The two most well-known theological sects within Sunnism are the Mutazila and Asha’ira. However, traditionalists (Alh Al-Hadith) and the Ashaira do not consider the Mutazila within the fold of Sunnism. However, insofar as the Mutazila do not believe in the divine selection of the Imam, we regard this school as nominally Sunni.
The Mutazila as a theological school was established in 105/723 by Wasil ibn Ata. He had previously been a follower of the school of Hasan Al-Basri, but he broke away and began attracting followers of his own. Wasil’s followers, due to their remarkable efforts against foreign heretical doctrines, began to attract attention. During the reign of the Abbasid Caliph, Mutawakkil (d. 240/861), the Mutazila lost its favoured position. The last prominent and distinguished figure of this school was Shaykh Mahmud Zamaskhari (d. 538/1144) whose Tafsir Al-Kashshaf revived interest in their doctrines.
After the death of its main figures, the teachings of the Mutazila were preserved in the Zaydi school of Shiism. The Zaydiyya of Yemen and other regions adopted the principles of this school, aside from its rejection of Ali’s successorship to the Prophet. As well as the Zaydiyya, the Maturidiyya in the East adopted many Mutazilite doctrines. The Maturidiyya were intellectually closer to the rationalists than the traditionalists. However, from another angle, the Maturidiyya and the Ashaʿira both belonged to Sunnism while being opposed to the traditionalist theologians.
Some of the doctrines of Mutazila, especially the impossibility of visibly seeing God in the Hereafter, have survived in the Ibadiyya sect. (For more on them, see the 3rd vol. of this series) Having briefly outlined the key differences between the Imamiyya and Mutazila, we shall leave its full discussion for the future.
Intercession
Islamic scholars unanimously believe that shafaa (intercession) is an authentic teaching of Islam, and that a sinner will be spared punishment due to the successful intercession of an intercessor. From this respect, intercession is only for those who have committed major sins; the Imamiyya and Asha’ira agree on this point. However, the Mutazila school holds that intercession is also available for the righteous, in the sense of elevating them to higher statuses in the Hereafter.
Punishment of a major sinner
According to the Imamiyya and Asha’ira, a person whose faith and belief in God is theoretically sound but commits a major sin out of his own desire is still a believer, but also a sinner (Fasiq). From the point of view of the Khawarij, he has become an unbeliever, while according to the Mutazila, he is neither a disbeliever nor a believer, but in an intermediate position.
Heaven and Hell
The Imamiyya and Ashāʿira believe that Heaven and Hell have been created and exist now and that God is aware of their condition. However, the Mutazila believe that they are not yet created.
Enjoining good and forbidding evil
The majority of the Imamiyya and all the Ashāʿira believe that enjoining good and forbidding evil is a religious rather than a rational obligation; if no proof in justification of this principle has been explicitly provided, that is only because it is not necessary to do so. This is because some of the Imamiyya and a great number of the Mutazila believe that enjoining good and forbidding evil is a rational duty, and it is our faculty of reason which urges us to it.
How good deeds are invalidated by bad ones
The Imamiyya and Ashāʿira believe that whatever a person does has its own value independent of other actions; therefore evil deeds cannot invalidate good ones and render them worthless. In other words, good deeds are only eliminated if the committed sin is polytheism (shirk) or disbelief (Kufr). In this case, all the previous good deeds to turn to nothing. However, for the Muʿtazila the sphere of invalidation (Ihbat) is wider. They believe that a person who has spent his or her whole life worshipping and obeying God, by virtue of a single lie could become like one who has not worshipped God at all, even for one moment.
The relationship between religion and reason
The Imamiyya consider reason to be a tool to infer and extract secondary principles, without exaggerating its role or position. The Mutazila, on the other hand, use reason to reinterpret those external acts of the Sharia and Sunna which do not conform to their own principles, such as the notion of intercession, which they interpret as a means to elevation in the Hereafter.
Repentance
The Imamiyya and Ashāʿira hold that God’s acceptance of repentance is a form of divine grace, as if it were not for God’s kindness, there could be no forgiveness of sins. On the other hand, the Mutazila believe that the promise of forgiveness from one’s sins is an essential rational precondition for repentance and turning away from sin.
The Prophets and Angels
The Imamiyya believe that the Prophets are superior to the angels but the Mutazila believe the contrary.
Determinism versus free will
The Imamiyya maintain that the human being is not subject to predestination and that whatever he does is the result of his own free choice. However, this does not mean that man is completely autonomous or that his actions exist independently of God either. However, the Mutazila believe man is autonomous and his actions are independent.
Mankind’s need for revelation
The Imamiyya say that the human being, in order to fulfil their moral duties, is in need of divine guidance in the form of prophets, without whom he would go astray. On the other hand the Mutazila claim that human reason is capable of identifying a person’s moral duties independent of external guidance.
These are the differences between the Imamiyya and Mutazila schools; it is to be noted that many of the Ashaira agree with the Imamiyya on the aforementioned mentioned principles. Furthermore, insofar as these principles are mostly theological rather than doctrinal, it is not necessary for individual Muslims to affirm every last detail of them, and disagreements on these issues should not be a source of strife among the Muslims.
Source:shafaqna