Mu'tazilism

Mu'tazili is an extinct theological school of thought within Islam. Also spelled Mu'tazilite, or Mu'tazilah.

Etymology

The name Mu'tazili (Arabic: المعتزلة) originates from the Arabic root اعتزل meaning "to leave", "to abandon", "to desert".

Origin

It originated in 8th century in al-Basrah when Wasil Ibn 'Atta' left the teaching lessons of a-Hasan al-Basri after a theological dispute, and hence he and his followers were termed Mu'tazili. Later, Mu'tazilis called themselves Ahl al-'Adl wa al-Tawhid (People of Justice and Monotheism) based on the theology they advocated.

Mu'tazili theology developed on logic and rationalism from Greek philosophy, and sought to combine Islamic doctrines with the former, and show that they are inherently compatible.

During this period, several questions were being discussed among Muslim theologians, such as, whether the Quran is created or eternal, whether evil can be created by God, the issue of predestination vs. free will, whether God's attributes in the Quran are to be interpreted allegorically or literally, and whether sinning believers will have eternal punishment in hell.

Also during this period, there were several heresies within Islam, as well as some atheist attacks on it, for example the apostate Ibn al-Rawindi.

In response to all that, Mu'tazili thought developed to address all these issues.

Tenets

Mu'tazili tenets focus on the Five Principles:

Tawhid - Monotheism. God could not be conceived by any human conception. There they argued that verses in the Quran describing God as sitting on a throne to be allegorical. The Mu'tazilis argued that the Quran could not be eternal, but created by God. Otherwise the uniqueness of God would be impossible. They took the allegorical stance to its extreme and started to term their opponents as anthropomorphists.

'Adl - Divine Justice. Facing the problem of existence of evil in a world where God is omnipotent, the Mu'tazilis pointed at the free will of human beings, so that evil was defined as something that stems from the errors in human acts. God does no evil, and he demands not from any human to perform any evil act. If man's evil acts had been from the will of God, then punishment would have been meaningless, as man performed God's will no matter what he did.

al-Wa'd wa al-Wa'id - Promise and Threat. This comprised questions on the Last day and the Day of Judgement, where God would reward those who obeyed him with what he promised, and punish those who disobeyed with threats of hellfire.

al-manzila bayn al-manzilatayn - the position between the two extremes. That is, between those who say all sinners will be eternally in hell, and those who say sinners will not be punished.

'al-amr bil ma'ruf wa al-nahy 'an al munkar - commanding the good and prohibiting the evil. This include permitting rebellion against unjust rulers as a way to prohibit evil.

In everyone of these tenets there were differences from other schools of theology in Islam at the time.

Historical Development

After its beginning in the 8th century, Mu'tazili theology became the official court belief of the Abbasid Caliphate by the early 9th century, when it was adopted officially by the caliph Al-Ma'mun. It only spread in the learned intellectual circles, and never gained ground among the public.

Under al-Ma'mun, an inquisition-like persecution (Arabic: Mihna "Ordeal" 833-848) was undertaken for the scholars who do not adhere to Mu'tazili thought. Its main form was forcing non-adherents to renounce the doctrine that the Quran is eternal and instead, they have to attest that it is created. The most famous person to be persecuted was Ahmad Ibn Hanbal who was imprisoned and tortured in his famous ordeal, as well as the judge Ahmad Ibn Nasr al-Khuza'i who was crucified for it. Moreover, to show the zeal with which Mu'tazilism took hold among officials, in an instance of freeing Muslim prisoners of war held by Byzantium, a test was held for them, and those who said that Quran was eternal were left as prisoners, and not freed. Later the famous Hadith scholar al-Bukhari was also tested on the Quran status as well.

Soon after, the Mu'tazili school lost its support from rulers and high ranking officials. By the 13th century, the theology ceased to exist in Sunni Islam.

Legacy and Assessment

Although its rationalism was appealing to the learned classes of the time, Mu'tazilism never gained ground with the masses, being elitist in nature. Its adoption by the rulers and the subsequent persecution of scholars made it appeal even less to the public.

Mu'tazilis initially focused on attacks on Islam from non-Muslims. It quickly however became obsessed with debate against other theologies and sects within Islam itself.

As a response to Mu'tazilism, Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, initially a Mu'tazili himself, developed his Kalam methodology, also based on Greek dialectic, thus starting the Ash'ari school of theology. Influenced by Ash'aris, the Maturidi school emerged, and its founder wrote many books to refute many of Mu'tazili beliefs.

Many Shi'a sects, specially the Twelver version, have adopted certain tenets of Mu'tazili beliefs, and incorporated them into their theology.

Modern attempts at revival

As stated above, Mu'tazili thought never took hold among the masses. Its rationalism have always had admirers, as well as their stance on Free Will, and the perceived opposition to the inherent anthropomorphism of the rival theologies.

Although they advocated the pursue of justice even by rebellion against rulers, their alliance with rulers who oppress non-adherents made this a moot point.

Some modern attempts have been made to revive Mu'tazili thought, specially as a counterbalance to traditionalist Salafi and Wahhabi schools. However those never really took off the ground due to various reasons.

Famous figures

Ibrahim al-Nazzam
al-Jubba'i
Abu Huthail al-'Allaf
al-Qadi Abdul Jabbar
al-Jahiz a literary genius, and linguist
al-Mawardi a judge and writer on politics
Ibn Abi al-Hadid a poet who collected the sayings of Ali Ibn Abi Talib
al-Zamakhshari an exegete of Quran