Imam Al-Sadiq

thoroughly their subdivisions and their characteristics lest we should miss our aim and make
mistakes. We ask Allah, the Exalted, to protect us from mistakes.
2. The Mu'tazila:
We have no doubt that al- I'tizal (isolation) was born at the time of al-Sadiq, peace be on him,
and at that time it spread. That was when 'Amru b. Ubaid, Wasil b. 'Atta', and the like isolated
themselves from the theological school of al- Hasan al- Basry, so they called them with this
name (i.e. the Mu'tazila or the isolated.) It is not correct that al- I'tizal (isolation) was born
during the time of Amir al- Mu'minin (the Commander of the Faithful) when Sa'ad b. Abu
Waqas, b. 'Amr, and Usam b. Zayd isolated themselves from the battles of Amir al-
Mu'minin, because that isolation was not due to an idea or suspicion in relation, rather it was
deviation from (the right leadership) of Amir al- Mu'minin, peace be on him. Moreover, al-
I'tizal was not know at that time, they were not called al- Mu'tazila (the isolated) on that day,
and the Mu'tazila did not belong to their school.
After the Mu'tazila had agreed with each other on al- I'tizal, they divided into many sects, and
in our present time, there is no one, as I think, belonging to this school. The author of the
book 'Al- Farq bayna Al- Firaq', p.94, has reported from the Essays of al- Ka'by.
"Indeed, the Mu'tazila had unanimously agreed that Allah, the Great and Almighty, is a thing
not like things, He is the Creator of bodies and spirits, He has created what He created out of
nothing, and men do their acts with the fate, which Allah, the Glorified and Exalted, has
created in them." He said: "And they had unanimously agreed that Allah does not forgive him
who commits great sins without repentance."
This is what al- Ka'by has reported about the common thought of the Mu'tazila. We are
satisfied with the above- mentioned text about their beliefs, and we are not concerning a
thorough examination to put these words in the scales of criticism to know the correctness of
what the author of the above- mentioned book has regarded as right towards this claim. Also
this reason has summoned us to pass over what b. Hazm, al-Shahristany, and the author of
'Al- Farq bayan al- Firaq' have attributed to them. Worth mentioning, they have said many
ideas about them.
After this, we do not want to treat exhaustively the sects of that grouping and their peculiar
beliefs, because the enlargement in such a matter will take us out of the limited plan and we
may make mistakes.
Are the fatalists the Mu'tazila? Or are they the Ash'ris themselves? This is an object of doubt,
because if we regard the fatalists as those who say: "the acts of men are created for them, and