But again it was in the third century that theology in the Sunni world became fully established with the Mu'tazilites who were dominant during the early Abbasid period. As is well known, the Mu'tazilites applied the use of reason to the understanding of the tenets of revelation and arrived at a conception of theDivine Attributes and the Quran which was opposed by the religious community at large so that within a few centuries they disappeared as an influential theological school.

Ideals and realities of Islam On page 156 Saturday, January 5, 2013 @ 4:45pm