was a Ḥanafī Sunnī, whereas his vizier was a Muʿtazilī Rāfiḍī. When the Sultan ordered that the innovators be cursed from the pulpits during the Friday congregational prayers, al-Kundarī, in a bid to console himself and avenge his feelings, attached the name of the Ashʿarīs to the list of the sectarians (1). He then put the foremost scholars to an inquisition and targeted (2) the leading authorities, dismissing Abū ʿUthmān al-Ṣābūnī from his post in Nīshāpūr (3) and handing it over to a certain Ḥanafī, who led (4) the public prayers. As a result, the shaykh Abū al-Qāsim (5) and Imām Abū al-Maʿālī al-Juwaynī left the city. Only a short time (6) passed before that (7) Sultan died; his son Alp Arslan succeeded him and appointed the accomplished vizier Abū ʿAlī (8) al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Isḥāq. This vizier honored the people of the Sunnah, suppressed the hypocrites, ordered that any mention of them be removed from the public curses and that only the others be singled out for imprecation and reproach (9). He recalled those who had gone into exile, returned them to their homeland, and had them brought back with honor after their long displacement and wandering.

He also recounted the episode of Abū al-Qāsim al-Qushayrī, which he entitled “The Complaint of Ahl al-Sunnah, recounting what befell them during the ordeal” (10), saying