Comparison of Mu'tazila's rational approach and modern rationalism in the context of tafsir

Muʽtezile is the most famous of the intellectual-sectarian movements in the field of religious knowledge. Mu'tazila thinkers, above all, emphasized rational contemplation as a 'methodology' and 'rational perception' as a source for understanding and interpreting religious principles, especially the verses of the Qur'an. This theological movement emerged at the end of the first century and the beginning of the second century, in an environment of intellectual and sectarian conflict between the people of Hadith, other than the followers of Ahl al-Bayt, who were on the agenda at that time, and sects such as Kharijites, Murji'ah, Kadariyya, Müshabbihe and Mujahshima. According to the founders of this theory, the main criterion of being a Mutazijist is to believe in the five known principles (usûlü'l-hamse). In this study, which aims to provide a new and deeper expansion to religious thought with a method based on description and analysis, Muʽtezile's orientation towards reason in the interpretation of the Quran and the rational approach of Muʽtezile in this orientation are tried to be compared with modern rationalism. For this purpose, in the first part of the study, the Muʽtezile school is discussed in a broad framework and in the context of exegesis. In the second chapter, the rational approach of Muʽtazila, in the third chapter, the comparison of Muʽtezile rationalism and modern rationalism is examined in detail.