to summon them to him; they were:
Muhammad ibn Saʿd, the scribe of al-Waqidi; Abu Muslim, the mustamli (dictation secretary) of Yazid ibn Harun (1); Yahya ibn Maʿin; Abu Khaythama Zuhayr ibn Harb; Ismaʿil ibn Dawud; Ismaʿil ibn Abi Masʿud; and Ahmad ibn al-Dawraqi (2).

He sent them on to al-Maʾmun in al-Raqqa, where they were tested on the doctrine that the Quran is created. They yielded to it and outwardly professed agreement, though they detested doing so. Al-Maʾmun then returned them to Baghdad and ordered that their case be proclaimed publicly among the jurists, an order that Ishaq ibn Ibrahim carried out.

Ishaq next convened a large number of senior hadith transmitters, jurists, judges, mosque imams, and others. By al-Maʾmun’s command he invited them to adopt the same doctrine, telling them that the earlier hadith scholars had already concurred. They answered exactly as that first group had answered. A tremendous upheaval broke out among the people—indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we shall return.

Al-Maʾmun then wrote a second letter to Ishaq ibn Ibrahim, attempting to prove the createdness of the Quran with arguments that were merely specious semblances of evidence, devoid of sound demonstration or real substance—nothing but ambiguities. He even cited Quranic verses that were proof against him, not for him; Ibn Jarir (3) has reproduced the entire letter. Al-Maʾmun ordered that it be read aloud to certain people and that they be summoned to accept its contents and to affirm its doctrine (4).

Accordingly, Ishaq ibn Ibrahim brought forward a group of leading scholars, namely: Ahmad ibn Hanbal; Qutaybah; Abu Hassan al-Ziyadi; Bishr ibn al-Walid al-Kindi; ʿAli ibn Abi Muqatil; Saʿdawayh al-Wasiti; ʿAli ibn al-Jaʿd; Ishaq ibn Abi Israʾil; Ibn al-Hirsh; the elder Ibn ʿUlayyah; Yahya ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman (5) al-ʿUmari; another shaykh from the lineage of ʿUmar who had served as judge in al-Raqqa; Abu Nasr al-Tammar; Abu Maʿmar al-Qatiʿi; Muhammad ibn Hatim ibn Maymun; Muhammad ibn Nuh al-Jundisaburi, who had been flogged; Ibn al-Farrukhan; [al-Naḍr ibn Shumayl, Abu ʿAli ibn ʿAsim, Abu al-ʿAwwam al-Jazzar (6), and Ibn Shujaʿ] (7); ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Ishaq; and others (8).

When they entered the presence of Ishaq ibn Ibrahim, he read to them al-Maʾmun’s letter. After they had understood it he said to Bishr ibn al-Walid, “What do you say concerning the Quran?”

He replied, “It is the Speech of Allah.”

Ishaq said, “That is not what I am asking you; I am asking whether it is created.”

He answered: