Editing Mu'tazilism (section)

===Theory of interpretation===
Mu'tazila relied on a synthesis between [[reason]] and [[revelation]]. That is, their [[rationalism]] operated in the service of scripture and [[Islamic theology|Islamic theological]] framework. They, as the majority of Muslim jurist-theologians, validated [[allegorical]] readings of [[Religious text|scripture]] whenever necessary. Justice [[Abd al-Jabbar ibn Ahmad|ʿAbd al-Jabbar]] (935–1025) said in his ''Sharh al-Usul al-Khamsa'' (The Explication of the Five Principles):<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=al-Asadābādī |first=ʻAbd al-Jabbār ibn Aḥmad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PilAQAACAAJ |title=Sharḥ al-Uṣūl al-Khamsah |date= 1965|publisher=Maktabat Wahbah |language=ar}}</ref>
{{Quote|إن الكلام متى لم يمكن حمله على ظاهره و حقيقته، و هناك مجازان أحدهما أقرب و الآخر أبعد، فإن الواجب حمله على المجاز الأقرب دون الأبعد، لأن المجاز الأبعد من الأقرب كالمجاز مع الحقيقة، و كما لا يجوز فى خطاب الله تعالى أن يحمل على المجاز مع إمكان حمله على الحقيقة، فكذلك لا يحمل على المجاز الأبعد و هناك ما هو أقرب منه
(When a text cannot be interpreted according to its truth and apparent meaning, and when (in this case) two metaphoric interpretations are possible, one being proximal and the other being distal; then, in this case, we are obligated to interpret the text according to the proximal metaphoric interpretation and not the distal, for (the relationship between) the distal to the proximal is like unto (the relationship between) the metaphor to the truth, and in the same way that it is not permissible, when dealing with the word of God, to prefer a metaphoric interpretation when a discernment of the truth is possible, it is also not permissible to prefer the distal interpretation over the proximal interpretation)
}}
The [[Hermeneutics|hermeneutic]] methodology proceeds as follows: if the literal meaning of an [[ayah]] (verse) is consistent with the rest of scripture, the main themes of the [[Qur'an]], the basic tenets of the [[Islamic creed]], and the well-known facts, then [[Esoteric interpretation of the Qur'an|interpretation]], in the sense of moving away from the literal meaning, is not justified. If a contradiction results from adopting the literal meaning, such as a literal understanding of the "hand" of God that contravenes his transcendence and the Qur'anic mention of his categorical difference from all other things, then an interpretation is warranted. In the above quote, Justice 'Abd al-Jabbar emphatically mentioned that if there are two possible interpretations, both capable of resolving the apparent contradiction created by literal understanding of a verse, then the interpretation closer to the literal meaning should take precedence, for the relationship between the interpretations, close and distant, becomes the same as the literal understanding and the interpretation.<ref name=":2" />