An Overview of the Mu’tazilah
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The Mu’tazilah sect gained its name when Waswil ibn ‘Atha’, the founder of the school, differed from his teacher, Shaykh Abu Sa’id ibn Abu al-Hasan Yasar al-Baswri ( q.s. ), on the question of the status of a Muslim who committed grave sins. Shaykh Hasan al-Baswri ( q.s. ) held him to be a sinner but nonetheless a Muslim, while Waswil dissented, arguing that he was in a station between belief and unbelief, that is, neither a believer nor a disbeliever. Shaykh Hasan al-Baswri ( q.s. ) commented that Waswil “ i’itazalah ,” “withdrew,” from his company, and so this disagreement led to the formation of the Mu’tazilah school. Mu’tazilah beliefs are based on five credal articles. The first two pertain to the highly transcendental conception of Allah ( s.w.t. ) they advance. With regards Tawhid , Divine Unity, the Mu’tazilah rationally interpreted all verses that could yield anthropomorphism and, in an effort to r...