—of the Jahmiyyah who subjected the populace to inquisitions, such as Ibn Abi Du’ad (1) and those like him, when (2) they were challenged in debate before the caliphs al-Muʿtaṣim (3) and al-Wāthiq (4). Their interlocutors showed them that the doctrine they had imposed on the people—and for whose rejection they punished them—namely the claim that the Qur’an is created, had never been voiced by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, by any of his successors, his Companions, the imams of the Muslims, or the general public. None of them had enjoined it, nor had they penalized anyone over it. Had this belief truly been part of the religion, obliging people to adopt it and warranting punishment for those who left it, they would never have neglected it. Moreover, even if the proponent (5) of this view were, hypothetically, correct, he would still have no right to make it binding upon
= He was executed by the sword—may Allah have mercy on him—after being instigated by Qadi Ahmad ibn Duwad al-Juhami in 231 AH and by Abd al-Rahman ibn Ishaq. Imam Ahmad—may Allah have mercy on him—once mentioned him, saying, “He was never more generous in sacrificing himself for Allah; indeed, he poured himself out for Him.”
See: Tarikh al-Tabari, vol. 8: 637, 639, 644; vol. 9: 135–139; Manaqib al-Imam Ahmad by Ibn al-Jawzi, p. 385ff.; al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya by Ibn Kathir, vol. 10: 344–346, 374–381; Tarikh Baghdad by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, vol. 5: 176–180.
(1) In all manuscripts it reads “Ibn Abi Dawud.” The reading adopted here is correct; his biography appeared earlier, p. 181.
(2) In the original it reads “bima”; the variant from manuscripts S and T, which best conveys the sense, has been adopted.
(3) al-Ma’tsim: his biography was given earlier, p. 181.
(4) He was Abu Ja‘far, the caliph Harun al-Wathiq ibn Muhammad al-Ma’tsim ibn Harun al-Rashid ibn al-Mahdi ibn al-Mansur al-‘Abbasi. He died of an affliction related to drought in 232 AH. He was among those who wronged the people of the Sunnah—he, his father al-Ma’tsim, and his uncle al-Ma’mun—and brought near the innovators and the misled, including the Mu‘tazila; he tested people regarding the createdness of the Quran. He was born in Baghdad in 196 AH. See: Tarikh Baghdad by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, vol. 14: 15–21; al-Kamil by Ibn al-Athir, vol. 7: 29–31; al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya by Ibn Kathir, vol. 10: 247, 249; Shadharat al-Dhahab by Ibn al-‘Imad, vol. 2: 75–77.
(5) In the original it reads “al-qawl”; the variant from manuscripts S and T that best suits the sense has been adopted.