mutakallimūn

Mutakallimūn refers to scholastic theologians in Islam who practice kalām, which is speculative theology. Kalām emerged as a defense of Islam against other religions and later engaged with philosophical reasoning, particularly from Greek thinkers.12

Key schools of kalām include the Muʿtazilah, known for emphasizing reason and free will, and the Ashʿariyyah and al-Māturīdiyyah, which sought to reconcile reason with traditional Islamic doctrines. These theological debates addressed fundamental questions about God's unity, justice, and the nature of human actions and responsibility. The Muʿtazilah, for instance, believed the Qurʾān was created in time, a doctrine later rejected by Sunni orthodoxy.234