Mu'tazila

The Mu'tazila (Arabic: المعتزلة, romanized: al-muʿtazila) was an Islamic school of speculative theology (kalam) that flourished primarily during the early Abbasid Caliphate. Followers of Mu'tazilism were known as Mu'tazilites or by their self-designated name, Ahl al-Tawhid wal 'Adl (The People of Monotheism and Justice).

Mu'tazilism was founded by Wasil ibn Ata (d. 748 CE) in Basra, Iraq, who "separated" (made i'tizal) from Hasan al-Basri (d. 728 CE) over a theological dispute regarding the status of a fasiq. Mu'tazilites were the first Muslims to use the categories and methods of Hellenistic philosophy to derive their major and distinctive dogmatic points, utilising rationalist, dialectic, and Ancient Greek philosophical tools to interpret Islamic doctrines.

Modern followers of the Mu'tazila are known as Neo-Mu'tazilites.

Mu'tazilite beliefs

The Mu'tazila school developed significantly in Basra and later Baghdad. The five major points of the school were Divine Unity (al-Tawhid) which denied all anthropomorphic interpretations of God, Divine Justice (al-Adl) meaning humans have free will and are responsible for their actions, the doctrine of the promise and the threat (al-Wa'd wa al-Wa'id) asserting that God will inevitably reward the righteous and punish the wicked as promised, the concept of an intermediate position (al-Manzilah bayna al-Manzilatayn) for a fasiq who is considered neither a complete believer nor an unbeliever, and the obligation of enjoining good and forbidding wrong (al-Amr bi al-Ma'ruf wa al-Nahy 'an al-Munkar) which they interpreted to include the right to an armed revolt against an unjust state.

The Mu'tazilites are best known for their belief that the Qur'an is God's "created" word, instead of pre-existing with God himself since eternity. This went against a common Sunni position which argued that with God being all-knowing, his knowledge of the Qur'an must have been eternal, hence uncreated just like him.

The Mu'tazila believed that reason ('aql) and revelation were complementary, with reason serving as the primary tool for interpreting scripture. If a literal reading of a text conflicted with rational understanding, a metaphorical interpretation (ta'wil) was preferred. The Mu'tazila opposed secular rationalism but defended ethical objectivism, believing that divine commands, revealed as Sharia, educated Muslims about objective ethical values that were already in the nature of things and knowable to human reason.

In the 7th–8th Century CE, the belief that hadith were part of the Sunnah was a minority position among Muslims. Later, the hadith-based approach to Sunnah was popularised by the Ahl al-Hadith movement, who were opposed by the Mu'tazila.

In matters of philosophy, the Mu'tazila differed from the Falasifa who, although influenced by Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism, constructed comprehensive metaphysical systems often independent of theological scripture. In matters of faith, the Mu'tazila were pitted against the Ahl al-Hadith, superheaded by the Hanbalites.

The political positions of the Mu'tazila included support for early Uthmani (pro-Uthman) traditions and, later, close ties with Shia doctrine. 

Political rise

In matters of faith, the Mu'tazila were pitted against Ahl al-Hadith, superheaded by the Hanbalites. The conflict between the two schools peaked during the Abbasid Caliphate when Caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813-833 CE) instituted the "mihna", a period of religious persecution where Sunni scholars were punished, imprisoned, or even killed unless they conformed to Mu'tazila doctrine. The mihna continued through the reigns of al-Mu'tasim (r. 833-842 CE) and al-Wathiq (r. 842-847 CE), and four years of al-Mutawakkil (r. 847-861 CE) who reversed it in 851 CE.

Mu'tazilites continued to be well established in many other centres of Islamic learning, especially in Persia, and had split into two rival factions, the "Basran" and "Baghdad" schools. The Aghlabids (800-909 CE) also adhered to Mu'tazilism, which they imposed as the state doctrine of Ifriqiya. Mu'tazilites also resided in the region south of the Barghawata, in present-day Morocco. 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 CE) 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. From the 9th to 12th centuries CE, Mu'tazilism significantly influenced Karaite Judaism.

Decline

From the late 9th century CE onwards, the decline of the Mu'tazila was caused by a combination of political, social, and theological factors, notably culminating in the declaration of the Qadiri Creed in 1017 CE, which was instrumental in removing Mu'tazilite influence from the public sphere in Abbasid lands. In Central Asia, Mu'tazilite theology continued to flourish under the Khwarazmshah's up to the beginning of the 13th century CE. By the time of the Mongol invasions in the 13th century CE, Mu'tazilite schools had disappeared, although Mu'tazilite doctrine ultimately persisted, especially among the Shia in Persia and in Yemen among the Zaydis, which led to the preserving of many important Mu'tazilite theological sources.

Modern legacy

In the modern period, Mu'tazilite thought has seen a revival in the form of Neo-Mu'tazilism, which stands in relation to the "renaissance" (Nahda) of the Arab world and to Islamic modernism. Neo-Mu'tazilism has developed in various regions, such as in the Maghreb, Turkey, Iran, France, India, and Indonesia. Mu'tazilism has influenced the Neo-Mu'tazila literary approach to the interpretation of the Qur'an through an emphasis on metaphoric interpretation and using reason to interpret texts. It has also influenced Hadith rejection and Qur'anism primarily through its skeptical approach to hadith.

See also

• Islam
• Al-Jahiz
• Neo-Mu'tazilites
• Hadith rejectors
• Ahl al-Kalam
• Muslim Hebraists
• Islamic philosophy
• Al-Kindi
• Kindi Circle
• Islamic archaeology

References

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