WASIL IBN 'ATA'

in full Wasil Ibn 'ata' Al-ghazzal, also called Abu Hudhayfah born c. 700, , Arabia died 748, Arabia Muslim theologian considered the founder of the Mu'tazilah sect. As a young man Wasil went to Basra, Iraq, where he studied under the celebrated ascetic Hasan al-Basri and met other influential religious figures who lived there. In Wasil's time there began the discussions that led to the development of Islamic speculative theology. At first theological controversies among Muslims were closely tied to political events, the principal issue being the legitimacy of the rule of the Umayyad house, which seized power after the death of the fourth caliph, 'Ali. Wasil's doctrinal formulations gave the Mu'tazilah faction coherence as a religious sect. At the same time, both Wasil and the Mu'tazilah became involved in a revolutionary movement led by the 'Abbasids that was to result in the overthrow of the Umayyads. Wasil gathered around himself many devoted believers and ascetics, whom he often sent out as emissaries to spread his doctrines in distant provinces.