So Isḥāq sent them to al-Maʾmūn in al-Raqqah (1). The caliph questioned them about the doctrine that the Qurʾān is created; they assented to him, outwardly showing agreement while inwardly detesting it. He then returned them to Baghdad and ordered that this be publicly proclaimed among the jurists, a command his deputy duly carried out (2).

Al-Maʾmūn next wrote a second letter (3) to Isḥāq—relying, as Ibn Kathīr notes, on dubious proofs in support of the claim that the Qurʾān is created: arguments without substance, mere ambiguities. In that letter he even cited verses of the Qurʾān that actually refute his position. He instructed his deputy to read the letter aloud to the people and to summon them to adopt it and to affirm that the Qurʾān is created.

Accordingly, Isḥāq gathered a number of leading scholars, among them Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (4)—may Allah have mercy on him—, read the caliph’s letter to them, and then began interrogating them one by one until the turn came to Imām Aḥmad.

He asked, “Do you say that the Qurʾān is created?”

Imām Aḥmad replied, “The Qurʾān is the speech of Allah; I will say no more than that.”

Isḥāq then said, “What do you say about this document (5)?”

Imām Aḥmad answered, “I say: ‘There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.’” (6)

At this, a man from the Muʿtazilah (7) protested, “He is claiming that Allah hears with an ear and sees with an eye!”