An account of what took place between ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muslim ibn Maymūn al-Kinānī ؒ (d. c. 240 AH/854 CE), and Bishr al-Marīsī.
I read this to Abū ʿUmar Aḥmad ibn Khālid in Rabīʿ al-Ākhir of the year three hundred and fifty-two (352 AH/963 CE). Abū ʿAmr ʿUthmān ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn as-Sammāk narrated to us, saying: Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Azhar ibn Ḥusayn al-Qaṭāʾiʿī narrated to us, saying: Abū ʿAbd Allah al-ʿAbbās ibn Muḥammad ibn Farqad narrated to me, saying: My father, Muḥammad ibn Farqad, narrated this book to me from its beginning to its end, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muslim al-Kinānī said:
The News Reaches Mecca
Whilst I was in Mecca, news reached me of what Bishr ibn Ghiyāth al-Marīsī (d. 218 AH/833 CE) had openly proclaimed in Baghdad: his assertion that the Qurʾān is created; his summoning of the people to agree with his position and his madhhab; his sowing of confusion in the mind of the Commander of the Faithful, al-Maʾmūn (d. 218 AH/833 CE), and of the general populace; and the miḥnah into which he had driven the people, pressing them to enter into this kufr and misguidance.
I heard of the people’s dread and terror of debating him, and their shrinking from refuting him with that which would break his position, demolish his argument, and invalidate his madhhab. I heard of the believers concealing themselves in their homes, withdrawing from the Friday prayers and the congregational prayers, and fleeing from city to city out of fear for their lives and their religion.
I heard also of the great numbers of the ignorant and the rabble who agreed with Bishr in his madhhab, his kufr, and his misguidance, entering into his bidʿah and adopting his madhhab out of desire for this world and fear of the punishment he would inflict upon whoever opposed him in his madhhab.
Departure and Resolve
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Yaḥyā said:
This unsettled and disturbed me; it kept me awake at night and prolonged my grief and anxiety. So I set out from my land, turning to my Lord and asking Him for my safety and my safe arrival, until I reached Baghdad. There I witnessed the severity and intensity of the affair to be many times greater than what had been reaching me. I took refuge in my Lord, calling upon Him and humbling myself before Him in hope and in fear, laying my cheek down before Him and stretching out my hands to Him, asking Him to guide me and direct me aright, to grant me success and aid me, to take me by the hand, and not to forsake me nor leave me to myself; to open my heart to the understanding of His Book, and to free my tongue to expound its clear meaning. I made my intention sincere for Allah and gave myself wholly to Him.
He, Blessed and Exalted, hastened to answer me. He made firm my resolve, gave me courage, opened my heart to the understanding of His Book, freed my tongue by it, and expanded my breast by it. Through His granting me success I saw my right course clearly, and I took comfort in His aid, His help, and His support.
I did not find ease in consulting any of Allah’s creation about my affair. I began to conceal my matter and to hide my news from all people, for fear that word of me would spread and my whereabouts become known, and that I would be killed before my words could be heard.
My resolve then settled upon making myself known and proclaiming my position and my madhhab before all people and all witnesses, declaring my opposition to the people of kufr and misguidance, refuting them, stating their kufr, and making plain their misguidance; and that this should take place in the congregational mosque on the day of Friday.
I was certain that, once I had made myself known and proclaimed my opposition to them before all people, they would not bring any harm upon me, nor hasten to kill me or punish me in any other way, until they had debated me and heard me out. All of this was by the tawfīq of Allah and His aid to me.
The State of the People
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Yaḥyā said:
The people at that time and in that period were in a grave predicament. The fuqahāʾ, the muḥaddithūn, the preachers, and the callers had been prohibited from sitting in the two congregational mosques of Baghdad and in all other places, save for Bishr al-Marīsī and Ibn al-Jahm,1 and those who agreed with them in their madhhab. They would hold their sittings, the people would gather around them, and they would teach them kufr and misguidance.
Whoever openly opposed them, or disparaged their madhhab, or was accused of doing so, was brought before them. If he agreed with them, entered into their kufr, and answered their call, [he was left alone]; otherwise they would kill him in secret, or carry him off from one land to another.
How many a man was killed with no one knowing of him; how many a man was flogged whose case became known; and how many of the scholars answered them and followed them in their position out of fear for their lives. When they were brought before the sword and death, they answered under compulsion and openly parted from the truth, knowingly, because of what they feared of the might and assault of those people.
The Declaration in the Mosque
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said:
When the Friday came upon which I had resolved to make myself known and to proclaim my position and my belief, I prayed the Friday prayer in the congregational mosque of ar-Ruṣāfah on the eastern side, in line with the qiblah and the minbar, in the first of the rows of the common people. When the imam gave the salām from the Friday prayer, I sprang to my feet so that the people could see me and hear my words, and so that what I said would not be hidden from them. I called out at the top of my voice to my son, whom I had stationed opposite me at the other column, and said to him:
يا ابني ما تقول في القرآن؟
“My son, what do you say concerning the Qurʾān?”
He said:
كلام الله غير مخلوق
“The Speech of Allah, uncreated.”
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said:
When the people heard my words, my question to my son, and his answer to me, they fled headlong out of the mosque, all but a few, fearing for themselves. That was because they had heard what they were not used to hearing, and there had appeared to them what they had been hiding and concealing. My son had not finished his answer before the officers of the authorities came to me, carried off my son and me, and stood me before ʿAmr ibn Masʿadah (d. 217 AH/832 CE), who had come to pray the Friday prayer. When he looked at my face, having heard my words, my question to my son, and my son’s answer to me, he had no need to ask me about what I had said.
He said to me:
أمجنون أنت؟
“Are you mad?”
I said:
لا
“No.”
He said:
فموسوس أنت؟
“Are you deluded?”
I said:
لا
“No.”
He said:
أفمعتوه أنت؟
“Are you feeble-minded?”
I said:
لا. إني لصحيح العقل جيد الفهم ثابت المعرفة والحمد لله كثيرا.
“No. I am sound of mind, good in understanding, and firm in knowledge, and abundant praise belongs to Allah.”
He said:
فمظلوم أنت؟
“Then have you been wronged?”
I said:
لا
“No.”
He then said to his companions and his men:
مروا بهما إلى منزلي
“Take the two of them to my house.”
Before ʿAmr ibn Masʿadah
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said:
We were carried by the hands of the men until we had been brought out of the mosque. They then began to run with us, dragging us hard, our hands held by the men to the right and the left, and the rest of his companions behind us and before us, until we came to the house of ʿAmr ibn Masʿadah in that harsh and violent state. We were kept standing at his door until he had gone in. He then gave the order and we were brought in to him as he sat in the courtyard of his house upon an iron chair with a cushion on it.
When we came before him, he turned to me and said:
من أين أنت؟
“Where are you from?”
I said:
من أهل مكة
“From the people of Mecca.”
He said:
ما حملك على ما فعلت بنفسك؟
“What drove you to do what you have done to yourself?”
I said:
طلب القربة إلى الله عز وجل وطلب الزلفة لديه
“Seeking to draw near to Allah and seeking standing with Him.”
He said:
فهلا فعلت ذلك سرا من غير نداء ولا إظهار لمخالفة أمير المؤمنين، أطال الله بقاه. ولكنك أردت الشهرة والرياء والتسوق لتأخذ أموال الناس.
“Then why did you not do that in private, without a public call and without displaying opposition to the Commander of the Faithful, may Allah prolong his life? Rather, you wanted fame and ostentation, and to hawk yourself so as to take people’s money.”
I said:
ما أردت من هذا شيئا، ولا أردت إلا الوصول إلى أمير المؤمنين والمناظرة بين يديه لا غير ذلك.
“I wanted none of that. I wanted only to reach the Commander of the Faithful and to debate before him, nothing else.”
He said:
أو تفعل ذلك؟
“And would you do that?”
I said:
نعم. ولذلك قصدت وبلغت بنفسي ما ترى بعد خروجي من بلدي وتغريري بنفسي مع سلوكي البراري أنا وولدي، رجاء تأدية حق الله عز وجل فيما استودعني من الفهم والعلم وما أخذ علي وعلى العلماء من البيان
“Yes. For that I set out, and brought myself to what you see, after leaving my land and risking my life in crossing the wilds, I and my son, hoping to discharge the right of Allah in what He has entrusted to me of understanding and knowledge, and the pledge He has taken from me and from the scholars to make matters clear.”
He said:
إن كنت إنما جعلت هذا سببا لغيره إذا وصلت إلى أمير المؤمنين فقد حل دمك بمخالفتك أمير المؤمنين
“If you have only made this a means to something else once you reach the Commander of the Faithful, then your blood is lawful for your opposition to the Commander of the Faithful.”
I said to him:
إن تكلمت في شيء غير هذا، أو جعلت هذا ذريعة إلى غيره فدمي حلال لأمر المؤمنين
“If I speak of anything other than this, or make this a pretext for something else, then my blood is lawful to the Commander of the Faithful.”
Brought to the Caliph’s Residence
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said:
ʿAmr sprang to his feet and said:
أخرجوه بين يدي إلى أمير المؤمنين
“Take him out ahead of me to the Commander of the Faithful.”
So I was taken out. He rode from the western side with my son and me ahead of him, made to run headlong, our hands in the hands of the men, until he reached the Commander of the Faithful on the eastern side. He went in while I stood on my feet in the dahlīz (vestibule). He remained a long while with the Commander of the Faithful, then came out and sat in a chamber of his, and gave the order and I was brought in to him.
He said to me:
قد أخبرت أمير المؤمنين أطال الله بقاه بخبرك وما فعلت، وما قلت وما سألت من الجمع بينك وبين مخالفيك من المناظرة بين يديه، وقد أمر أطال الله بقاه، بإجابتك إلى ما سألت وجمع المناظرين عن هذه المقالة إلى مجلسه أعلاه الله في يوم الاثنين الآتي وتحضر معهم ليناظروا بين يديه أيده الله ويكون هو الحاكم بينكم.
“I have informed the Commander of the Faithful, may Allah prolong his life, of your affair, of what you did and what you said, and of your request to be brought together with your opponents to debate before him. He has commanded, may Allah prolong his life, that you be granted what you asked, that those who argue for this doctrine be gathered to his assembly, may Allah exalt it, on the coming Monday, and that you attend with them so that they debate before him, may Allah support him, and he be the judge between you.”
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said:
I praised Allah abundantly for that and thanked Him, and I expressed thanks and supplication for the Commander of the Faithful. ʿAmr ibn Masʿadah then said to me:
أعطنا كفيلا بنفسك حتى تحضر معهم يوم الاثنين وليس بنا حاجة إلى حبسك
“Give us a guarantor for your person until you attend with them on Monday; we have no need to imprison you.”
I said to him:
أعزك الله أنا رجل غريب ولست أعرف في هذا البلد أحدا ولا يعرفني من أهله أحد، فمن أين لي من يكفلني، وخاصة مع إظهار مقالتي لو كان الخلق يعرفوني لتبرؤا مني، وهربوا من قربي وأنكروا معرفتي
“May Allah honour you, I am a stranger. I know no one in this city, and none of its people knows me. Where would I find someone to stand surety for me, especially now that I have made my position public? Even if people knew me, they would disown me, flee from being near me, and deny knowing me.”
He said:
فنوكل بك من يكون معك حتى يحضرك في ذلك اليوم، وتنصرف فتصلح من شأنك وتفكر في أمرك فلعلك أن ترجع عن غيك وتتوب من فعلك فيصفح أمير المؤمنين عن جرمك
“Then we shall assign to you someone who will stay with you until he brings you on that day. Go, then, set your affairs in order, and reflect on your matter. Perhaps you will turn back from your error and repent of what you have done, and the Commander of the Faithful will pardon your offence.”
I said:
ذلك إليك أعزك الله فافعل ما رأيت
“That is for you to decide, may Allah honour you, so do as you see fit.”
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said:
He assigned someone to stay with me in my lodging, and I departed.
The Morning of Monday
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said:
When Monday came, I prayed the dawn prayer in my mosque, which was at the door of my lodging. When I had finished the prayer, there was the deputy of ʿAmr ibn Masʿadah, who had come with a great number of horsemen and foot soldiers. They conveyed me with honour upon a mount until they brought me to the gate of the Commander of the Faithful, where they kept me standing until ʿAmr ibn Masʿadah came. He went in and sat in the chamber in which he used to sit, then gave me permission to enter, and I went in to him.
When I came before him, he seated me and said:
أنت مقيم على ما كنت عليه، أو قد رجعت عنه؟
“Do you remain upon what you were upon, or have you turned back from it?”
I said:
بل مقيم على ما كنت وقد ازددت بتوفيق الله إياي بصيرة في أمري
“Rather, I remain upon what I was upon, and by Allah’s granting me success I have only increased in insight into my affair.”
ʿAmr said to me:
أيها الرجل قد حملت نفسك على أمر عظيم وبلغت الغاية في مكروهها وتعرضت لما لا قوام لك به، من مخالفة أمير المؤمنين أطال الله بقاه، وادعيت ما لا يثبت لك به حجة على مخالفيك ولا لأحد غيرك، وليس وراءك بعد الحجة عليك إلا السيف، فانظر لنفسك وبادر أمرك قبل أن تقع المناظرة، وتظهر عليك الحجة، فلا تنفعك الندامة، ولا تقبل لك معذرة، ولا تقال لك عثرة، فقد رحمتك وأشفقت عليك مما هو نازل بك، وأنا استقبل أمير المؤمنين أطال الله بقاه وأسأله الصفح عن جرمك وعظيم ما كان منك، إن أظهرت الرجوع عنه، والندم على ما كان منك، وآخذ لك الأمان منه أيده الله والجائزة، وإن كانت لك ظلامة أزلتها عنك، وإن كانت لك حاجة قضيتها لك، فإنما جلست رحمة لك مما هو نازل بك بعد ساعة إن أقمت على ما أنت عليه، ورجوت أن يخلصك الله على يدي من عظيم ما أوقعت بنفسك فيه
“O man, you have taken a grave matter upon yourself and have gone to the furthest extent in bringing harm upon yourself. You have exposed yourself to what you cannot withstand: opposition to the Commander of the Faithful, may Allah prolong his life. You have claimed that by which no proof is established for you against your opponents, nor for anyone other than you, and once the proof is established against you, there is nothing beyond it for you but the sword.
So look to yourself and act quickly, before the debate takes place and the proof prevails against you, when regret will not avail you, no excuse will be accepted from you, and no slip will be forgiven you. I have taken pity on you and fear for you what is about to befall you.
I shall go to the Commander of the Faithful, may Allah prolong his life, and ask him to pardon your offence and the enormity of what you have done, if you openly turn back from it and show regret for what you have done, and I shall obtain for you a guarantee of safety from him, may Allah support him, and a reward. If you have a grievance, I shall remove it from you, and if you have a need, I shall fulfil it for you. I have sat here only out of pity for you over what will befall you after a short while if you persist in what you are upon, and I hoped that Allah would deliver you at my hands from the enormity into which you have cast yourself.”
I said to him:
ما ندمت أعزك الله ولا رجعت، ولا خرجت عن بلدي، وغررت بنفسي إلا في طلب هذا اليوم، وهذا المجلس رجاء أن يبلغني الله ما أؤمل من إقامة الحق فيه، وما توفيقي إلا بالله عليه توكلت وهو حسبي ونعم الوكيل
“I have not regretted, may Allah honour you, nor have I turned back. I did not leave my land and risk my life except in pursuit of this day and this assembly, hoping that Allah would grant me what I hope for of establishing the truth in it. My success is only through Allah; upon Him I rely, and He is sufficient for me, and how excellent a Guardian He is.”
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan2 said: I heard Abū ʿAbd Allah say: My father said to me: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz came to Abū ʿAbd Allah Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (d. 241 AH/855 CE), ؒ, while he was in prison, and said:
إن هذا الأمر الذي أنت فيه ليس تطيقه على دقته، فاذكرني
“This matter that you are in, you will not be able to bear it, given its subtlety, so mention me.”
Abū ʿAbd Allah sent word to him:
أنا قد وقعت، وأخاف أن أذكرك فأشيط بدمك، فيكون قتلك على يدي، فأقتل أنا أحب إلي، فانصرف بسلام
“I have already fallen into it, and I fear that if I mention you I shall cause your blood to be shed, so that your killing would be at my hands. That I be killed is dearer to me. So depart in peace.”
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said:
ʿAmr ibn Masʿadah rose to his feet and said:
قد حرصت في كلامك جهدي، وأنت حريص مجتهد في سفك دمك وقتل نفسك
“I have striven with all my effort in speaking to you, yet you are bent and intent upon shedding your own blood and killing yourself.”
I said to him:
معونة الله أعظم، والله عزوجل ألطف من أن يسلمني ويكلني إلى نفسي، وعدل أمير المؤمنين أطال الله بقاه أوسع من أن يقصر عني، وأنا أقول: لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله العلي العظيم
“The aid of Allah is greater. Allah is too gentle to forsake me and leave me to myself, and the justice of the Commander of the Faithful, may Allah prolong his life, is too wide to fall short of me. And I say: there is no might and no power except through Allah, the Most High, the Most Great.”
Summoned to the Assembly
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said:
He gave the order and I was taken out to the first dahlīz, with a group assigned to guard me. Word had already been sent to all of Banū Hāshim who attended the assembly of the Commander of the Faithful, may Allah prolong his life, that they should ride out. He sent to the fuqahāʾ and the judges, those who agreed with them in their madhhab, and all the mutakallimūn and debaters, that they should present themselves at the residence of the Commander of the Faithful, and he ordered the commanders and the amirs to ride out under arms, all of this so as to intimidate me with them. The people were prevented from leaving until the assembly had ended.
When the people had gathered and made ready, and not one of those known for kalām and disputation had stayed away, I was given permission to enter. I was moved from one dahlīz to another until I came to the chamberlain, the keeper of the curtain at the door of the courtyard. When he saw me, he gave the order and I was taken into his chamber, and he came in with me.
He said to me:
إن احتجت إلى أن تجدد طهرا فافعل
“If you need to renew your wuḍūʾ, then do so.”
I said:
لا حاجة لي بذلك
“I have no need of that.”
He said:
صل ركعتين قبل دخولك
“Pray two rakʿahs before you enter.”
So I prayed four rakʿahs, called upon Allah, and humbled myself before Him. When I had finished, he ordered those who were in his chamber to leave, and they left…
Notes
1 In al-Faqīhī’s edition the sentence is interrupted at this point by a gloss: يعني (الجهم بن صفوان الذي به تعرف الجهمية, “meaning al-Jahm ibn Ṣafwān, through whom the Jahmiyyah are known”. The editor notes that it stands thus in the manuscript and suggests that the correct reading is “Ibn al-Jahm”, as in the preceding line, since he, Bishr al-Marīsī, and those who agreed with them were teaching the people the madhhab of al-Jahm ibn Ṣafwān (d. 128 AH/746 CE). Later in the debate he is named Muḥammad ibn al-Jahm (pp. 36, 37, 81).
2 The editor identifies Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan as Ibn al-Azhar, Abū ʿAbd Allah as al-ʿAbbās ibn Muḥammad ibn Farqad, and his father as Muḥammad ibn Farqad, all of whom appear in the isnād of the book.
References
al-Kinānī, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Yaḥyā (d. c. 240 AH/854 CE). al-Ḥaydah wa-l-Iʿtidhār fī ar-Radd ʿalā man Qāla bi-Khalq al-Qurʾān. Edited by ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Nāṣir al-Faqīhī. 2nd edn. Madīnah: Maktabat al-ʿUlūm wa-l-Ḥikam, 1423 AH/2002 CE, pp. 21–26.
