figure than these contemporaries; he produced many works that bear witness to his keen intelligence and his wide acquaintance with the various religions and sects.
Among them was the accomplished dialectician:
- Abū al-Muʿtamir Muʿammar ibn ʿAmr – some said his name was Ibn ʿAbbād al-Baṣrī, a client of the Sulamīs, by trade a perfumer and a convinced Muʿtazilite.
He used to say: “Within the universe are existent things without limit; with Allah they have neither number nor measure.”
Such a claim is false, for Allah says, “He has taken count of everything, numbering it” (Q 72:28), and, “Everything with Him is in due measure” (Q 13:8).
Because of views like these the Muʿtazilites of Basra rose against him, so he fled to Baghdad and hid with Ibrāhīm ibn al-Sindī.
He also maintained that Allah did not create colour, length, width, depth, scent, beauty, ugliness, hearing, or sight; rather, these are effects produced by bodies according to their own natures.
When confronted with the verse, “He created death and life …” (Q 67:2), he replied that what is meant is the creation of the acts of dying and living.
He further claimed that the soul is neither body nor accident; it neither adheres to anything nor separates from it, nor does it come to rest.
There were many debates and disputes between him and al-Naẓẓām, and he wrote several works on speculative theology.
According to the dating given by Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Nadīm, he died in 215 AH.
And among them: