Editing Mu'tazilism (section)

===Origin===
The Mu'tazili appeared in early Islāmic history in the dispute over [[Alī]]'s leadership of the Muslim community after the death of the third caliph, [[Uthman]]. Those who would neither condemn nor sanction Ali or his opponents but took a middle position between him and his opponents at the [[battle of Siffin]] and the [[battle of Jamal]] were termed the Mu'tazila.<ref name="Mutazilah">[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/399752/Mutazilah Muʿtazilah] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100202054617/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/399752/Mutazilah |date=2010-02-02 }} at the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]]. Accessed 13 March 2014. Some of the [[Companions of the Prophet|Companions of Muhammad]] such as [[Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas]] and [[Abd Allah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab|Abdullah ibn Umar]] were neutral in the dispute between ʿAlī and his opponents ([[Muawiyah I]]). ''[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]'' [http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ei2/mu-tazila.htm s.v. "Mu'tazila"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100425070247/http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ei2/mu-tazila.htm |date=2010-04-25 }}, Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands (1999):
"It is an explanation of this kind which today, in particular as a result of the studies undertaken by Nallino ("Sull'origine del nome dei Mu'taziliti", in ''RSO'', vii [1916]), is generally accepted: ''i'tizal'' would designate a position of neutrality in the face of opposing factions. Nallino drew support for the argument from the fact that at the time of the first civil war, some of the Companions ('Abd Allah b. 'Umar, Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas, etc.), who had chosen to side neither with ʿAli nor with his adversaries, were for that reason called muʿtazila. He even drew the conclusion that the theological Mu'tazilism of Wasil and his successors was merely a continuation of this initial political Mu'tazilism; in reality, there does not seem to have been the least connection between one and the other. But, in its principle, this explanation is probably valid."</ref> By the 10th century CE the term had also come to refer to an Islamic school of speculative theology (kalām) that flourished in Basra and Baghdad (8th–10th century).<ref name="britannica2"/><ref name="robinson2"/><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Different views on human freedom – Mu'tazilites and Asharites – Authority in Islam – GCSE Religious Studies Revision – OCR|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zkdkw6f/revision/3|access-date=2021-06-19|website=BBC Bitesize|language=en-GB|archive-date=2021-06-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621143801/https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zkdkw6f/revision/3|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to Sunni sources, Mu'tazili theology originated in the eighth century in Basra (now in Iraq) when [[Wasil ibn Ata|Wāṣil ibn ʿAṭā']] (died 131 AH/748 AD) left the teaching lessons of [[Hasan al-Basri]] after a theological dispute regarding the issue of ''al-Manzilah bayna al-Manzilatayn'' (''a position between two positions'').<ref name=ad /> Though Mu'tazilis later relied on [[Logic in Islamic philosophy|logic]] and different aspects of [[early Islamic philosophy]] and [[ancient Greek philosophy]]. The basics of Islam were their starting point and ultimate reference.{{sfn|Walzer|1967}}{{sfn|Craig|2000}}
The accusations leveled against them by rival schools of theology that they gave absolute authority to extra-Islamic paradigms reflect more the fierce polemics between various schools of theology than any objective reality. For instance, most Mu'tazilis adopted the doctrine of creation ''[[ex nihilo]]'', contrary to certain [[List of Muslim philosophers|Muslim philosophers]] who, with the exception of [[al-Kindi]], believed in the eternity of the world in some form or another.{{sfn|Craig|2000}}

Mu'tazili theology faced implacable opposition from Hanbali and Zahiri traditionalists, on the one hand, and from the Ash'ari school (founded by a former Mu'tazili, Abu al Hasan al-Ash'ari) and Maturidi theologians on the other.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Campo|first=Juan Eduardo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZbyz_Hr-eIC&q=Mutazili+theology+faced+implacable+opposi-%EF%BB%BF+tion+from+Hanbali+and+Zahiri+traditionalists+(ahl+%EF%BB%BF+al-sunna),+on+the+one+hand,+and+from+the+ashari%EF%BB%BF+school+(founded+by+a+former+Mutazili,+Abu+al-%EF%BB%BF+Hasan+al-Ashari)+and+Maturidi+theologians+on+the+%EF%BB%BF+other.|title=Encyclopedia of Islam|date=2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-2696-8|pages=512|language=en|access-date=2021-10-14|archive-date=2021-10-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211014234228/https://books.google.com/books?id=OZbyz_Hr-eIC&q=Mutazili+theology+faced+implacable+opposi-%EF%BB%BF+tion+from+Hanbali+and+Zahiri+traditionalists+%28ahl+%EF%BB%BF+al-sunna%29%2C+on+the+one+hand%2C+and+from+the+ashari%EF%BB%BF+school+%28founded+by+a+former+Mutazili%2C+Abu+al-%EF%BB%BF+Hasan+al-Ashari%29+and+Maturidi+theologians+on+the+%EF%BB%BF+other.|url-status=live}}</ref>