for adopting the doctrine of Jahm. I saw him beating him on the head with a sandal and saying, “No— not until you affirm: ‘The Most Merciful rose over the Throne,’ being separate from His creation.”

170 – I remark: The compiler cited this narration on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Dhuhli: “Ṣāliḥ ibn al-Ḍurays informed me.” The chain is sound enough, for this Ṣāliḥ is listed by Ibn Abī Ḥātim ⦗2/1/406–407⦘, who notes that Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb transmitted from him and records neither censure nor commendation. Al-Dhuhli himself also related from him, as shown in this report.

46 – al-Naḍr ibn Muḥammad al-Marwazī (…–203 AH)

195 – ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Shaqīq said that he heard al-Naḍr ibn Muḥammad declare, “Whoever says that this verse— ‘Indeed, I am Allah; there is no deity but Me, so worship Me’ (Q 20:14)—is created, has committed unbelief.”

As for pronouncing disbelief upon those who claimed the Qur’an was created, this has been reported from all the leading Imams of the Salaf: in the era of Mālik and al-Thawrī; then in the era of Ibn al-Mubārak and Wakīʿ; then in the era of al-Shāfiʿī, ʿAffān, and al-Qaʿnabī; then in the era of Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī; then in the era of al-Bukhārī and Abū Zurʿah al-Rāzī; then in the era of Muḥammad ibn Naṣr al-Marwazī, al-Nasāʾī, Muḥammad ibn Jarīr, and Ibn Khuzaymah.

During those times people divided into two camps: either one said that it is the speech of Allah—His revelation and His sending-down—uncreated; or one said that it is the speech of Allah, His revelation, yet it is created, citing as proof the verse, “Indeed, We have made it an Arabic Qur’an” (Q 43:3), arguing that whatever is “made” must necessarily be created.

Then al-Maʾmūn came to power; he was versed in speculative theology, and the books of the ancients had been translated for him. He summoned the people to profess that the Qur’an is created, threatening and intimidating them. A great many responded, some out of desire, others out of fear, while others refused: Abū Mushir, the scholar of Damascus; Nuʿaym ibn Ḥammād, the scholar of Egypt; al-Buwayṭī, the jurist of Egypt; ʿAffān, the ḥadith master of Iraq; Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, the Imam; and a number of others. He imprisoned them, but before long he died in Ṭarsūs and was buried there.

His brother al-Muʿtaṣim succeeded him and renewed the inquisition. His chief judge, Aḥmad ibn Abī Duʾād, took charge of it. They administered a severe beating to Imām Aḥmad, yet he would not concede. They debated with him, and harsh events unfolded—events that whoever wishes to ponder them and know what actually took place, as it deserves to be known