Mu'tazilism
Mu'tazilism was an Islamic school of speculative theology that flourished primarily during the Abbasid Caliphate, specifically from the early 9th century through the mid-10th century CE. Followers of Mu'tazilism were known as Mu'tazilites or by their self-designated name, Ahl al-Tawhid wal 'Adl. The Mu'tazila school was founded by Wasil ibn Ata in Basra, Iraq, who "separated" from Hasan al-Basri 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.
The Mu'tazila school developed significantly in Basra and later Baghdad. The five major points of the school were Divine Unity which denied all anthropomorphic interpretations of God, Divine Justice meaning humans have free will and are responsible for their actions, the doctrine of the promise and the threat asserting that God will inevitably reward the righteous and punish the wicked as promised, the concept of an intermediate position for a fasiq who is considered neither a complete believer nor an unbeliever, and the obligation of enjoining good and forbidding wrong 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 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 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 matters of philosophy, the Mu'tazila differed from the Falasifa who, although influenced by Greek philosophy such as Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism, constructed comprehensive metaphysical systems often independent of theological scripture. The political positions of the Mu'tazila included support for early Uthmani traditions and, later, close ties with Shia doctrine. 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 the caliph al-Ma'mun instituted the "mihna", an 18-year period of religious persecution where Sunni scholars were punished, imprisoned, or even killed unless they conformed to Mu'tazila doctrine. The inquisition continued through the reigns of al-Mu'tasim and al-Wathiq, and four years of al-Mutawakkil 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 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 were followers of the Mu'tazila. Mu'tazilism also flourished to some extent during the rule of the Buyids in Iraq and Persia. From the 9th to 12th centuries CE, Mu'tazilism significantly influenced Karaite Judaism.
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.
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" of the Arab world and to modern Islamic reformism. 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 Quranism primarily through its skeptical approach to Hadith.
Etymology
The name is derived from the reflexive stem VIII of the triconsonantal root ع-ز-ل "separate, segregate, retire", as in اعتزل "to separate ; to withdraw from".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 .
The verb is also used to designate a neutral party in a dispute. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, "The name first appears in early Islāmic history in the dispute over Ali's leadership of the Muslim community after the assassination of Uthman, the third caliph, in 656 CE. Those who would neither condemn nor sanction Ali or his opponents but took a middle position were termed the Muʿtazilah." Carlo Alfonso Nallino argued that the theological Mu'tazilism of Wasil and his successors was merely a continuation of this initial political Mu'tazilism.
In Islamic history, the term Mu'tazila was used to refer to a group of political and religious neutralists during the First Fitna, comprising Ibn Umar and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, who had chosen to side neither with Ali nor with his adversaries.
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. By the 10th century CE the term had also come to refer to an Islamic school of speculative theology that flourished in Basra and Baghdad.According to Sunni sources, Mu'tazili theology originated in the eighth century in Basra when Wāṣil ibn ʿAṭā' left the teaching lessons of Hasan al-Basri after a theological dispute regarding the issue of al-Manzilah bayna al-Manzilatayn. Though 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 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. 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, so that even the Qur'an was "to be interpreted in the light of , and not vice versa."Historical development
Abu al-Hudhayl al-'Allaf, who lived a few generations after Wāṣil ibn ʿAtāʾ 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 ; the instigators thought it was the Caliph's own scheme: under al-Ma'mun "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 creation 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.
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.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 were punished, imprisoned, or even killed unless they conformed to Mu'tazila doctrine. The policy lasted for 18 years 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.