Abstract
The sect of Muʿtazilah considers the reason/al-aql as a determinant in the interpretation of the Qur’an and clearly differs from other sects in this respect. This sect deals with issues within the framework of the “Five Methods”, which is developed by them, and tries to overcome the issues that seem contrary to divine decrees/al-nas and thus became the target of other sects. Particularly, some of their views were criticized very harshly by the scholars of the Ahl as-Sunnah and were declared illegitimate. Some of these views are that the Quran is created; a believer who commits a great sin will be subjected to the destiny of an unbeliever; humans are creators of their own actions; miracles are not possible. These criticisms have always been on the agenda of theologians/al-Mutakallimun, who believe that such views contradict the doctrine of Islam, and fear that they may lead Muslims to misconceptions, and they have tried to refute these ideas in their works. The Ahl as-Sunnah commentators/al-mufassirun gave similar reactions to Muʿtazilah. They discussed the views of this sect at length while explaining the verses/al-ayah and rejected the evidence Muʿtazilah showed for their views. It is seen that the views put forward by Muʿtazilah are criticized by the Mystic scholars / Sufis, as well as the theologians. Because Sufism attaches less importance to reason and gives priority to the heart/al-qalb in terms of understanding and comprehending the truth, some Sufi concepts nearly have no equivalent in the thought system of Muʿtazilah, which denies spiritual experience as a legitimate criterion. The Sufist view that Allah’s will and power surround all the creatures in every aspect and are manifested in them at all times and the concept of wahdat al-wujud, etc. can be counted as examples for such aforementioned concepts. The issue of how and in what dimensions the ideas of the Muʿtazilah are evaluated within the Sufi tradition in line with the Quran is a matter worth researching. This article discusses the issue of how the Sufi tradition approaches Muʿtazili thought with a Qur'anic point of view, in the example of Ismail Haqqi Bursevi’s commentary named Ruh al-Bayan. Through the article it will be possible to present a healthier answer to the question of how the 18th century Ottoman mysticism and tafsir/commentary tradition see the Muʿtazili system of thought. In this article, the Muʿtazili views mentioned by Bursevi and the verses he used while dealing with those views were determined, and the subject was discussed under the related headings. Ismail Haqqi Bursevi is a sufi and a sound mufassir/commentator. Being highly equipped and all-rounder, he could evaluate different views of different groups in a wider and more cumulative way. In this context, he touched in many places in his tafsir/commentary on the Muʿtazilah sect, which accepts the reason and interpretation/tavil as reference in explaining the divine decrees and criticized their opinions and evidence in the light of verses. It cannot be said that Bursevi looked very favourably at the Muʿtazilah. According to the tradition which states Muslims/ummah will be divided into seventy-three sects and only one will be on guidance and the remaining seventy-two groups are on perversion and heresy, the commentator accepted Ahl as-Sunnah group as that only sect and regarded the Muʿtazilah as one of those deviant groups, because of their excluding spiritual experience in their thought system and giving priority to the reason. In this context he did not hesitate to criticize their ideas very harshly. It would be a very naive to consider his Muʿtazilah opposition as a simple sectarian bigotry, whereas he took the Ahl as-Sunnah sect as a basis and accepted it as a criterion while interpreting the verses.