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Religion / branch / eraPhase 4b · Caliphates, schools & sectsMajor figure

Mu'tazilah

المعتزلة

From early 2nd century AH (Wasil ibn Ata', d. 131 AH)

A rationalist theological school emphasising divine justice and unity, known for holding the Quran created and the grave sinner in an 'intermediate position'. Imposed by the Abbasid Mihna, later declined.

Biography

According to the well-known report, Wasil ibn Ata' withdrew (i'tazala) from al-Hasan al-Basri's circle over the status of the grave sinner. Their five principles: Tawheed (denying eternal attributes distinct from the essence), justice (human free will), the promise and threat, the intermediate position, and commanding good and forbidding evil.

Al-Ma'mun's Mihna (218 AH) enforced their doctrine of the created Quran; after its end, Ahl al-Hadith and later the Ash'aris and Maturidis prevailed in Sunni theology. Mu'tazili thought influenced Zaydi and Twelver theology.

Sources & explanation

۞ Qur'an

No specific verses cited for this node.

📜 Hadith verified on sunnah.com

  • Sahih Muslim 8a Sahih

    Hadith of Jibril: the definitions of Islam, Iman and Ihsan ('to worship Allah as though you see Him'); it opens with Ibn 'Umar's response to the first deniers of Qadar in Basra.

💬 Explanation Unverified

Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza's perspective

Methodological note (not a direct quote): Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza's widely known approach is to build narratives primarily on the Quran and Sahih Hadith, to set aside Israiliyat (Judeo-Christian lore absorbed into later tafsir) and weak or fabricated narrations, and to avoid sectarian framing. Applied to this node: Presented neutrally as a historical school.

Empires in their lifetime

  • Abbasid Caliphate 750 CE – 1258 CE
    Mu'tazili doctrine was imposed during the mihna under al-Ma'mun.

Further references

  • al-Shahrastani, al-Milal wa al-Nihal
  • Historical consensus

Connections

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