Thanks. That was interesting. And at the same time really weird. A couple of things though:
1. It was my impression (at least this is what I've read, and I've never read anything different) that the historical Mutazilite school basically survived within 12-er Shiism. So I'm not sure what it would mean to revive it. 2. The Mutazites weren't necessarily more liberal or open-minded in the ways which come to mind when we think of the term "rationalism". For example, the most frequently mentioned Inquisition-like period in Islam is when the Mutazilites were in charge and tortured people like Ahmad ibn Hanbal (the founder of the Hanbali school) in order to get him to confess that the Quran wasn't the eternal word of God but instead was created. 3. Even for Muslim I think that what I would call the "intellectual geography" of Islam (if the phrase makes sense) is sometimes difficult to scope out at first. Words like "orthodox" "secular" "traditional" "reformer" "rationalist" "fundamentalist" etc. have certain conotations in Western/American experience but they don't necessarily have the same significance in Islamic history. And it would be inappropriate to just assume that they do. For example, the "reformers" are often the ones who becoming repressive and oppose the more tolerant principles of the traditionalists. Peace Gilberto -- "pharaoh is just a leaf on a burning bush" __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
