MU’TEZİLE’NİN TARİH ALGISI

Year 2008, Volume: 1 Issue: 6, 77 - 88, 30.11.2008

Osman Aydınlı

Abstract

In the history of Islamic thought, the Mu’tazilite school is characterized
by its particular method in understanding religion and religious tradition
and by its rational attribution to Islamic precepts. First of all, Mu’tazilite
theologians laid down their principles as ‘al-usûl al-khamsah (five root and
fundamentals) and focused on theological and philosophical issues. In the
view of its environment where it’s been developed, its justification for histo
rical events and its comprehension of leadership, the school has been divi
ded into two parts which are Basrian Mu’tazilite and Bagdadian Mu’tazilite.
Choice of the ancestry of Ali, the assumed attitude to the current political
structure, comprehension of history and compromising with the society
were the important reasons of the separation. Mu’tazilite has been opposed
to the idea of idealizing and dignifying the past which can be seen especi
ally in Shiite, by historical criticizing and analytical mentality. Meanwhile,
the school did not ignore to be compatible with the history and the society.
Mu’tazilite has emphasized the need of describing the history as what it is
and displaying it with all diversities and contradictions.
The experiences of Mu’tazilite of coming to power, being suspended from
the power and being integrated with the other religious affinities have sha
ped their historical perspectives. These experiences have shaped their his
torical perspective. In this article, we tried to determine the Mu’tazilite’s
perception of history by taking into consideration its evolutions in period.

Keywords

Mu‘tazilite, ‘al-usul al-khamsah, perception of history, İslâmic political theory, philosophical issues, caliphate, imama

The Mu’tazilite’s Perception of History

Abstract

In the history of Islamic thought, the Mu’tazilite school is characterized
by its particular method in understanding religion and religious tradition
and by its rational attribution to Islamic precepts. First of all, Mu’tazilite
theologians laid down their principles as ‘al-usûl al-khamsah (five root and
fundamentals) and focused on theological and philosophical issues. In the
view of its environment where it’s been developed, its justification for histo
rical events and its comprehension of leadership, the school has been divi
ded into two parts which are Basrian Mu’tazilite and Bagdadian Mu’tazilite.
Choice of the ancestry of Ali, the assumed attitude to the current political
structure, comprehension of history and compromising with the society
were the important reasons of the separation. Mu’tazilite has been opposed
to the idea of idealizing and dignifying the past which can be seen especi
ally in Shiite, by historical criticizing and analytical mentality. Meanwhile,
the school did not ignore to be compatible with the history and the society.
Mu’tazilite has emphasized the need of describing the history as what it is
and displaying it with all diversities and contradictions.
The experiences of Mu’tazilite of coming to power, being suspended from
the power and being integrated with the other religious affinities have sha
ped their historical perspectives. These experiences have shaped their his
torical perspective. In this article, we tried to determine the Mu’tazilite’s
perception of history by taking into consideration its evolutions in period.

Keywords

Mu‘tazilite, ‘al-usul al-khamsah, perception of history, İslâmic political theory, philosophical issues, caliphate, imama

References

• John Tosh, Tarihin Peşinde Modern Tarih Çalışmasında Hedefler, Yöntemler ve Yeni Doğrultular, (çev.: Özden Arıkan), İstanbul 1984.
• Yakut el-Hamevî, Mucemu’l-udebâ, c. V, s. 2101 vd.; Nafiz Danışman, Kelam İlmine Giriş ve Mu’tezile (Amr b. Bahri’l Câhız’ın Kitaplarından Parçalar), Ankara 1955.