Mu'tazilite Kalām as a Trans-religious Phenomenon: A Contextual and Observational Search for a Christian Mu'tazilite Orientation

Authors

  • Author

  • Najib George Awad

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31430/pvwo3661

Keywords:

Mutazilite, kalam, christian Mutazilism, Abbasids

Abstract

This paper examines contemporary studies of the extant data on the Mu’tazilite sect of Islam during the Abbasid era to investigate whether or not Mu’tazilism can be seen as a historical model of an intellectual sphere that was trans-religious, cross-confessional and rose above divisive and “othering” boundaries of religious affiliation. The paper proposes that if the concept of īʿtizāl indeed aspired to transcend religious affiliations, and if the term muʿtazaliyya refers to a particular state of intellectual, philosophical-theological affinity that aimed to overcome diverse religious affiliations without forcing its adherents to give up their own religious beliefs or to become non-religious, it is therefore valid to speak of a “Christian muʿtazaliyya”, or a phenomenon of Mu’tazilite kalām (theology) permeating Christianity, just as one may speak about “Muslim Mu’tazilism” and “Jewish Mu’tazilism”.

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