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Mu'tazilah (Arabic المعتزلة al-mu`tazilah) is a theological school of thought within Islam. It is also spelled Mu'tazilite, or Mu'tazilah.
Etymology
The name Mu'tazili originates from the Arabic root اعتزل (i`tazala) meaning "to leave", "to abandon", "to desert".
Origin
Mu'tazili theology originated in the 8th century in al-Basrah when Wasil ibn Ata left the teaching lessons of al-Hasan al-Basri after a theological dispute; thus he and his followers were labelled Mu'tazili. Later, Mu'tazilis called themselves Ahl al-Tawhid wa al-'Adl ("People of Divine Unicity and Justice") based on the theology they advocated, which sought to ground Islamic creedal system in reason. Though Mu'tazilis relied on logic and different aspects of Greek philosophy, the truths 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 school of theology than any objective reality. For instance, Mu'tazilis adopted unanimously the doctrine of creation ex nihilo, contrary to the Muslim philosophers who, with the exception of al-Kindi, believed in the eternity of the world in some form or another. It was the latter, not the Muslim theologians in general, who took Greek philosophy as the starting point and the master conceptual framework for analyzing and investigating reality.
From early days of Islamic civilization, and because of both internal factors including intra-Muslim conflicts and external factors including interfaith debates, several questions were being debated by Muslim theologians, including whether the Qur'an was created or eternal, whether evil was created by God, the issue of predestination versus free will, whether God's attributes in the Qur'an were to be interpreted allegorically or literally, and whether sinning believers would have eternal punishment in hell. Mu'tazili thought attempted to address all these issues.
Tenets
Mu'tazili tenets focus on the Five Principles:
(1) Al-Tawhid التوحيد - Divine Unicity. Mu'tazilis believed in the absolute unity and oneness of God. In this regard, they are no different from the overwhelming majority of Muslims. Nevertheless, the different schools of theology have differed as to how to uphold Divine unity in a way that is consistent with the dictates of both scripture and sound reasoning—a task that is extremely sophisticated given that God is ontologically different and categorically distinct from nature, humans, and material causality. All attempts to talk about the Divine face the severe, perhaps utterly insurmountable, barrier of using limited human language to conceptualize the Transcendent.
One example: All Muslim schools of theology faced the dilemma of affirming Divine transcendence and Divine attributes, without falling into anthropomorphism on the one hand, or emptying Divine attributes of any concrete meaning on the other. The Mu'tazili way of doing this was to deny the existence of attributes distinct from Divine essence. In other words, God is, for instance, omniscient, but He knows through His essence rather than by having separate knowledge apart from Him. This assertion was to avoid the multiplicity of co-eternals—something that may impugn the absolute unity and oneness of God, according to Mu'tazilis. In addition, they resorted to metaphorical interpretations of Qur'anic verses or Prophetic reports with seemingly anthropomorphic content. Many other Muslim theologians did the exact same thing. Others opted for either abstaining from making judgments concerning these texts, or to affirm them "without knowing how."
The doctrine of Tawhid in the words of the Mu’tazili prominent scholar, chief justice Abd al-Jabbar ibn Ahmed, in an original Mu’tazili work translated in Defenders of Reason in Islam by R. C. Martin, M. R. Woodward, and D. S. Atmaja: It is the knowledge that God, being unique, has attributes that no creature shares with Him. This is explained by the fact that you know that the world has a creator (sani`) who created it and that: He existed eternally in the past and He cannot perish (fana'), while we exist after being non-existent, and we can perish. And you know that He was and is eternally all-powerful (qadir) and that impotence (al`ajz) is not possible for Him. And you know that He is omniscient of the past and present and that ignorance (jahl) is not possible for Him. And you know that He knows everything that was, everything that is, and how things that are not would be if they were. And you know that He is eternally in the past and future living, and that calamities and pain are not possible for Him. And you know that He sees visible things (mar'iyat), and perceives perceptibles, and that He does not have need of sense organs. And you know that He is eternally past and in future sufficient (ghani) and it is not possible for Him to be in need. And you know that He is not like bodies, and that it is not possible for Him to get up or down, move about, change, be composite, have a form, limbs and body members. And you know that He is not like the accidents of motion, rest, color, food or smells. And you know that He is One throughout eternity and there is no second beside Him, and that everything other than He is contingent, made, dependent (muhtaj), structured (mudabbar), and governed . Thus, if you know all of that you know unicity.
(2) Al-'Adl العدل - 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. Mu'tazilis did not deny the existence of suffering that goes beyond human abuse and misuse of their free will granted to them by God. In order to explain this type of "apparent" evil, Mu'tazilis relied on the Islamic doctrine of taklif—that life is a test for beings possessing free will, i.e., the capacity for choice.
Humans are required to have belief, 'iman, faith and conviction in and about God, and do good works, amal, to have iman reflected in their moral choices, deeds, and relationship with God, fellow humans, and the earth. If everyone is healthy and wealthy, then there will be no meaning for the obligations imposed on humans to, for example, be generous, help the needy, and have compassion for the deprived and trivialized. The inequalities in human fortunes and the calamities that befell them are, thus, an integral part of the test of life. Everyone is being tested. The powerful, the rich, and the healthy are required to use all their powers and privileges to help those who suffer and to alleviate their suffering. In the Day of Judgment, they will be questioned about their response to Divine blessings and bounties they enjoyed in their lives. The less fortunate are required to patiently persevere and are promised a compensation for their suffering that, as the Qur'an puts it in 39:10, is "without measure."
The test of life is specifically for adults in full possession of their mental faculties. Children may suffer, and are observed to suffer, given the nature of life but they are believed to be completely free from sin and liability. Divine justice is affirmed through the theory of compensation. All sufferers will be compensated. This includes non-believers and, more importantly, children who are destined to go to Paradise.
The doctrine of 'Adl in the words of Abd al-Jabbar: It is the knowledge that God is removed from all that is morally wrong (qabih) and that all His acts are morally good (hasana). This is explained by the fact that you know that all human acts of injustice (zulm), transgression (jawr), and the like cannot be of His creation (min khalqihi). Whoever attributes that to Him has ascribed to Him injustice and insolence (safah) and thus strays from the doctrine of justice. And you know that God does not impose faith upon the unbeliever without giving him the power (al-qudra) for it, nor does He impose upon a human what he is unable to do, but He only gives to the unbeliever to choose unbelief on his own part, not on the part of God. And you know that God does not will, desire or want disobedience. Rather, He loathes and despises it and only wills obedience, which He wants and chooses and loves. And you know that He does not punish the children of polytheists (al-mushrikin) in Hellfire because of their fathers' sin, for He has said: “Each soul earns but its own due” (Qur'an 6:164); and He does not punish anyone for someone else's sin because that would be morally wrong (qabih), God is far removed from such. And you know that He does not transgress His rule (hukm) and that He only causes sickness and illness in order to turn them to advantage. Whoever says otherwise has allowed that God is iniquitous and has imputed insolence to Him. And you know that, for their sakes, He does the best for all of His creatures, upon whom He imposes obligations (yukallifuhum), and that He has indicated to them what He has imposed upon them and clarified the path of truth so that we could pursue it, and He has clarified the path of falsehood (tariq l-batil) so that we could avoid it. So, whoever perishes does so only after dear. And you know that every benefit we have is from God; as He has said: “And you have no good thing that is not from Allah” (Qur'an 16:53); it either comes to us from Him or from elsewhere. Thus, when you know this you become knowledgeable about justice.
(3) Al-Wa'd wa al-Wa'id الوعد و الوعيد - Promise and Threat. This comprised questions on the Last day and the Qiyamah (Islamic Day of Judgement), where God would reward those who obeyed him with what he promised, and punish those who disobeyed with threats of hellfire. According to Abd al-Jabbar: the knowledge that God promises recompense (al-thawab) to those who obey Him and He threatens punishment to those who disobey Him. He will not go back on His word, nor can He act contrary to His promise and threat nor lie in what He reports, in contrast to what the Postponers (Murjites) hold.
(4) Al-Manzilah bayna al-Manzilatayn المنزلة بين المنزلتين - the intermediate position. That is, Muslims who commit grave sins and die without repentance are not considered as mu'mins (believers), nor are they considered kafirs (non-believers), but in an intermediate position between the two. The reason behind this is that a mu'min is, by definition, a person who has faith and conviction in and about God, and who has his/her faith reflected in his/her deeds and moral choices. Any shortcoming on any of these two fronts makes one, by definition, not a mu'min. On the other hand, one does not become a non-believer, for this entails, inter alia, denying the Creator—something not necessarily done by a committer of a grave sin. The fate of those who commit grave sins and die without repentance is Hell. Hell is not considered a monolithic state of affairs but as encompassing many degrees to accommodate the wide spectrum of human works and choices. Consequently, those in the intermediate position, though in Hell, would have a lesser punishment because of their belief and other good deeds. Mu'tazilites adopted this position as a middle ground between Kharijites and Murjites. In the words of Abd al-Jabbar, the doctrine of the intermediate position is: the knowledge that whoever murders, or fornicates (zana), or commits serious sins is a grave sinner (fasiq) and not a believer, nor is his case the same that of believers with respect to praise and attributing greatness, since he is cursed and disregarded. Nonetheless, he is not an unbeliever who can't be buried in our cemetery, or be prayed for, or marry . Rather, he has an intermediate position, in contrast to the Seceders (Kharijites) who say that he is an unbeliever, or the Murjites who say that he is a believer.
(5) Al-amr bil ma'ruf wa al-nahy 'an al munkar الأمر بالمعروف و النهي عن المنكر - enjoining the good and forbidding the evil. Abd al-Jabbar said: Commanding the good is of two types. One of them is obligatory, which is commanding religious duties (al-fara'id) when someone neglects them (dayya`aha), and the other is supererogatory (al-nafila), which is commanding supererogatory when someone omits to do them (tarakaha). As for prohibiting evil, all of it is obligatory because all evil is ethically wrong (qabih). It is necessary, if possible, to reach a point where evil (al-munkar) does not occur in the easiest of circumstances or lead to something worse, for the goal is for evil simply not to happen. And, if it is possible to reach the point where good (al-ma`ruf) occurs in the easiest of circumstances, then preferring the difficult would be impermissible. Similarly, God has said: “If two parties among the believers fall into a quarrel, make peace between them; but if one of them transgresses beyond bounds against the other, then fight against the one who transgresses until he complies with the command of Allah; ” (Qur'an 49:9). Thus, prohibiting evil is obligatory only if the view does not prevail that would lead to an increase in disobedience, and a preference for what was harmful were predominant. If such a view does prevail, would not be obligatory, and avoiding it would be more appropriate.
In every one of these tenets there were differences from other schools of theology in Islam at the time.
Historical development
Mu'tazili theology developed in the 8th century, and by the early 9th century became the official court belief of the Abbasid Caliphate, when it was officially adopted by the caliph Al-Ma'mun. While Mu'tazilism took hold among officials and in intellectual circles, its public appeal was limited.
Under al-Ma'mun, an inquisition-like persecution (Arabic: 'Mihna' "Ordeal" 832-848) was undertaken against scholars who did not adhere to Mu'tazili thought. Its main form was forcing non-adherents to renounce the doctrine that the Qur'an was eternal, and instead attest that it was created. The most famous victims of the Mihna were Ahmad Ibn Hanbal who was imprisoned and tortured, and the judge Ahmad Ibn Nasr al-Khuza'i who was crucified. In another famous incident, Muslim prisoners of war held by the Byzantine Empire were only freed if they attested that the Qur'an was created, not eternal. Later the famous Hadith scholar al-Bukhari was also tested regarding his beliefs about the Qur'an.
The Mu'tazili school eventually lost the support of rulers and high ranking officials. By the 13th century, the theology ceased to exist in Sunni Islam.
Theory of Interpretation
Mu'tazilah relied on a synthesis between reason and revelation. That is, their rationalism operated in the service of scrpiture and Islamic theological framework. They, as the majority of Muslim jurist-theologians, validated allegorical readings of scripture whenever necessary. Justice Abd al-Jabbar reportedly said in his Explication of the Five Principles:
قال القاضى عبد الجبار المعتزلى فى كتابه شرح الأصول الخمسة: إن الكلام متى لم يمكن حمله على ظاهره و حقيقته، و هناك مجازان أحدهما أقرب و الآخر أبعد، فإن الواجب حمله على المجاز الأقرب دون الأبعد، لأن المجاز الأبعد من الأقرب كالمجاز مع الحقيقة، و كما لا يجوز فى خطاب الله تعالى أن يحمل على المجاز مع إمكان حمله على الحقيقة، فكذلك لا يحمل على المجاز الأبعد و هناك ما هو أقرب منه
The hermeneutic methodology proceeds as follows: if the literal meaning of a verse is consistent with the rest of scripture, the main themes of the Qur'an, the basic tenets of the Islamic creed, and the well-known facts, then interpretation, in the sense of moving away from the literal meaning, is not justified. If a contradiction results from adopting the literal meaning, such as a literal understanding of the "hand" of God that contravenes His transcendence and the Qur'an mention of His categorical difference from all other things, then an interpretation is warranted. In the above quote, Justice Abd al-Jabbar emphatically mentioned that if there are two possible interpretations, both capable of resolving the apparent contradiction created by literal understanding of a verse, then the interpretation closer to the literal meaning should take precedence.
Note: The Explication of Five Principles (Sharh al-Usul al-Khamsah) may be a paraphrase or commentary made by Abd al-Jabbar's student Mankdim. Please refer to D. Gimaret, "Les ususl al-khamsa du Qadi 'Abd al-Jabbar et leurs commentares,"Annales Islamologiques 15 (1979):50. In any case, it is believed that the work reflects the actual teachings of Abd al-Jabbar.
Legacy and assessment
Mu'tazilism's rationalism was appealing to the learned classes of the time, as was its stance on Free Will, and its perceived opposition to the inherent anthropomorphism of the rival theologies. However, being elitist in nature, it never gained ground with the masses, and 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. However they soon became focused on debating other theologies and sects within Islam itself. Although Mu'tazalis advocated the pursuit of justice even by rebellion against rulers, their alliance with rulers who oppressed non-adherents made this a moot point.
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. The Ash'ari school of theology was the codifying of the traditional beliefs of Sunni Islam. 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 have adopted certain tenets of Mu'tazili beliefs, and incorporated them into their theology.
Modern attempts at revival
Some modern attempts have been made to revive Mu'tazili thought, especially as a counterbalance to traditionalist Salafi and Wahhabi schools; notable examples include Harun Nasution and Nasr Abu Zayd. However these efforts have not been particularly successful.
Famous figures
- Ibrahim al-Nazzam
- al-Jubba'i
- Abu Huthail al-'Allaf
- al-Qadi Abdul Jabbar
- al-Jahiz a scholar 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
- Zamakhshari an exegete of Qur'an
See also
External links
- Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
- Encyclopedia of the Orient on Mu'tazila
- Encyclopedia of the Orient on Mihna
- Discussion of al-Jahiz refutation against anthropomorphism