ABSTRACT
The Mu’taziūte movement was a powerful one, which succeeded for a time in gaining a hold upon the higher circles in matters temporal and spiritual. It would be superfluous to repeat here those details which have been described by others. 1 The change that took place in the personal attitude of the Caliph al-Mutawakkil was an indication of the fact that Islam had rediscovered its proper outlook. It rejected rationalism along with the dogmas that were based upon it. Yet it made concessions to its method, with the result that some of the elements that had in vain demanded entrance at the front door were introduced by the back-stairs. The second and third centuries witnessed a heroic war with rationalism, which proclaimed itself the highest principle in theology. The victory was won by orthodox Islam, which finally took possession of the dogmatic fortresses of the enemy. Yet it could not refrain from making use of the weapons which it found there. So there developed a likeness between the orthodox and their opponents, which to many seemed to be of more than a superficial kind.
