al-Ḥasan ibn Ḥāmid reported: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān narrated to me from a man whose kunya was Abū Bakr:

Abū Mushir was kept in Baghdad so that he might make a statement clearing himself of the ordeal and avoiding harm. I was told that, in that very gathering, he declared, “May Allah reward the Commander of the Faithful with goodness. He has taught us what we did not know, and he has attained knowledge that none before him possessed. He said to me, ‘Say: The Qur’an is created, or I will strike off your neck.’ Very well, then—it is created.” He (the narrator) added, “I hope that this profession will be a means of deliverance for him.”

al-Ṣūlī said: ʿAwn ibn Muḥammad narrated to us from his father, who said:

Ishāq ibn Ibrāhīm related: When al-Maʾmūn reached Damascus, people mentioned Abū Mushir to him, praising his learning and jurisprudence. He summoned him and asked, “What do you say about the Qur’an?”

Abū Mushir replied, “As the Exalted has said: ‘If any of the polytheists seeks your protection, grant him protection so that he may hear the words of Allah’ (al-Tawbah 9:6).”

Al-Maʾmūn said, “Is it created or uncreated?”

He asked, “What does the Commander of the Faithful say?”

Al-Maʾmūn answered, “It is created.”

Abū Mushir asked, “Does this judgment come from the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—or from the Companions, or from the Followers?”

He replied, “By rational inquiry,” and he argued the point with him.

Abū Mushir then said, “O Commander of the Faithful! We are with the overwhelming majority; I adopt their view: the Qur’an is the speech of Allah, uncreated.”

Al-Maʾmūn said, “O shaykh, tell me: was the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—circumcised?”

He answered, “I have heard nothing on that.”

He asked, “Then inform me: when he contracted a marriage—whether for himself or for someone else—did he call witnesses?”

He replied, “I do not know.”

Al-Maʾmūn retorted, “Leave—may Allah disfigure you and disfigure anyone who entrusts his religion to your imitation, and may He make you a (negative) example! (1)”

Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī said: I never saw anyone held in higher esteem than Abū Mushir. Whenever I observed him going out to the mosque, people would line up to greet him and kiss his hand. (2)