“…Whenever my father resolved to put someone to death, he would have us attend. On one occasion an elderly man, his beard dyed with henna and his feet in shackles, was brought in. My father then said, ‘Admit Abū ʿAbd Allāh and his companions’—meaning Ibn Abī Duʾād.

The shaykh was ushered in and greeted my father, ‘Peace be upon you, Commander of the Faithful.’

My father replied, ‘May God withhold peace from you!’

The shaykh said, ‘Commander of the Faithful, your tutor taught you poorly. God the Exalted says: “When you are greeted with a salutation, respond with one better, or at least return it” (Q 4:86).’

Ibn Abī Duʾād interjected, ‘The man is a theologian.’

My father told him, ‘Then speak with him.’

Ibn Abī Duʾād asked, ‘Old man, what do you say about the Qur’an?’

The shaykh replied, ‘He has not been fair to me; the right of questioning belongs to me.’

Ibn Abī Duʾād said, ‘Ask, then.’

The shaykh asked, ‘What do you say about the Qur’an?’

Ibn Abī Duʾād answered, ‘It is created.’

The shaykh said, ‘Is this something the Prophet ﷺ, Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and the rightly guided caliphs knew, or something they did not know?’

He said, ‘Something they did not know.’

The shaykh exclaimed, ‘Glorified be God! A matter the Prophet ﷺ did not know—yet you have come to know it?’

Ibn Abī Duʾād blushed and said, ‘Excuse me.’

The shaykh replied, ‘The question stands as it is.’

Ibn Abī Duʾād said, ‘Very well, they knew it.’

The shaykh countered, ‘They knew it and yet never called the people to it?’

He said, ‘Yes.’

The shaykh said, ‘Could you not be content with what satisfied them?’

At that my father rose, entered an adjoining chamber, and reclined, repeating aloud:
‘A thing the Prophet ﷺ, Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, and the rightly guided caliphs did not know—you have discovered it! Glory be to God! Or if they knew it yet never summoned the people to it, could you not be content with what satisfied them?’

He then ordered that the shaykh’s fetters be removed, that he be given four hundred dinars, and that leave be granted for him to return home. From that day Ibn Abī Duʾād fell from my father’s favor, and he never again subjected anyone to an inquisition.

This is a delightful story, though there is some unknown narrator in its chain, and it does have supporting evidence.

With our chain of transmission to al-Khaṭīb: Ibn Razqūwayh informed us; Aḥmad ibn Sindī the blacksmith informed us; Aḥmad ibn al-Mumtaniʿ informed us; Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿAlī al-Hāshimī informed us. He said: ‘I was present with al-Muhtadī bi-Llāh when he sat to look into the petitions of the oppressed, and I examined…’