Mu'tazila: Difference between revisions

'''Muʿtazila''' (Arabic:{{ia| المعتزلة}}) refers to a group of [[Sunni]] Muslims who famously consider the reason ([['Aql]]) to trump, or be prior to, the [[Tradition]] (al-naql). The Mu'tazila are closer than other Sunni [[kalam|theologians]] to [[Imami]] theologians.

The Mu'tazila believed that the theoretical reason should evaluate what we learn through divine revelation, [[wahy]]. This principle cultivated in some theses in the intellectual system and religious beliefs of the Mu'tazila, providing them with a particular conception of [[monotheism]] and divine justice. Thus, they tried to interpret away the religious texts which were apparently at odds with the reason. For example, they denied, and interpreted away, the possibility of seeing God which is apparently mentioned in some religious texts, because according to the reason, it is not possible to see without a space and a spatial direction, and since God is beyond any space and direction, it is not possible to see Him in this world, nor in the [[afterlife]]. Some Mu'tazili beliefs are explicitly contrary to the ones agreed upon by other Sunni Muslims.

The Mu'tazila constitute a [[kalam|kalami]] denomination formed in the early 2nd/[[8th century]]. The first leader of this group was [[Wasil b. 'Ata']]. He proposed a new theory about the committer of a [[Major Sin]], which was contrary to that of [[Murji'a]] and [[Khawarij]]. According to his theory, the committer of a Major Sin is not, contrary to the view of Murji'a, a believer, nor an unbeliever, as Khawarij maintained. Rather, such a person is only [[fasiq]] (a violator of Islamic rulings) and has a place in between a believer and an unbeliever.

* The material for this article is mainly taken from [http://fa.wikishia.net/view/معتزله معتزله] in Farsi WikiShia.