Al-Muʿtazilites led him away from the path of truth to falsehood, and they adorned for him the doctrine of the Quran’s createdness and the negation of Allah’s attributes. Ibn Kathir relates from al-Bayhaqi that before al-Maʾmun, no caliph among the Umayyads or Abbasids had deviated from the creed of the Salaf. When he assumed the caliphate, these Muʿtazilites gathered around him, influenced him, and seduced him. In 218 AH he wrote to his governor in Baghdad, Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn Musaib, ordering him to examine the qadis (judges) and muhaddithun (hadith scholars) on the doctrine of the Quran’s createdness, and to send him a delegation selected by al-Maʾmun. When he tested them on this point, they acquiesced, though unwillingly. He then sent them back to Baghdad and commanded that their case be publicized among the fuqaha (jurists). His deputy complied, and a great trial (mihna) ensued among the people. Al-Maʾmun subsequently sent another letter to his governor, instructing him to examine another group, among them Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him). Those who conceded were to be released, while those who refused were to be sent in iron bonds. Imam Ahmad and Muhammad ibn Nuh refused to declare the Quran created. They were dispatched to al-Maʾmun, but before they arrived news of his death reached them. His successor, al-Muʿtasim, took office and included Ahmad ibn Abi Duʾad in his administration; they returned to Baghdad, while Muhammad ibn Nuh died en route. Imam Ahmad was imprisoned for about twenty-eight months (some say just over thirty), then brought forth and beaten before al-Muʿtasim after a debate between him, al-Muʿtasim’s judges, and certain fuqaha. The mihna continued under al-Wathiq, who affirmed the createdness of the Quran and executed Muhammad ibn Nasr and others for refusing to comply, until al-Mutawakkil—one of the most exemplary caliphs in his treatment of Ahl al-Sunnah—ascended the throne. He honored Imam Ahmad, lifted the ordeal from the people, and decreed throughout the realm that the Quran is uncreated and that no one may assert otherwise. Historians have recorded this trial in full detail; here I have given only a summary—see my detailed study in the dedicated section. Imam Ahmad’s patience and steadfastness in resisting this doctrine were unmatched, lest the Quran be desecrated in people’s hearts and stripped of its attribution to Allah. References: al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Tabari, vol. 8, p. 631 ff.; Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh, vol. 6, p. 423 ff., vol. 7, p. 20 ff.; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya, vol. 10, pp. 308–310, 343–347, 374–380.