Wassil ibn Ataa’ was born in Madinah in year 80 of the Islamic calendar, corresponding to 700 AD, which means that he was of the same age as many famous scholars, such as Imam Abu Haneefah, Imam Jaafar Al-Sadiq, and Imam Zaid ibn Ali. He was of Persian origin but affiliated to either the Dhubbah or Makhzoom clans. Many of the scholars of this early period were of non-Arab origin. Many historians feel that this was due to the fact that the early Islamic period witnessed wars on several fronts, and the Arabs constituted the bulk of the fighting force of the Islamic state. Other Arabs were rulers. This may be true, but it has no bearing on the ability of those early scholars.
Moreover, the early Islamic period witnessed the emergence of numerous trends and groups that disputed about Islamic beliefs, political trends, intellectual doctrines and theories. The fast spread of Islam to vast areas brought the early Muslims in contact with different civilizations and philosophies. It was natural that this should manifest itself in the spread of a wide variety of doctrines, with debate and dispute becoming commonplace.
Wassil ibn Ataa’ showed much promise and exceptional intelligence right from childhood. We do not know exactly when Wassil moved from Madinah to Iraq, but it seems that this was early in his life, which means that he received most of his education in Iraq, where most of those trends and doctrines emerged.
Wassil received his learning under the most prominent scholars of the generation that succeeded the Prophet’s companions, i.e. the tabieen, including Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Al-Hanafiyah, who was the grandson of Ali ibn Abu Talib. He was for many years a student in the circle of the great Imam, Al-Hassan Al-Basri, until the two disagreed on a fundamental issue. Wassil was distinguished by several characteristics: the first was that he said only what needed to be said on any issue. Hence, he gained a reputation that he was always silent, but the fact is that when he needed to say something, he expressed himself most clearly. He was a gifted debater, with an excellent intellectual ability. In debate, he presented his argument succinctly. His wife reports that he often stood in prayer in night worship reading long passages of the Qur’an. When he read a verse that he felt might answer a particular argument, he sat down to write it.
He also made sure that he did not get angry, or if he was, then he controlled his temper and refrained from debate until all his anger had disappeared. When his colleague, Amr ibn Ubaid, answered someone showing his anger, Wassil counseled him not to let that happen again. He said to him: "Beware of answering any question when you are angry, for such answers are often inadequate and they are exploited by Satan. I have rarely seen anyone blamed for making sure of his answers."
Moreover, Wassil was a man of sharp intelligence and broad knowledge. He thoroughly studied all the different sects and groups emerging at the time, which enabled him to anticipate their argument in debate and be ready with his answers. Moreover, his superior linguistic ability and exceptional command of Arabic were unparalleled. He had a speech defect that was most prominent with the R sound, so he always avoided any word with R. He was able to deliver a whole speech without any word containing an R except for Qur’anic verses. This testifies not only to his command of the language and knowledge of synonyms, but also to his presence of mind and sharp intelligence.
Wassil sought no position or wealth. He was God-fearing, unwilling to take up any government work. He relied on his private means for his living. When he realized that one of his close friends was unbeliever, he abandoned his company and sought to have him expelled.
Wassil withdrew from the circle of Al-Hassan Al-Basri, his teacher for whom he had great respect. This withdrawal was the result of disagreement over a number of issues, particularly the status of a person who commits a cardinal sin. Al-Hassan considered such a person a hypocrite, but Wassil felt that he was in a position in between a believer and a non-believer. He also expressed his view that the attributes God mentions as belonging to Himself, such as His knowledge, hearing and seeing, etc. were the same as He, without any of them being additional to Him. All this, and his other ideas, were the result of the great debate that raged in Iraq about God and His attributes, and the position of man in relation to God at that time. He would take what the Qur’an says, without adding any element to it, and deny anything other than that. Thus, his views were largely a middle road between extremes.
As he was keen to express his views, and as he was most succinct in his argument, he attracted many people who became his students, and was soon to establish a new school of theology, which came to be known as Al-Mu’tazilah. His school relied heavily on logic and sought to interpret all religious principles and beliefs in a strictly rational way. Wassil sent a number of his colleagues to different parts of the Muslim state to explain his views and talk to scholars in those areas. They met with varied response, but this shows how keen he was to advocate his ideas, as he believed them to represent the true Islamic faith.
Al-Mu’tazilah were on the ascendance particularly in the second half of the second century of the Islamic era. They were boosted by the support of the Abbasi Caliph, Al-Ma’moon, himself a scholar of exceptional ability. But this led to a highly unfortunate period of Islamic scholarship. Al-Ma’moon and his Mu’tazilah scholars sought to impose certain ideas concerning the position of the Qur’an, and declared that all scholars must subscribe to these ideas. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal resisted that with great courage, and he suffered long persecution for that, including imprisonment, torture and a long period of house arrest. This imposition continued for nearly two decades, before intellectual persecution was ended by Caliph Al-Mutawakkil. Many scholars believe that had Wassil been alive at the time, he would not have allowed such persecution to take place.
Wassil died in 131 AH, at the age of 51. May God have mercy on him.
