The Mu‘tazilah were confronted from the beginning by two sorts of adver- saries...

The Mu‘tazilah were confronted from the beginning by two sorts of adver- saries: one group were followers of hadith and the sunnah, or those who were called al-Hashwiyyah and an-Nabitah by the Mu‘tazilah, and the second group were the theologians who differed with them in their views.

The Traditionists did not confront the Mu‘tazilah with the weapons of theology and debate and join the battle of argument with argument, but rather confronted them with accusations of heresy and unbelief, and the charge of atheism and going beyond the legitimate bounds of the religion.

With the influence they had on the general public, their adversity was transformed into a mere 'physical struggle', in which the Mu‘tazilah were compelled to grasp the weapon of authority since they had failed to grasp the weapon of the backing of the general public. The most important manifestations were the tragedies in which the history of the time of the ‘Abbasids al-Ma’mun, al-Mu‘tasim, al-Wathiq, and al-Mutawakkil (198/813–247/861) abound.

The Mu‘tazilah were victorious in the first period of the third caliphate, as they had the authority and the weapons of the sultan on their side. This is a tragedy, which the historians hold to have been a struggle over the issue of the createness of the Qur’an. However the Mu‘tazilah lost their position after the authorities inclined towards their opponent theologians, and they lost the weapon of authority, just as their predecessors had lost the weapon of the general public.

As for their theological adversaries – the most important of these were the Imami theologians – the controversy the Mu‘tazilah had with them took place merely in the intellectual arena, since the disputing parties were, as was pointed out, equal in strength, in posession neither of the weapon of the sultan or of the community. Rather, the Mu‘tazilah were, with respect to the Imamiyyah, closer to the heart of the sultan and his sympathy, and more able to seek the aid of his influence and arms!

Here the Mu‘tazilah sought assistance by all reason and means, and pursued every avenue, which facilitated their victory.