and did not speak directly to Moses. Exalted is Allah far above what al-Ja‘d says!” Then he descended and slaughtered him. This took place in Iraq. Later, Jahm ibn Safwān emerged in the East, in Tirmidh, and from there Jahm’s doctrine spread.
For this reason, the scholars of the Sunnah and hadith in the East—such as Ibrāhīm ibn Tahmān, Khārijah ibn Mus‘ab, ‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak, and their peers—spoke more extensively in refutation of Jahm’s doctrine than those in the Hijaz, Syria, and Iraq. Ibn al-Mājishūn and others also condemned them, as did al-Awzā‘ī, Hammād ibn Zayd, and others.
Their doctrine became widely known only from the time of the ordeal of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and other scholars of the Sunnah. Their strength and numbers had grown under al-Ma’mūn’s rule, for he had spent some time in Khurāsān and met with them. Then, in 218 AH, he issued written orders from Tarsus for the inquisition. He died that same year. Ahmad ibn Hanbal was returned to prison in Baghdad, where he remained until 220 AH. That year witnessed his ordeal under al-Mu‘tasim and his theological debate with them.
When he refuted the arguments they advanced against him, explaining that none of them provided any proof, and that their demand that people agree with them, and their testing people on this basis, constituted ignorance and injustice, al-Mu‘tasim wished to release him. Some, however, advised him that the best course was