The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1616 page)

 
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Mutakallim
n
.

Those who engage in
kal
m
(theology in Islam).

 
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see
WAHH
B
YA
.

 
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(Arab., ‘
itazala
, ‘separate from’). An early theological school in Islam, which espoused the use of reason in finding a middle way between unbelief and naïve
fideism
. The ‘intermediate state’ may have political origins, neutrality in the conflict between
‘Al
and his opponents, and separation from it. The founding of the theological school is attributed to
W
il
b. ‘A
’ and ‘Amr b. ‘Ubaid, AH
c.
105–30. Theologically, the Mu‘tazilites were characterized by five principles (
u
l
):

(i) 
A
l al
-
taw
d
, strict monotheism and repudiation of anthropomorphism;
(ii) 
A
l al-‘adl
, the absolute justice of God, which led to emphasis on the freedom and accountability of humans, and to the reality of God's ‘promise and threat’ of heaven and hell (which, on a strong view of
qadar
, could have no effect on human decisions, because God knows and determines the outcome); hence
(iii) 
A
l al-wa‘d wa’ l-wa‘
d
, the promise and the threat, which have real consequence in the forming of belief (
m
n
);
(iv) 
A
l al-manzila baina ’l-manzilatain
, the state between the states (of Sunnis and Shi‘ites) in relation to the caliphate (
khal
fa
);
(v) 
A
l al-amr bi ’l-ma‘r
f
, commanding the good and forbidding the evil, appropriate action in spreading the faith, and in establishing a Muslim society. The Mu‘tazilites were opposed by those who gave primacy to the Qur’
n over reason, especially
al-Ash‘ar