Editing Mu'tazilism (section)

==Etymology==
The name {{Transliteration|ar|Mu'tazili}} is derived from the [[Arabic verbs|reflexive stem VIII]] ({{Transliteration|ar|iftaʿala}}) of the [[Semitic root|triconsonantal root]] [[:wikt:عزل|ع-ز-ل]] "separate, segregate, retire", as in {{lang|ar|اعتزل}} {{Transliteration|ar|iʿtazala}} "to separate (oneself); to withdraw from".<ref>For example, [[Quran]] 18:16, 19:48 and 4:90). According to Sarah Siroumsa, "The verb i'tazala means "to withdraw", and in its most common use, as given in the dictionaries and attested in [[Hadith]] literature, it denotes some sort of abstinence from sexual activity, from worldly pleasures, or, more generally, from sin.

Ibn Manzur, Lisan al-'Arab, s.v oy.':/ : wensirck, Concordance a indices de la tradition musulmatle, vol Iv, p. 11)7. 'Amr taught his followers to be "the party which abstains" (i.e., from evil: ''al-firqa al-muʿtazila''), [[asceticism]] was their most striking characteristic. They were given the name "Mu'tazila" in reference to their pious asceticism, and they were content with this name," http://pluto.huji.ac.il/~stroums/files/MuTazila_Reconsidered.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610020651/http://pluto.huji.ac.il/~stroums/files/MuTazila_Reconsidered.pdf |date=2011-06-10 }} {{clarify|date=January 2015}}</ref>

The name is derived from the founder's "withdrawal" from the study circle of [[Hasan al-Basri]] over a theological disagreement: [[Wasil ibn Ata|Wāṣil ibn ʿAṭā']] asked about the legal state of a sinner: is a person who has committed a serious sin a believer or an unbeliever? Hasan answered the person remains a Muslim. Wasil dissented, suggesting that a sinner was neither a believer nor an unbeliever and withdrew from the study circle. Others followed to form a new circle, including [[Amr ibn Ubayd|ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd]]. Hasan's remark, "Wāṣil has withdrawn from us", is said to be the origin of the movement's name.<ref name=ad>{{cite book|last=Dhanani|first=Alnoor|title=The physical theory of Kalām : atoms, space, and void in Basrian Muʻtazilī cosmology|url=https://archive.org/details/physicaltheoryka00dhan|url-access=limited|date=1994|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=978-9004098312|page=[https://archive.org/details/physicaltheoryka00dhan/page/n6 7]}}</ref>{{sfn|Martin|1997|p=?}}

The group later referred to themselves as {{Transliteration|ar|Ahl al-Tawḥīd wa al-ʿAdl}} ({{lang|ar|أهل التوحيد و العدل}}, "people of monotheism and justice")<ref>{{Cite web |last=Damayanty |first=Putry |date=2023-09-01 |title=Mengenal 7 Aliran dengan Pandangan Berbeda dalam Islam |url=https://www.liputan6.com/islami/read/5385701/mengenal-7-aliran-dengan-pandangan-berbeda-dalam-islam |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=liputan6.com |language=id}}</ref> and the name ''{{Transliteration|ar|Mu'tazili}}'' was first used by its opponents.

The verb ''{{Transliteration|ar|iʿtazala}}'' is also used to designate a neutral party in a dispute (as in "withdrawing" from a dispute between two factions). According to the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', "The name [Mu'tazila] first appears in early Islāmic history in the dispute over Ali's leadership of the Muslim community after the [[assassination of Uthman]], the third caliph, in 656 CE. Those who would neither condemn nor sanction Ali or his opponents but took a middle position were termed the Muʿtazilah." [[Carlo Alfonso Nallino]] argued that the theological Mu'tazilism of Wasil and his successors was merely a continuation of this initial political Mu'tazilism.<ref name="Mutazilah"/>