THE IMPACT OF “USOOL E KHAMSA” OF MU'TAZELAON THE INTERPRETATION OF THE HOLY QURAN: A SCHOLARLY REVIEW

تفسیر قرآن پر معتزلہ کے اصول خمسہ کے اثرات کا علمی جائزہ

Abstract

In the era of Uthman R.A., there were certain factions which caused uprisings him and caused further division in the ummah after his martyrdom. As a result, various political groups emerged. His phenomenon of emergence of new groups, however, was not restricted to politics alone and the system of belief was also not immune from this. There started to appear the groups who interpreted the Holy Quran according to their own ideas and beliefs (rather than the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ). The majority of Muslims, Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah followed the path of the messenger (Sunnah) and the companions (Jama’ah). However, a faction sought salvation for themselves in cursing the companions (a matter strongly prohibited by the messenger of Allah ﷺ), and some interpreted the Holy Quran through their limited intellect (not realizing the weakness in their own levels of intellect and preferring it over the timeless Sunnah of the messenger ﷺ). Accordingly, various interpretations of Quran started to float around. The different factions in the early centuries of Islam not only compiled exegesis or Quran representing their respective schools of thought but also compiled certain principles which they used in their compilation and interpretations of Tafseer. One of such groups, the Mu'tazela, believed in the five principles of writing the exegesis, called “Usool Al Khamsa”. These were the principles that they used in how they interpreted the Holy Quran. The verses that did not fit their system of belief, they provided alternate explanations to them according to these principles putting their intellect (which often appears flawed in many cases) above the Sunnah of Messenger of Allah ﷺ. In this article, the introduction of Mu'tazela, their historical background, their beliefs, their “Usool Al Khamsa”, the causes of decline, and the impact of their “Usool Al Khamsa” on the tafseer studies is reviewed in a scholarly manner.