Mutazila after them, it referred to the fact that
God has endowed man with a metaphysical and
ethical power through his acts such that “deter-
mination” (qadar) is in reference to the essence
of human action. This is in stark contrast to the
Jabriyya (or Mujbira), who upheld the notion
of divine “compulsion”—jabr—to account for
the ultimate power or true attribution of what
appears to be human agency. Tradition has it
that when al-Hasan was asked whether a grave
sinner (fasiq) should be classified as a believer
or disbeliever, his hesitant or unsatisfactory
response was the occasion for one Wasil ibn Ata
(d. 748) to dissent from the consensual view that
such a sinner was either a mumin (believer) or
kaFir (disbeliever). Wasil proclaimed the sinful
Muslim was rather in an “intermediate state,”
thereby effectively “separating” himself or “with-
drawing” from al-Hasan’s circle of scholars and
students. Amr ibn Ubayd (d. 761), another of
al-Hasan’s disciples, joined Wasil after the death
of their teacher.
Mutazili theology was systematized in
schools that developed in Basra and baghdad,
although members of the respective schools
were not always confined to these geographic
locales. From the earliest period in Basra we
note Abu al-Hudhayl (d. ca. 849–850), while
the Baghdad branch was guided by Bishr ibn
al-Mutamir (d. 825). Under the Abbasid caliph
al-Mamun (r. 813–833), a mihna (inquisition)
was instituted in the early ninth century on
behalf of a specific tenet of Mutazili doctrine,
namely, the notion of a “created” (rather than
“eternal”) qUran. While not instigated by the
Mutazila themselves, the mihna required the
regime’s judges to publicly assent to the notion
that God’s speech—the Quran—was created,
a position conspicuously contrary to popular
belief, as vigorously espoused by ahmad ibn
hanbal (780–855), a leader among the “people
of hadith” (ahl al-hadith). Ibn Hanbal refused
assent and consent to this demand and suffered
imprisonment as a result, not to be released until
some years later when the caliph al-Mutawakkil
(r. 847–861) renounced the mihna.
Mutazilī mutakallimun (theologians) enter-
tained questions later definitive of the agenda of
Islamic theology: whether the Quran is created
or eternal; the nature and scope of free will and
moral responsibility; the problem of theodicy (i.e.,
how to reconcile God’s goodness with the evil
that is part of the human condition or, put differ-
ently: Did God create evil?); how to interpret and
understand the attributes of God (as enshrined in
al-asmaa al-husna, the 99 names oF god); and the
role of reason (aql) vis-à-vis God’s revelations or
the understanding of God’s will.
In the 10th century the “Basran” school is
defined largely by Abu Ali al-Jubbai (d. 915) and
his son, Abu Hashim ibn al-Jubbai (d. 933). Of
the “Two Masters,” it was the son who was to
have the greater influence in this school, clearly
evidenced in the work of the “last great thinker of
[this] school of thought” (Martin and Woodward,
p. 35), qadi Abd al-Jabbar (d. 1025). Among those
worthy of mention in the Baghdad school are Abu
al-Husayn al-Khayyat (d. ca. 913) and Abu al-
Kasim al-Balkhi (d. 929).
Mutazili theology faced implacable opposi-
tion from Hanbali and Zahiri traditionalists (ahl
al-sunna), on the one hand, and from the ashari
school (founded by a former Mutazili, Abu al-
Hasan al-Ashari) and Maturidi theologians on the
other. The end of its golden age is coincident with
the arrival of the Seljuks, first in Persia and then
iraq, by the middle of the 11th century. Neverthe-
less, the Mutazila persevered for two more cen-
turies, its school disappearing with the Mongol
conquest in the 13th century.
As far back as Abu al-Hudhayl, Mutazili
theology was distinctive for its articulation and
advocacy of five fundamental principles (al-usl
al-khamsa): (1) The absolute unity, uniqueness,
and oneness of God (tawhid): While a basic tenet
of Muslim belief, Mutazili theology is distinctiveK 512 Mutazili School