The Mutazilas understanding in 5 Minutes: The First Rationalist Muslim Sect (8-10 Century)

In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ، وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ

O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad   and upon the family of Muhammad.

Lessons from Intellectual History of Muslims, Every Educated Muslim Must Know: Understanding in 5 Minutes: The Mutazilas, The First Rationalist Muslim  Sect (8-10 Century) 

sʜᴀᴋᴇᴇʟ ᴀʜᴍᴇᴅ ᴀᴅᴠᴏᴄᴀᴛᴇ, ᴘᴇᴛᴇʀ ʟᴀɴᴇ ᴋᴏʟᴋᴀᴛᴀ. 

One Wasil bin Ata was a pupil of Hasan Basri R. A in Basra. He had a disagreement with Hasan Basri R. A regarding the status of a person in Shariat who commits Gunah Kabeera. Wasil thought that the status of such a Muslim lies somewhere between Islam and Kufr.

Wasil distanced himself from Hasan Basri R.A's group when Hasan Al Basri R. A rejected his unconventional views. Thereafter Wasil Bin Ata  started his own circle, where he began to promote his unorthodox beliefs. This eventually led to the emergence of the Mutazilas as a deviant sect or firqa.

Wasil's group became known as Mutazilla, which means one who has withdrawn or separated. After his death  his student Amr bin Ubayd took over. The Mutazilas thrived between the 8th and 10th centuries under the Abbasid rule.

The Mutazilas strayed from several other beliefs of the Salaf, specifically the beliefs of the Ahle Sunnah.

The unorthodox beliefs of the Mutazila sect did not remain confined to the issue of a major sinner's status in Islam. Their deviant beliefs expanded. Here are some of the unorthodox beliefs of the Mutazila sect:

1. They claimed that the Quran is a maqhlooq, meaning created in time, while the Ahle Sunnah belief is that the Quran is not makhlooq.

2. They asserted that Nabi ﷺ or any other Prophet cannot intercede for their followers without Allah's ﷻ permission on the day of judgment.

3. The Mutazilas rejected the concept of qadr or taqdeer.

4. They had a strong belief in extreme rationality, viewing rational thought and independent reasoning as the key principles for interpreting the Quranic text.

5. The Mutazilas held that independent ijtihad should be based on rationality and personal reasoning.

6. The Mutazilas thought that sins significantly impact a Muslim's aqeedah, to the extent that committing a Gunah Kabeera places a Muslim in a sort of limbo between Islam and Kufr.

Post Script:

The End of Mutazila Mischief:

The trouble caused by the Mutazila came to a close around the 10th century.

Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash‘ari, RA, a prominent Imam of Ahle Al-Sunnah and a former Mutazila himself, played a crucial role in dismantling the deviant Mutazila sect, which had inflicted significant harm and violence on Ahle Al-Sunnah during the Abbasid era.

Scholars of high repute, like Imam Hambal R.A and Imam Abu Hanifa R.A, suffered greatly at the hands of the Mutazila rulers of Abbasid, reign. with Imam Abu Hanifa ultimately passing away in prison, bound in chains. Imam Hambal R.A, among others, was also imprisoned, enduring severe torture.

In Sha Allah, I will provide a summary of the atrocities committed by the Mutazila in a future post.

Please click the link below to get a brief overview of Imam Al Ashari, one of our esteemed Imams in the realm of aqeedah.

As Hanafis, we are Muqallids, followers of Imam Al Ashari R.A and Imam Al Maturudi R.A, who are the defenders and preservers of the aqeedahs of our Salaf and their schools of thought, amidst a sea of deviant beliefs. By default, may Allah ﷻ bestow His mercy and blessings upon them.

Beware of deviant sects of this era and their psuedo scholars or moulvis:

Various maslaks of Ahle Hadees sect, Fake Salafis, Jamat e Muslim, Tauheedi Jamaat, Mamaati, Pervezi etc. Present Psuedo Scholars like Jawed Ghamdi, Mirza Engineer,etc

They are duty-bound and all-out to lie, mislead, supress, distort & twist facts, cast aspersions about everything related to Ahle Sunnah specially the Hanafis. They have no inhibition in lying about Quran and Hadiths. Atleast classical deviant scholars were not liars. It was substantially all about interpretations.  They all are deviant missionary sects, not sects simpliciter.

وَﻣَﺎ ﺗَﻮْﻓِﻴﻘِﻲ ﺇِﻻَّ ﺑِﺎﻟﻠّﻪ                       

لا حَوْلَ وَلا قُوَّةَ إِلا باللَّهِ