Imam Abu Hanifa - His Life, Opinions and Fiqh

There was an involuntary inclination towards the past of the kind which psychologists call “unconscious”.
That is why, when there was much civil war at the time of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib in Iraq, the ancient sects were
awakened and appeared in Iraq, gathering around the Kharijites and Shi‘a. It was in the midst of this jumble of
opinions and confused sects that the Mu‘tazilites made their appearance.
Scholars disagree about when the Mu‘tazilites first appeared. Some think that they began with the people
of ‘Ali who withdrew from politics and devoted themselves to the pursuit of knowledge when al-Hasan
surrendered the khalifate to Mu‘awiya. At-Tara’ifi states in his book, The People of Sects and Innovations:
“They called themselves Mu‘tazilites. When al-Hasan offered his allegiance to Mu‘awiya, they withdrew
(i‘tazala) from al-Hasan and Mu‘awiya and all people. They were among the adherents of ‘Ali. They kept to
their homes and mosques, saying ‘We are busy with knowledge and worship.’”
Most sources state that the progenitor of the Mu‘tazilites was Wasil ibn ‘Ata’. He was one of those who
used to attend the gathering of al-Hasan al-Basri at the time when the question arose which preoccupied the
minds of so many people of the period: the question of whether committing a major wrong action makes its
perpetrator an unbeliever. Wasil said in opposition to al-Hasan al-Basri, who had refused to become involved
in the debate, “I say that the one who commits a major wrong action is neither a believer nor an unbeliever.
He is between the two positions.” Then he withdrew (i‘tazala) from al-Hasan’s assembly and set up another in
the mosque. From this you see why he and his people were called Mu‘tazilites.
Certain orientalists, however, believe that they were called that because they were fearful pious men who
withdrew from the pleasures of life as is indicated by their name. In fact, not all the men ascribed to this group
conformed to that description. Some were suspected of acts of disobedience and some were godfearing.
The doctrine of the Mu‘tazilites
According to Abu’l-Hasan al-Khayyat in al-Intisar, “No one can properly be called a Mu‘tazilite unless he
holds to all five tenets of their school: Tawhid, Justice, the Promise and the Threat, the Position between the
Two Positions, and Commanding the Right and Forbidding the Wrong. Only when a man maintains these
five, is he, properly speaking, a Mu‘tazilite. These are the tenets of the Mu‘tazilite school.” We will speak
briefly about each of them.
Tawhid
A particular understanding of tawhid was at the core of their doctrine. Al-Ash‘ari described their position
in his book, Maqalat al-Islamiyyin:
Allah is one. There is nothing like Him. He is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing. He is neither body nor
spirit. He does not have corporeal form or shape, or flesh or blood. He is not substance or accident.
He does not have a colour or taste, smell or tactility, heat, cold, wetness, dryness, height width, or
depth. He does not have joining or separation, movement or stillness. He has no parts or components,
or limbs or members. He has no directions: no right or left, front or back, above or below. He is not
circumscribed by place nor is He subject to time.É He cannot be incarnate in any place. He is not
described with any of the attributes of creation which involve contingency nor is He described as
being finite or as being limited. He does not beget and is not begotten. No quantity can encompass
Him; no veil conceal Him; no sense perceive Him. He cannot be compared to mankind nor does He
resemble creation in any wayÉ He was First before events in time and before contingent things, and
existed before all creatures. He is Knowing, Powerful, Living and will always remain so. Eyes cannot
see Him; sight cannot perceive Him; imagination cannot encompass Him. He is Knowing, Powerful,
Living, in a way dissimilar to all others who are knowing, powerful, living. He alone is timeless and
there is nothing timeless but Him, no god but Him and He has no partner in His kingdom.
On this basis, the Mu‘tazilites asserted that it was impossible to see Allah on the Day of Resurrection since
that would involve corporeality and direction. The Divine Attributes were nothing other than the Essence. The
Qur’an was created by Allah since He does not (in their view) have the attribute of speech.
Justice