Virtues of the Imam Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal. Ibn al-Jawzi

فظهر ودعا إلى الضلالة وكان من المحنة ما كان.

      We cite ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī l-Qāsim, who cites ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Anṣārī, who heard Yaḥyā ibn ʿAmmār ibn Yaḥyā report that he heard Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Janāḥ al-Aṣamm report that he heard Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Sahl report that he heard Ibrāhīm ibn Isḥāq al-Anṣārī report that he heard Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Dawraqī report:

      [Al-Dawraqī:] I heard Muḥammad ibn Nūḥ report, citing al-Masʿūdī, judge in Baghdad: “I hear that Bishr al-Marīsī claims the Qurʾan is created. If God puts him in my hands, I swear I’ll kill him more painfully than I’ve ever killed anyone.”

      Bishr thus remained in hiding for twenty years. When Hārūn died, he reappeared and began advocating his misguided belief. That’s how the Inquisition started.

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66.4

      قلت: فلما تُوفّي الرشيد كان الأمر كذلك في زمن الأمين فلمّا ولي المأمون خالَطَه قوم من المعتزلة فحسّنوا له القول بخلق القرآن وكان يتردّد في حمل الناس على ذلك ويُراقب بقايا الأشياخ ثم قوي عزمه على ذلك فحمل الناس عليه.

      [The author:] Even after al-Rashīd died and al-Amīn became caliph, the official position remained the same. But when al-Maʾmūn came to power, a number of Secessionists insinuated themselves into his company and persuaded him to adopt the view that the Qurʾan is created. Fearful of those elders who were still alive, al-Maʾmūn hesitated to call for assent to the new creed. Eventually, though, he resolved to impose it on the community.⁵²

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66.5

      أخبرنا عبد الرحمن بن محمّد القزاز قال: أخبرنا أحمد بن عليّ بن ثابت قال: أخبرنا القاضي أبو بكر أحمد بن الحسن الحِيري وأبو سعيد محمّد بن موسى الصَّيْرَفي قالا: حدثنا أبو العباس محمّد بن يَعقوب الأصمّ قال: حدثنا يحيى بن أبي طالب قال: أخبرني الحسن بن شاذان الواسطي قال: حدثني ابن عَرْعَرة قال:

      حَدثني ابن أكثم قال: قال لنا المأمون: لولا مكان يزيد بن هارون لأظهرتُ أنّ القُرآن مَخلوق. فقال بعضُ جُلسائه: يا أمير المؤمنين ومن يزيد حتّى يكون يُتّقى؟

      قال: فقال: ويحك! إني أخاف إن أظهرتُه فيردّ عليّ فيختلف الناس وتكون فتنة وأنا أكره الفِتنة.

      قال: فقال الرجل: فأنا أخبر ذلك منه. فقال له: نعم.

      فخرج إلى واسط فجاء إلى يزيد فدخل عليه المسجد وجلس إليه فقال له: يا أبا خالد إن أمير المؤمنين يُقْرِئك السلام ويقول لك: إني أريد أن أظهر أن القرآن مخلوق.

      قال: فقال: كذبتَ على أمير المؤمنين، أمير المؤمنين لا يحمل الناس على ما لا يعرفونه فإن كنتَ صادقًا فاقعُد إلى المجلس فإذا اجتمع الناس فَقُل.

      قال: فلما أن كان الغد اجتمع الناس فقام فقال: يا أبا خالد – رضي الله عنك – إنّ أمير المؤمنين يُقرئك السلام ويقول لك: إني أردت أن أُظهر أن القرآن مخلوق فما عندك في ذلك؟ قال: كذبتَ على أمير المؤمنين، أمير المؤمنين لا يحمل الناس على ما لا يعرفونه وما لم يقُلْ به أحد.

      قال: فقدم فقال: يا أمير المؤمنين كنتَ أعلم، كان من القصّة كيتَ وكيت. فقال له: ويحك تلعّب بك!

      We cite ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad al-Qazzāz, who cites Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Thābit, who cites the judge Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ḥīrī, who along with Abū Saʿīd Muḥammad ibn Musā l-Ṣayrafī heard Abū l-ʿAbbās Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb al-Aṣamm report that he heard Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib, who cites al-Ḥasan ibn Shādhān al-Wāsiṭī, who heard Ibn ʿArʿarah report that he heard Ibn Aktham report:

      [Ibn Aktham⁵³:] Al-Maʾmūn once remarked that if not for Yazīd ibn Hārūn, he would proclaim that the Qurʾan is created. One of those present asked whether Yazīd was really someone to worry about.

      “Fool!” said the caliph. “What if I make a statement and he condemns it? People will have to choose sides. And if there’s one thing I hate, it’s conflict.”

      “Let me go and see for myself,” said the man.

      “You go ahead,” said al-Maʾmūn.

      So the man traveled to Wāsiṭ, where he found Yazīd in his mosque and sat down with him.

      “Yazīd,” said the man, “the caliph sends his regards and wants you to know that he intends to declare that the Qurʾan is created.”

      “You’re lying,” said Yazīd. “The caliph would never force people to take a position they don’t understand or accept. If you want to see for yourself, come back when the study circle gathers. When everyone’s here, you can tell them what you told me.”

      The next day the man waited for the people to gather and then said, “God be pleased with you, Yazīd! The caliph sends his regards and wants you to know that he intends to declare that the Qurʾan is created. What do you have to say about that?”

      “You’re lying,” said Yazīd. “The caliph would never force people to take a position they don’t understand or accept, and that no one has ever believed in before.”

      So the man came back and said to the caliph, “You were right! Here’s what happened,” and told the story.

      “Now do you see?” said al-Maʾmūn. “He played you perfectly.”

      الباب السابع والستون

      في ذكر قصّته مع المأمون

      Chapter 67

      His Experience with al-Maʾmūn⁵⁴

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67.1

      قال