Over time, Etzal penetrated among the people and many people converted to this sect, to the extent that some Caliphs were also influenced by this group and adopted their way and religion.
In the second part of the article “Mu’tazila Sect”, the most important topics we follow are the expansion of the Mu’tazila religion, the period golden They are the importance and place of reason in the eyes of the Mu’tazila. Their difference with ” Ahl al-Sunnah wa Jamaat ” is about the creation of the Qur’an and the vision of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted in this world and the hereafter.
Mu’tazila during the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphate
As it was stated in the first part of this article that some of the Abbasid caliphs turned to the religion of “Etzal” and supported this religion with all their might; It should also be remembered that among the Umayyads there were also people who chose the religion of Etzal.
In the book “Al-Mu’tazilah in Baghdad and their influence on intellectual and political life” it is stated: “The first person among the Umayyad caliphs who adopted the religion of ‘Itzaal and whose opinions and views were the same as those of the Mu’tazila was Yazid bin Al-Walid, he believed in the validity of their five principles. And after him, Marwan bin Muhammad, who was nicknamed “Jadi” because of his relationship with his teacher and teacher Jad bin Durham.
In this period, the influence of the Mu’tazila increased day by day and their influence became more widespread, until they exposed the people to a severe test. Mu’tasim and Wathiq happened that they were testing the people about “the creation of the Qur’an” and this incident was named as the Qur’an’s tribulation.
In fact, the Mu’tazila were the students of this science that Mamun brought them closer to him and to the principles of the Qur’an. They believed and he tried to hold debate meetings for them, therefore the Mu’tazila gained a lot of influence during his period in the Abbasid caliphate. Like a disciple, he knelt on the knees of a student and imposed the Mu’tazila’s beliefs on people and tested them in this matter.
Spreading the teaching of retirement in Baghdad
The leaders and elders of Etzal were always trying to spread this religion and bring it to the farthest parts of the Islamic world as much as possible, that’s why some of these people approached the government apparatus to enter through that way. Despite the multitude of groups in it, Basra was always the center of the Mu’tazila movement, until Baghdad was chosen as the capital and it flourished, the Mu’tazila elders seized this opportunity and some of them settled in Baghdad.
During the caliphate of Abu Jaafar Mansour, 137-158 AH, 754-775 AD, the Mu’tazila flourished, and their position and dignity increased; Because Amr bin Ubayd was his close friend before the caliphate was transferred to Mansour, Mansour also loved him and respected him, and because of his asceticism, he always asked him for advice, advice and sermons.
The teaching of Itzal reached its peak in the first period of the Abbasid caliphate during the time of Caliph Ma’mun 198-218 AH/813-833 AD, Ma’mun was famous for his greed for religion and following atheists and adulterers.
Ma’mun kneeled before the Mu’tazila sheikhs and used the great sheikhs and their leaders such as: Samama bin Ashras, Yahya bin Mubarak, Bishr bin Ghiyath Merisi and Abu Hazil Alaf.
The Golden Age of Mu’tazila reached its peak in 846 AD and ended with the end of the Abbasid Caliphate, and after that, the phase of pressure on Mu’tazila began. Of course, it should be known that the Mu’tazila religion was not completely finished in the Islamic world; Although later, this religion grew and spread, especially in the Al-Buyeh government in Iran (Ray) in the second century and after that until the minister of the Al-Buyeh government was a Mu’tazili, one of the greatest figures of the Mu’tazili at this time, Qazi It was Abdul Jabbar.
Mu’tazila thought.
Regarding the social and political thoughts of the Mu’tazila, it should be said that it is not limited to purely religious matters that should be believed in according to the Mu’tazila. Rather, it includes a series of physical, social, human and philosophical issues that are not directly in the field of faith. Mu’tazila trust and rely more on reason in their thoughts and ideas, they examine and deal with most of their affairs through the window of reason.
Allama Abu Al-Hassan Nadwi, may God have mercy on him , writes : This group, which is known as Mu’tazila in the history of Islam, with their vast culture and rare intelligence, did not meditate in science and did not research, their culture was vast; But it lacked depth and many of them made a mistake in understanding the truth and overestimated the rule of reason and the limits of human science.
The ideas of this group in religion and supernatural topics were hollow and crude, and they were discussed in haste. It was done and it was far from solidity and precision. This is the state of every clan and group that is at the beginning of its intellectual stage. If life and progress were destined for them, they would destroy many things that they had completed.
The author of the book “Al-Mu’tazilah in Baghdad and their impact on intellectual and political development” writes: The Mu’tazilah opposed the Salaf in understanding the ideas and their way of understanding the issues and ideas was a pure intellectual way and they tried to apply the intellectual rules to the religious ideas. And their school was one of the greatest intellectual schools in Islam, they considered the evidence of reason as one of the sources of knowledge and understanding.
The Mu’tazila emphasized on reason as the only means of knowing the truth, knowing goodness and ugliness as a reason on their part is a clear proof of this, and they mostly relied on reason and considered reason as the best witness for religious issues.
Reason has a very high position among Mu’tazila, Mu’tazila use reason in many matters and put reason before text, and reason has a special place in Etzali thought. Although Mu’tazilah is a theological stream; But according to this sect, reason has an ontological position and is an irreplaceable tool in the field of knowledge.
we examine the thought of Mu’tazila and the books that have been written in this regard, we are faced with many issues, and in this article, we will discuss the most important parts of these:
The issue of the creation of the Qur’an
The issue of the creation of the Qur’an is one of the most important issues of dispute between the Mu’tazila and other Islamic groups and sects. This issue was started at the beginning of the Umayyad state by “Jad Bin Durham, who died in 118 AH/736 AD, and the differences and conflicts about this issue were always growing.
During Mamun’s period, the debate on this issue expanded; Of course, no one thought of making it the official religion of the state before Mamun. This work was finally done by Mamun. During the trial of the Quran, he tortured many scholars, preachers and sheikhs and imposed this idea on them; But since God is the supporter of his own religion and book, he bestowed such endurance on the noble scholars that even the mountains lose their strength and tolerance against it.
The Mu’tazila say about the Qur’an: The Holy Qur’an is the speech of God in the language of the children of Adam, the Qur’an is attributed to God Almighty, based on the fact that God Almighty speaks like the children of Adam, and there is no similarity between God and His creatures. To prove to Allah Almighty that words derived from words and sounds are the same as human words.
According to the Mu’tazila, the Qur’an is created and narrated; Because Allah Almighty is able and powerful over everything, according to the research that Allah was able to create the Prophet, peace be upon him, before He revealed the Qur’an to him, and there are verses in the Qur’an that indicate that the Qur’an was revealed after the events that preceded him. It was achieved.
The Battle of Badr took place before the Quranic verses about it were revealed and recited. argued with the Messenger of Allah, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, about her husband, the verses of the Qur’an were revealed after her argument. Reason does not indicate that the Qur’an is old for the events mentioned in it.
In this regard, the Ash’aree say: The Qur’an is the word of God Almighty. He is as old as God Himself, and the commands and prohibitions in the Qur’an are also old.
Abu Lahab, who is mentioned in the Qur’an, knew that he did not believe; So, God wrote something about him in the Qur’an before He created him; It is also the same in the rest of the issues that these issues existed in the knowledge of God Almighty before their occurrence.
All Mu’tazilites agree that the Qur’an is a creation. Qazi Abdul Jabbar [one of the great scholars of the Mu’tazila] confirmed his religion and the religion of the Mu’tazila in this regard and writes: “Our religion in this matter is that the Qur’an is the word of God Almighty and His revelation, the Qur’an is created and narrated”.
have presented several reasons to confirm their statement , one of their main reasons is this Quranic verse: “Allah is the creator of all things” ; [Zamr: 62] They say: This verse has a general meaning and even though the Qur’an is also an object; So, in general, the “whole” is inside and as a result it is created ; Because there is no reason for us to exclude the Qur’an from the generality of this verse; So it is obligatory to be included in this ruling.
Their answer to the argument from this verse has been given in several ways, which we mention below:
1. Surely, this statement of theirs is surprising, because all the actions of the servants are not created by Allah Ta’ala. Rather, the servants themselves create their actions and Allah Almighty does not create them, they have removed the actions of the servants from the generality of the “whole”, while these actions are also considered objects; But they have included the words of Almighty God in general, even though it is one of the attributes of God Almighty.
2. Allah Almighty says: ” Indeed, our word is for nothing. [Nahl: 40] ; If the Quran was created; Surely, God Almighty used the word “do” in the Qur’an, and the Qur’an is the word of God, and it is impossible for his word to be taken as his word . Because this leads to the second sentence , and the second leads to the third sentence, and it continues indefinitely, and the sequence is necessary, and the sequence is also invalid.
3. From the statement “The Qur’an is a creation” it is necessary that all the attributes of the Almighty God are created, such as knowledge, power, etc., which is clear and obvious disbelief; Because his knowledge, power and life is the exaltation of the object; Therefore, in general, the word “whole” is included , and after not being a creature, it is a creature, and God Almighty is much higher and superior than what is said about him.
Another thing is that the position of the Mu’tazila regarding the Holy Quran is against the beliefs of “Ahl al-Sunnah wa Jama’ah”. Imam Tahawi, may God have mercy on him, says: “The Qur’an is the word of God Almighty, it has been revealed and manifested by God Almighty without any quality as words and speech. God the Almighty revealed it to the Messenger of God in the form of revelation, and the believers have confirmed him in this matter and have confirmed that the Qur’an is truly the book of God, it is not created like the words of creatures.
Amr bin Dinar says: “I heard the companions of the Prophets, peace and blessings of God be upon him, and those who came after them for seventy years, that they used to say: Allah is the Creator, and everything besides Allah is created, and the Qur’an is the word of Allah from to him the exaltation comes and returns to him.
Ibn Abi al-Ezz Hanafi says: “All the people of the Sunnah, including the four schools and the rest of the predecessors and successors, agree that the word of God is not created.”
The test of the creation of the Qur’an spread so much during Ma’mun’s caliphate that it forced people to do this. Because Ma’mun was the one who agreed with the Mu’tazila in this section and was inclined towards their views and opinions to the extent that in 213 AH he sent a letter to his viceroy in Baghdad and ordered him to inform the judges, muhaddithists and all scholars with this statement. and also ordered to get a commitment from the judges that anyone who does not believe that the Qur’an is a creation, his testimony is not acceptable and to punish those who do not accept this verdict, and this act of his created a great sedition, from The scholar who was affected by this sedition was Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, may God have mercy on him ; But he remained firm and stable on the truth.
This issue continued during the period of the three Abbasid caliphs (Mamun, Mutasim and Wathiq); But in the year 232 AH/846 AD, when the pledge of allegiance was made with Caliph Mutawakkil for the caliphate, he no longer showed any desire towards this issue, Mutawakkil ended the issue of the creation of the Qur’an and stopped the people from debating on this issue.
The sedition of the creation of the Quran was one of the great seditions and one of the great tests for this nation to the extent that the scholars have compared it to the sedition of rejection that occurred at the beginning of the caliphate of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq, may God be pleased with him, and the test of the scholars and elders in this test was very It was hard and difficult.
Ali bin Madini, one of the imams of hadith in his era and one of the teachers of Imam Bukhari, may God have mercy on him, says the following about this sedition and resistance of Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal: During the hardships of the creation of the Qur’an by Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal, may God have mercy on him, he gave him honor.
to end this part of the article with the words of the 20th century thinker, high-ranking thinker and Muslim advocate, Allameh Seyyed Abul Hasan Nadwi, may God have mercy on him, about Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal, may God have mercy on him. Doubt, the difficulty of creating the Qur’an was a great affliction and a very great test in Islam, which Imam Ahmad, may God have mercy on him, removed it at the height of his vitality and activity, and saved this religion from being a plaything of the hands of the rich, or anyone in it at their own will. to do something, he protected this nation from being subordinated to the young, provoked and reckless kings and their companions, and they impose their opinions and opinions on it like a tax, and it is like cattle to carnal desires. He protected it and restored its originality and dignity to the Islamic faith. With this work, he deserved the recognition and thanks of humanity, the praise and praise of Muslims, and the recognition of the future and great generations, and he became one of the great Islamic reformers.
