Islamic Services of Mutazilites

Abstract

MUTAZILISM as a school of Islamic thought was very important rational
movement of the time. The school was started at the close of Omayyad
dynasty and flourished even reached to its peak during the Abbasid
dynasty the reign of Haroon and Mamoon Rashid. Their services to Islam
are many in numbers. the first and for most service rendered by them, was
to defend Islamic injunction from the foreign attacks of Greek
philosophers,atheists,Christians and the jews and Secondly they also had
to free the minds of the Muslims from superstition and unwanted
innovation, myths and traditions which had nothing to do with the real
spirit of Islam. Mutazilites have the credit that, so long ago and early
period of Islam, had they perceived the rational sprite of Al Quran.
Declaring and owning Islamic rationalism as their criterion, they based
everything on human reason, in the consequences they invented the
Science of Reason(ilm-e-kallam)which was basically meant to defend
Islam logically and rationally and this science of reasoning helped much
both to understand and defend Islam. Mutazilites served Islam greatly by
formulating some standard and rational principles of approaching the
Quran and Hadith. They had worked on several disciplines of Islamic
studies e.g. grammar,jurisprudence,logic. The emergence of mutazilites
created an atmosphere of open criticism, reasonable argumentation and
developed faculty in the intelligent Muslim of the time to bear and for bear
the criticism. In the consequences creativity was promoted. a new plus
rational approach was appreciated and many Muslims thinkers of the first
rate were produced in every branch of knowledge both worldly and
religiously. A new chapter in the Islamic history was indeed opened at the
hands of early mutazilites,which is still worthy of consideration and
relevant in 21century too.