The Muʿtazila
Vâsıl b. AtâEbü'l-Hüzeyl el-AllâfNazzâmKādî Abdülcebbâr
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For everyone
The Muʿtazila is the kalām school that gave priority to reason and human will in interpreting matters of belief. It emphasised God's justice, held that humans create their own acts by their own will, and maintained that the Qur'an is created. For a time under the Abbasids it became the official view (the Miḥna, 833–848).
For specialists
The school's five principles (al-uṣūl al-khamsa) are divine unity, justice, the promise and the threat, the intermediate position, and commanding right and forbidding wrong. For the Muʿtazila good and evil can be known by reason. The school held the divine attributes to be identical with God's essence. The Basran Muʿtazila developed an atomist theory of nature, while al-Naẓẓām rejected atomism in favour of infinite divisibility.
Claims
- Good and evil can be known by reason; humans are the creators of their acts and responsible for them.[1]
Positions
- Sunni theologians (Ashʿarī, Māturīdī)
- God creates acts; the Qur'an is not created; the Muʿtazila's priority on reason does not give scripture its due.[2]
Connections
Sources
- EncyclopediaMu'tezile. TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisiislamansiklopedisi.org.trarchive
- EncyclopediaEş'ariyye. TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisiislamansiklopedisi.org.trarchive
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Cite this page
Athena contributors. (2026). The Muʿtazila. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/mutezile/
@misc{athena_mutezile,
title = {The Muʿtazila},
author = {{Athena contributors}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/mutezile/}},
note = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 27, 2026 · Page history