Ibn Jarīr said ⦗1⦘: In Muḥarram of that same year, Aḥmad ibn Abī Duʿād died, twenty days after the death of his son.
This is the biographical entry of the judge Aḥmad ibn Abī Duʿād ⦗2⦘: Aḥmad ibn Abī Duʿād—his personal name, according to one report, was al-Faraj, and according to another, Duʿmayy; the sound view, however, is that his kunyah itself served as his name—ibn Jarīr the judge, Abū ʿAbd-Allāh al-Iyādī, the Muʿtazilite.
Ibn Khallikān ⦗3⦘ gives his lineage as follows: He is Abū ʿAbd-Allāh Aḥmad ibn Abī Duʿād Faraj ibn Jarīr ibn Mālik ibn ʿAbd-Allāh ibn ʿAbbād ibn Salām [ibn Mālik] ibn ʿAbd Hind ibn ʿAbd Lakhm ibn Mālik ibn Qanaṣ ibn Manaʿah ibn Barjān ibn Daws ibn al-Duʾil ⦗4⦘ ibn Umayyah ibn Hudhāfah ibn Zuhar ibn Iyād ibn Nizār ibn Maʿadd ibn ʿAdnān.
Al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī ⦗5⦘ said: Ibn Abī Duʿād held the post of chief judge under al-Muʿtaṣim and then under al-Wāthiq. He was renowned for generosity, open-handedness, fine manners, and ample learning; nonetheless, he openly professed the Jahmī creed and persuaded the caliph ⦗6⦘ to test the people concerning the createdness of the Quran ⦗7⦘.
Al-Ṣūlī ⦗8⦘ said: After the Barmakids, no one was more munificent than he; had he not debased himself through his love of the miḥnah (inquisition), every tongue would have praised him.
They report that he was born in 160 AH and was twenty ⦗9⦘ years older than Yaḥyā ibn Aktham.
Ibn Khallikān ⦗10⦘ also said: He was originally from the region of Qinnasrīn ⦗11⦘. His father was a merchant who used to travel to Syria and later took his son with him.
(1) al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Tabari (History of the Prophets and Kings), vol. 9, p. 197.
(2) His biography appears in al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Tarikh Baghdad (History of Baghdad), vol. 4, p. 141; al-Dhahabi, Wafayat al-A‘yan (Deaths of the Notables), vol. 1, p. 81; Ibn ‘Asakir, Mukhatasar Tarikh Dimashq (Abridged History of Damascus), vol. 3, p. 66; al-Dhahabi, Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’ (Lives of the Noble Scholars), vol. 11, p. 169; al-Sakhawi, al-Wafi bi’l-Wafayat (Comprehensive Record of Deaths), vol. 7, p. 281; Shadharāt al-Dhahab fī akhbār man dhahab (Gold Nuggets: Accounts of the Deceased), vol. 2, p. 93.
(3) al-Dhahabi, Wafayat al-A‘yan (Deaths of the Notables), vol. 1, p. 81.
(4) In the unreadable manuscripts; adopts the reading found in al-Jamhara (The Compendium), p. 328, and in Wafayat al-A‘yan (Deaths of the Notables).
(5) al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Tarikh Baghdad (History of Baghdad), vol. 4, p. 142; Ibn ‘Asakir, Mukhatasar Tarikh Dimashq (Abridged History of Damascus), vol. 3, p. 66.
(6) In manuscripts B and Z: “al-khalifa” (the caliph).
(7) In the printed edition: “wa anna Allah la yurā fi’l-ākhira” (“and that Allah is not seen in the Hereafter”).
(8) al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Tarikh Baghdad (History of Baghdad), vol. 4, p. 142; Ibn ‘Asakir, Mukhatasar Tarikh Dimashq (Abridged History of Damascus), vol. 3, p. 70.
(9) Tarikh Baghdad (History of Baghdad), vol. 4, p. 142, which contradicts the account of the birth of Yahya b. Aktham, since all sources agree he was born around 159 AH. al-Dhahabi, Wafayat al-A‘yan (Deaths of the Notables), vol. 1, p. 89.
(10) al-Dhahabi, Wafayat al-A‘yan (Deaths of the Notables), vol. 1, p. 81.
(11) “Qinnasrin”: with a kasra on the first letter, a fatha on the second, and a shaddah. Some write it with a kasra on the second letter followed by a silent s. Qinnasrin and Homs were originally one and the same; it was conquered by Abu Ubayda b. al-Jarrah in 17 AH. (Yaqut)