- Karen Armstrong
God could know what was in men's hearts. This obviously
countered the extremism of the Kharajites, but the Mutazilites
were often political activists, nevertheless. The Quran exhorts
Muslims to "command what is good and forbid what is evil,"'
and, like the Kharajites, some of the Mutazilites took this very
seriously. Some supported Shii rebellions; others, such as Hasan
al-Basri, castigated the rulers who did not live up to the
Quranic ideal. The Mutazilites would dominate the intellec-
tual scene in Iraq for over a century. Mutazilites developed a
rationalistic theology (kalam) which emphasized the strict
unity and simplicity of God, which the integrity of the u m m a h
was supposed to reflect.
The Murjites, another school, also refused to judge be-
tween Ali and Muawiyyah, since it was a man's interior
disposition that counted. Muslims must "postpone" (arja)
judgement, in accordance with the Quran.2 The Umayyads
should not be prejudged or dismissed as illegitimate rulers
before they had done anything to deserve it, therefore, but
should be severely rebuked if they contravened the standards
of scripture. The most famous adherent of this school was
Abu Hanifah (699-767), a merchant from Kufah. He had con-
verted to Islam and pioneered the new discipline of jurispru-
dence (fiqh), which would have an immense impact on Islamic
piety and become the main discipline of higher education in
the Muslim world. Fiqh also had its origins in the widespread
discontent after the civil wars. Men would gather in each
other's houses or in the mosques to discuss the inadequacies
of Umayyad government. How could society be run accord-
ing to Islamic principles? The jurists wanted to establish pre-
cise legal norms that would make the Quranic command to
build a just society that surrendered wholly and in every de-
tail to God's will a real possibility rather than a pious dream.
In Basrah, Kufah, Medina and Damascus these early jurists
(faqihs) worked out a legal system for their particular locality.