ABSTRACT
The Mutazilites stood for freedom of the will and human responsibility; in other respects they adopted sensible, almost nineteenth-century-liberal attitudes. It was felt that Islam would have been ever so much more congenial to the European if only the Mu'tazilites had not been replaced by the dry-as-dust, hide-bound, hairsplitting Ash'arites and their like. First and foremost the Mu'tazilites who is important in the history of Islamic theology is the persons responsible for initiating the discussion of Islamic dogmas in terms of Greek philosophical conceptions. Before saying anything about the detailed views of the "founding fathers" of the Mu'tazilites, it will be well to look at what preceded this outburst of theology. The Mu'tazilites tried to baffle those who held that the Qur'an was the uncreated Speech of God by asking about their own "utterance" of the Qur'an. The Mu'tazilites continued after this for some time, but mainly as a school of academic theologians with practically no popular following.
