common Sunni position (followed by the Ashʿarī and Māturīdī) which argued that with God being all-knowing, his knowledge of the Quran must have been eternal, hence uncreated just like him. The school also worked to resolve the theological "problem of evil", arguing that since God is just and wise, he cannot command what is contrary to reason or act with disregard for the welfare of His creatures. Consequently evil must be regarded as something that stems from errors in human acts, arising from man's divinely bestowed free will.Al-Shahrastani, al-Milal, p.31 fAl-Baghdadi, Usul al Din, pp.150f The Mu'tazila opposed secular rationalism, but believed that human intelligence and reason allowed Man to understand religious principles; that good and evil are rational categories that could be "established through reason".Al-Baghdadi, A.Q.,Usul al Din, Istanbul, 1928, pp.26fAl-Shahrastani, M.,al-Milal wa'l-Nihal, London, 1892, p.31al-Ash'ari, Maqalat, p.356Oussama Arabi. Studies in Modern Islamic Law and Jurisprudence. page 27–28
The movement reached its political height during the Abbasid Caliphate during the "mihna", an 18-year period (833–851 CE) of religious persecution instituted by the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun where Sunni scholars were punished, imprisoned, or even killed unless they conformed to Mu'tazila doctrine, until it was reversed by al-Mutawakkil. (PDF) The Aghlabids (800–909 CE) also adhered to Mu'tazilism, which they imposed as the state doctrine of Ifriqiya. Similarly, the leading elite figures of the Graeco-Arabic translation movement during the reign of the Umayyad caliph of Córdoba al-Hakam II (r. 961–976) were followers of the Mu'tazila. Mu'tazilism also flourished to some extent during the rule of the Buyids (934–1062 CE) in Iraq and Persia.
Today, Mu'tazilism persists mainly in the Maghreb among those who call themselves the Wasiliyah. Mu'tazilism has also influenced the Quranist movement and the Neo-Mu'tazila literary approach to the interpretation of the Qur'an.Jafarli, D. "The rise of the quranist movement in Egypt (19th to 20th ctnturies): a historical approach." Гілея: науковий вісник 126 (2017): 181-185.
Etymology The name is derived from the reflexive stem VIII () of the triconsonantal root ع-ز-ل "separate, segregate, retire", as in "to separate (oneself); to withdraw from".For example, Quran 18:16, 19:48 and 4:90). According to Sarah Siroumsa, "The verb i'tazala means "to withdraw", and in its most common use, as given in the dictionaries and attested in Hadith literature, it denotes some sort of abstinence from sexual activity, from worldly pleasures, or, more generally, from sin.
Ibn Manzur, Lisan al-'Arab, s.v oy.':/ : wensirck, Concordance a indices de la tradition musulmatle, vol Iv, p. 11)7. 'Amr taught his followers to be "the party which abstains" (i.e., from evil: al-firqa al-muʿtazila), asceticism was their most striking characteristic. They were given the name "Mu'tazila" in reference to their pious asceticism, and they were content with this name," http://pluto.huji.ac.il/~stroums/files/MuTazila_Reconsidered.pdf
The name is derived from the founder's "withdrawal" from the study circle of Hasan al-Basri over a theological disagreement: Wāṣil ibn ʿAṭā' asked about the legal state of a sinner: is a person who has committed a serious sin a believer or an unbeliever? Hasan answered the person remains a Muslim. Wasil dissented, suggesting that a sinner was neither a believer nor an unbeliever and withdrew from the study circle. Others followed to form a new circle, including ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd. Hasan's remark, "Wāṣil has withdrawn from us", is said to be the origin of the movement's name.
The group later referred to themselves as (, "people of monotheism and justice").
The verb is also used to designate a neutral party in a dispute (as in "withdrawing" from a dispute between two factions).
History
Origin The Mu'tazili appeared in early Islāmic history in the dispute over Alī's leadership of the Muslim community after the death of the third caliph, Uthman. Those who would neither condemn nor sanction Ali or his opponents but took a middle position between him and his opponents at the battle of Siffin and the battle of Jamal were termed the Mu'tazila.Muʿtazilah at the Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Accessed 13 March 2014. Some of the Companions of Muhammad such as Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas and Abdullah ibn Umar were neutral in the dispute between ʿAlī and his opponents (Muawiyah I). Encyclopaedia of Islam s.v. "Mu'tazila" , Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands (1999): "It is an explanation of this kind which today, in particular as a result of the studies undertaken by Nallino ("Sull'origine del nome dei Mu'taziliti", in RSO, vii ), is generally accepted: i'tizal would designate a position of neutrality in the face of opposing factions. Nallino drew support for the argument from the fact that at the time of the first civil war, some of the Companions ('Abd Allah b. 'Umar, Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas, etc.), who had chosen to side neither with ʿAli nor with his adversaries, were for that reason called muʿtazila. He even drew the conclusion that the theological Mu'tazilism of Wasil and his successors was merely a continuation of this initial political Mu'tazilism; in reality, there does not seem to have been the least connection between one and the other. But, in its principle, this explanation is probably valid." By the 10th century CE the term had also come to refer to an Islamic school of speculative theology (kalām) that flourished in Basra and Baghdad (8th–10th century).
According to Sunni sources, Mu'tazili theology originated in the eighth century in Basra (now in Iraq) when Wāṣil ibn ʿAṭā' (died 131 AH/748 AD) left the teaching lessons of Hasan al-Basri after a theological dispute regarding the issue of al-Manzilah bayna al-Manzilatayn (a position between two positions). Although Mu'tazilis later relied on logic and different aspects of early Islamic philosophy and ancient Greek philosophy, the basics of Islam were their starting point and ultimate reference. The accusations leveled against them by rival schools of theology that they gave absolute authority to extra-Islamic paradigms reflect more the fierce polemics between various schools of theology than any objective reality. For instance, most Mu'tazilis adopted the doctrine of creation ex nihilo, contrary to certain Muslim philosophers who, with the exception of al-Kindi, believed in the eternity of the world in some form or another.
Mu'tazili theology faced implacable opposition from Hanbali and Zahiri traditionalists, on the one hand, and from the Ash'ari school (founded by a former Mu'tazili, Abu al Hasan al-Ash'ari) and Maturidi theologians on the other.
Ahl al-kalām Scholar Daniel W. Brown describes the Mu'tazila as "the later ahl al-kalām", suggesting the ahl al-kalām were forerunners of the Mu'tazili.Brown, Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought, 1996: p.15 The ahl al-kalām are remembered in Islamic history as opponents of Al-Shafi‘i and his principle that the final authority of Islam was the hadith of Muhammad,Brown, Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought, 1996: p.13-15 so that even the Qur'an was "to be interpreted in the light of [the hadith], and not vice versa."J. SCHACHT, An Introduction to Islamic Law (1964), supra note 5, at 47
Historical development Abu al-Hudhayl al-'Allaf (died 235 AH/849 AD), who lived a few generations after Wāṣil ibn ʿAtāʾ (واصل بن عطاء) and ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd, is considered the theologian who systematized and formalized Mu'tazilism in Basra. Another branch of the school found a home in Baghdad under the direction of Bishr ibn al-Mu'tamir (died 210 AH/825 AD); the instigators thought it was the Caliph's own scheme: under al-Ma'mun (813–833) "Mu'tazilism became the established faith."
Umayyad Caliphs who were known for supporting the Mu'tazila include Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik and Yazid III.
The Mu'tazilites maintained man's creationAdamson, Peter. "Al-Kindi and Mu'tazila: Divine Attributes, Creation and Freedom." Arabic Sciences and Philosophy 1 (2003): 45–77. of free will, as did the Qadarites of the later Umayyad period. The Mu'tazilites also maintained that justice and reason must form the foundation of the action God takes toward men. Both of these doctrines were repudiated by the later orthodox school of the Ashʿarites.William Thomson, "The Moslem World", in William L. Langer (1948), ed., An Encyclopedia of World History, rev. edition, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, p.189.
Mihna The persecution campaign, nonetheless, cost them their theology and generally, the sympathy of the Muslim masses in the Abbasid state. As the number of Muslims increased throughout the Abbasid Caliphate, and in reaction to the excesses of this newly imposed rationalism, theologians began to lose ground. The problem was exacerbated by the Mihna, the inquisition launched under the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun (died 218 AH/833 AD).
The movement reached its political height during the Mihna, the period of religious persecution instituted by the 'Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun in AD 833 in which religious scholars (such as Sunnis and Shias) were punished, imprisoned, or even killed unless they conformed to Mu'tazila doctrine. The policy lasted for 18 years (833–851 CE) as it continued through the reigns of al-Ma'mun's immediate successors, al-Mu'tasim and al-Wathiq, and the first four years of the reign of al-Mutawakkil, who reversed the policy in 851.
Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the Sunni jurist and founder of the Hanbali school of thought was a victim of al-Ma'mun's Mihna. Due to his rejection of al-Ma'mun's demand to accept and propagate the Mu'tazila creed, ibn Hanbal was imprisoned and tortured by the Abbasid rulers.
Post-Mihna Under Caliph al-Mutawakkil (847–861), "who sought to reestablish the traditional Muslim's faith" (he intentionally wanted to restore his legitimacy due to the backlash towards Ahmad ibn Hanbal's persecution under previous Caliphs), Mu'tazilite doctrine was repudiated and Mu'tazilite professors were persecuted in the Abbasid Caliphate; Shia Muslims, Christians and Jews were also persecuted.William Thomson, "The Moslem World", in William L. Langer (1948), ed., An Encyclopedia of World History, rev. edition, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, p. 189.
The Aghlabids, a semi-autonomous Arab vassal dynasty centered in Ifriqiya from 800 to 909, also adhered to Mu'tazilism, which they imposed as the state doctrine of Ifriqiya (from 830s to 850s). Similarly, the leading elite figures of the Graeco-Arabic translation movement during the reign of ruler of al-Andalus, al-Hakam II were followers of the Mu'tazila. Mu'tazilism also flourished to some extent during the rule of the Buyids in Iraq and Persia.