The Mu'tazila Futures thinking

As a meta-disciplinary field, futures study has developed as an increasingly important issue by the rapid progress of science and technology. In the meantime, the study of future thinking has become very important from the viewpoint of different religions, and identifying the principles and foundations of future creation will play significant roles in this regard. For this reason, it is vitally important for Shia futurists to know this point in other Islamic branches, among which the Mu'tazila is the main one. Principles such as monotheism, justice, rewards and punishments, transitional positions, rational goods and the evils, and the “promotion of good and prohibition of evil” have formed the foundations of this thought. Employing documentary method, this research is intended to deal with three components of Imamate, politics, and education, which are the most important issues in the construction of the future from the views of the Mu'tazila. Meanwhile, consideration of the issue of Imamate, the position and extent of discussion of human free will, and the method of dealing with “promotion of good and prohibition of evil” are the most important differences between the Mu'tazila and Shia perspectives.