[47:1] During the ‘Abbāsid Period there were many who secretly held Manichaean opinions. See Fihrist, Leipsig 1871, p. 338; See also Al-Mu‘tazila, ed. by T. W. Arnold, Leipsig 1902, p. 27, where the author speaks of a controversy between Abu ’l-Huḏẖail and Ṣālih, the Dualist. See also Macdonald's Muslim Theology, p. 133. [47:2] The Mu‘tazilas belonged to various nationalities, and many of them were Persians either by descent or domicile. Wāṣil Ibn ‘Atā--the reported founder of the sect--was a Persian (Browne, Lit. His., Vol I, p. 281). Von Kremer, however, traces their origin to the theological controversies of the Umayyad period. Mu‘tazilaism was not an essentially Persian movement; but it is true, as Prof. Browne observes (Lit. His., Vol. I, p. 283) that S̱ẖi‘ite and Qādarī tenets, indeed, often went together, and the S̱ẖi‘ite doctrine current in Persia at the present day is in many respects Mu‘tazilite, while Ḥasan Al-As̱ẖ‘arī, the great opponent of the Mu‘tazilite, is by the S̱ẖi‘ites held in horror. It may also be added that some of the greater representatives of the Mu‘tazila opinion were S̱ẖi‘as by religion, e.g. Abu ’l-Huḏẖail (Al-Mu‘tazila, ed. by T. W. Arnold, p. 28). On the other hand many of the followers of Al-As̱ẖ‘ari were Persians (See extracts from Ibn ‘Asākir ed. Mehren), so that it does not seem to be quite justifiable to describe the As̱ẖ‘arite mode of thought as a purely semitic movement. His conception of the unity of God at which the Mu‘tazila eventually arrived by a subtle dialectic is one of the fundamental points in which he differs from the Orthodox Muhammadan. God's attributes, according to his view, cannot be said to inhere in him; they form the very essence of His nature. The Mu‘tazila, therefore, denies the separate reality of divine attributes, and declares their absolute identity with the abstract divine Principle. "God", says Abu’l-Huḏẖail, "is knowing, all-powerful, living; and his knowledge, power and life constitute His very essence (ḏẖāt)"[49:1]. In order to explain the pure unity of God Joseph Al-Baṣīr[49:2] lays down the following five principles:-- (1). The necessary supposition of atom and accident. (2). The necessary supposition of a creator. (3). The necessary supposition of the conditions (Aḥwāl) of God. (4). The rejection of those attributes which do not befit God. (5). The unity of God in spite of the plurality of His attributes. [49:1] S̱ẖahrastānī: Cureton's ed., p. 34. [49:2] Dr. Frankl: Ein Mu‘tazilitischer Kalām--Wien 1872, p. 13.