O Commander of the Faithful—fear Allah, fear Allah. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The blood of a Muslim who bears witness that there is no god but Allah is lawful only in one of three cases,” and I recited the rest of the ḥadīth (1). I also reminded him that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “I have been commanded to fight people until they declare that there is no god but Allah; when they declare it, their lives and property are safe from me” (2). So on what basis do you deem my blood lawful when I have done none of those things? O Commander of the Faithful, remember the day you will stand before Allah Most High, just as I am now standing before you.” At that, he seemed to hold back.
Yet they kept saying, “Commander of the Faithful, he is astray, leading others astray, a disbeliever!” So he ordered that I be placed between the two posts, and the executioners were brought with their whips. One of them would lash me twice and say, “Tighten—may Allah cut off your hands!” Then another would strike me twice, and another likewise. They flogged me with many lashes until I fainted and lost consciousness repeatedly; whenever the beating paused, my senses returned. Al-Muʿtaṣim stood over me, urging me to accept their doctrine, but I did not answer him.
They kept saying, “Woe to you! The caliph is right over your head,” yet I would not comply. They resumed the beating; he came back to me and I still did not respond, so they beat me again. He came a third time and summoned me, but from the intensity of the blows I could not grasp what he said. They renewed the beating until I lost consciousness and felt nothing. Alarmed by my condition, he ordered that I be released, and I only realized it when I found myself in a small room, the fetters removed from my legs. That was on the twenty-fifth day of Ramadan in the year 221 AH.
The caliph then ordered that I be sent home. The total number of lashes was said to be a little over thirty; others said eighty, but the beating was extraordinarily harsh and severe. Imam Aḥmad—may Allah have mercy on him, be pleased with him, and honor his resting place—was a tall, slender man, brown-skinned and exceedingly humble.
When he was carried from the caliphal palace to the residence of Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm, he was fasting. Because of his weakness they brought him sawiq and water so that he might break his fast, but he refused and completed it. When the time for the ẓuhr prayer arrived, he prayed with them.
Judge Ibn Samāʿah said to him, “You have prayed while your clothes are stained with blood!” Aḥmad replied, “ʿUmar prayed while his wound was gushing blood” (3), and the judge fell silent.