Question:

May Allah bless you, O Virtuous Sheikh. The questioner has a second point, asking: Who are the Mu’tazilah?

Answer:

The Mu’tazilah are an innovated sect. Regarding Allah, His Speech, and His Actions, they hold views that contradict the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah.

​Their leaders were Amr ibn Ubayd and Wasil ibn Ata. They were named ‘Mu’tazilah’ (The Seceders/Withdrawers) because they withdrew from the circle of Al-Hasan al-Basri. This occurred when he was affirming that one who commits a major sin does not exit the fold of faith (Iman); rather, such a person is a ‘believer with deficient faith,’ or ‘a believer by virtue of his faith and a sinner (fasiq) by virtue of his major sin.’

​They withdrew from this circle—the circle of Al-Hasan al-Basri—and declared their famous doctrine: that the one who commits a major sin is in a ‘position between two positions’ (manzilah bayna al-manzilatayn).

Thus, [according to them], he is neither a believer nor a disbeliever, yet despite that, he is eternally in the Hellfire. In this regard, they align with the Khawarij in the view that the one who commits a major sin remains in Hell forever.

However, the Khawarij explicitly state that he is a disbeliever (kafir) who has exited Islam, while these [the Mu’tazilah] state that he has exited Islam but they do not dare call him a disbeliever. Instead, they say: ‘He is in a position between two positions.’

​Thus, they affirmed this position which contradicts the Words of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, where He (Blessed and Exalted be He) said: ‘It is He who created you, and among you is the disbeliever, and among you is the believer.’ (At-Taghabun, 64:2).”

There is no third category that is neither disbeliever nor believer, except according to the view of these Mu’tazilah, who have innovated into the religion of Allah and His Sharia that which is not part of it.