Mutazilah theology was distinguished chiefly by asserting the
authority of human reason over tradition and general
superstition. For example, the Mutazilah theologians asserted
that the Quran was a book that was created, written by men,
rather than uncreated, the living word of God passed verbatim
through the mouths of men. Mutazilah theology accepted the
central truths of Islam; the five pillars of faith, the Quran as
divine, and the Sunnah as an apropriate frame of reference for
daily life. However the Mutazilah's interpolation of hellenic-
latinate logic made more traditional scholars uncomfortable.
There are five central principles in Mutazilah theology. God is
one and unified, God is a perfect judge who enacts perfect
universal divine justice, God promises as well as punishes,a
true believer shall not sin actively, in addition to advocating
religious and social duties while opposing and condemning the
opposite. The Mihna ordeal was one of the earliest expressions
of both heretical behavior and the formati