ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Kināʾī’s defiant stand against Bishr al-Marīsī and the Miḥna

The News Reaches Mecca

Whilst I was residing in Mecca, news reached me of what Bishr ibn Ghiyāth al-Marīsī (d. 218 AH / 833 CE) had openly proclaimed in Baghdad: his assertion of the created nature of the Qurʾān, his summoning of the people to agree with his position and adopt his madhhab, his deception of the Commander of the Faithful, al-Maʾmūn (d. 218 AH / 833 CE), and of the general populace, and the tribulation (miḥna) into which he had driven the people, compelling them to enter into this kufr and misguidance. I heard of the terror that people felt at the prospect of debating him, their reluctance to refute him, to demolish his arguments, and to invalidate his madhhab. I heard of the believers concealing themselves in their homes, withdrawing from the Friday prayers and congregational prayers, and fleeing from city to city out of fear for their lives and their dīn. And I heard of the great numbers of the ignorant and the riffraff who had rallied to Bishr in his unbelief and misguidance, entering into his bidʿa and adopting his madhhab out of love for this world and out of fear of the punishment of the powerful in this life.

Departure and Resolution

ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Yaḥyā said: This news unsettled me and drove me from my homeland. It disturbed my peace and kept me from sleep, occupying my thoughts and filling me with grief and anxiety. I set out from my land, directing myself towards my Lord ﷻ, beseeching Him for my safety and my arrival, until I came to rest in Baghdad. There I witnessed the severity and intensity of the affair to be manifold greater than what had reached me before. I turned to my Lord ﷻ in supplication and humble entreaty, earnest in hope and in fear, placing my cheek upon the ground before Him, extending my hands to Him, asking Him to guide me and make me steadfast, to grant me success and aid me, to take me by the hand, and not to abandon me nor leave me to myself; asking Him to open my heart to the understanding of His Book, and to free my tongue for the exposition of its clarification.

I made my intention purely and sincerely for Allah ﷻ, and I gave myself wholly to Him. He, Blessed and Exalted, hastened to answer me: He strengthened my resolve, emboldened my heart, opened my heart to the understanding of His Book, freed my tongue through it, and expanded my breast. Through His granting me success, I saw my right guidance clearly; I was assured of His aid, His support, and His reinforcement of me. I did not rely upon the counsel of any of Allah’s ﷻ creation in my affair. I began to conceal my matter and to keep my news hidden from all people, out of fear that my whereabouts would become known and that I would be killed before my words could be heard.

My resolve therefore settled upon making myself known openly, proclaiming my position and madhhab before all of creation and all witnesses, declaring my opposition to the people of kufr and misguidance, refuting them, exposing their unbelief, and making plain their error – and that this should take place in the congregational mosque on the day of Friday.

I was certain that they would not hasten to bring any calamity upon me before listening to my debate and hearing me out, and all of this was by the tawfīq of Allah ﷻ and His assistance.

The Declaration in the Mosque

ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Yaḥyā said: The people at that time and in that era were in a grave predicament. The fuqahāʾ, the muḥaddithūn, the admonishers, and those who called to good had been prohibited from sitting in the two congregational mosques of Baghdad and in other mosques and gathering places, save for Bishr al-Marīsī and Muḥammad ibn al-Jahm ibn Ṣafwān hrough whom the Jahmiyya are known and those who agreed with them in their madhhab. These two would hold their gatherings, and the people would assemble 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 forward: if he agreed with them and entered into their kufr, answering their call, he was released; otherwise they would kill him outright or transport him from one land to another. How many a slain man was there whose fate remained unknown; how many a man was flogged whose case became public; and how many of the scholars gave in and followed them out of fear for their lives when the sword and death were held over them, answering under compulsion, forsaking the truth openly knowing full well what they were doing because of the punishment they feared and the severity they dreaded.

ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said: When the Friday came upon which I had resolved to make myself known and to proclaim my position and conviction, I prayed the Friday prayer in the congregational mosque of al-Ruṣāfa on the eastern side of the city, facing the qibla, standing at the front of the first row of the general congregation. When the Imām completed the Friday prayer with the salām, I stood upright on my feet so that the people could see me and hear my words, that my statement might be clear to them. I called out at the top of my voice to my son I had stationed my son beside the other column and I said to him: “O my son, what do you say concerning the Qurʾān?” He replied: “The speech of Allah, uncreated.”

ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said: When the people heard my words, my question to my son, and his answer, they fled in all directions out of the mosque save for a small number of people fearful for their own safety. This was because they had heard what they were not accustomed to hearing, and what they had kept hidden and suppressed had now been made manifest to them. My son had not yet finished his answer to me when the agents of the authorities came and took me and my son, and we were brought and stood before ʿAmr ibn Masʿada¹. He had come that Friday. When he looked at my face for he had heard my words, my question to my son, and my son’s answer he had no need to ask me about what I had said. He said to me: “Are you mad?”

I said: “No.”

He said: “Are you possessed?”

I said: “No.”

He said: “Then are you wronged?”

I said: “No. I am sound of mind, excellent in understanding, firm in knowledge and all praise be to Allah.”

Dragged Through the Streets

They began to drag us at a forceful, violent pace, our hands held by the rajāla² and the rest of his companions surrounding us before and behind, until we arrived at the residence of ʿAmr ibn Masʿada in that rough and harsh condition. We were made to wait until he entered, then we were brought in before him as he sat in the courtyard of his house upon an iron chair with a cushion on it. When we stood before him, I said: “Seeking the reward of Allah Most High, and hoping for nearness to Him.”

He said: “Why did you not do that privately, without a public call and a display of opposition to the Commander of the Faithful may Allah prolong his life? Or do you seek renown, ostentation, and reputation, and to make a market of yourself by taking people’s money?”

I said: “I sought none of that. I sought only to reach the Commander of the Faithful and to debate in his presence nothing else.”

He said: “And you would do that?”

I said: “Yes, and it is for this that I set out, and exposed myself and my son to what you see, after leaving my land and journeying through the open deserts my son and I together hoping to fulfil the duty owed to Allah ﷻ in respect of what He has entrusted to me of understanding and knowledge, and what He has obligated upon me and upon the scholars: the duty of clarification.”

He said: “If I convey you to the Commander of the Faithful and you seek through this a path to some other matter, then your blood will be lawful for your opposition to the Commander of the Faithful.”

I said to him: “If I speak of anything other than this, or make this a means to something else, then my blood is lawful to the Commander of the Faithful, and he is absolved of it.”

ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said: ʿAmr ibn Masʿada leapt to his feet and said: “Take him before me to the Commander of the Faithful.”³

Before the Caliph’s Chamberlain

He said: I was taken out, and he rode from the western side whilst my son and I were driven before him on foot, our hands held by the rajāla, until they reached the Commander of the Faithful on the eastern side. He entered, whilst I stood in the dahlīz on my feet. He remained with the Commander of the Faithful for a long time, then came out to me and said: “I have informed the Commander of the Faithful may Allah prolong his life of your affair, what you did, what you said, and your request to be brought together with your opponents in debate before him. He has commanded may Allah prolong his life that what you have asked for be granted, and that the disputants on this matter be gathered to his exalted assembly on the coming Monday, and that you attend with them for the debate before him may Allah strengthen him and that he be the arbiter between you.”

ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said: I praised Allah ﷻ for that and gave thanks, and I expressed thanks and supplication for the Commander of the Faithful. ʿAmr ibn Masʿada then said to me: “Give us a guarantor for your person until you attend with them on Monday there is no need for us to imprison you.”

I said to him: “May Allah honour you, I am a stranger in this land and know no one here who shares my position. Were the whole of creation to know me, they would disown me, flee from my company, and disavow me.” He said: “Then go and attend to your affairs and reflect upon your matter, for perhaps you may recant your error and repent of what you have done, and the Commander of the Faithful may pardon your offence.”

I said: “That is for you to decide may Allah honour you do as you see fit.”

ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said: He assigned a man to remain with me in my lodging, and I departed.

The Morning of Monday

When Monday came, I prayed the dawn prayer in the mosque that was at the door of my lodging. When I finished the prayer, a deputy of ʿAmr ibn Masʿada came to me with a great number of horsemen and foot soldiers. They conveyed me honourably upon a fine mount until they arrived at the gate of the Commander of the Faithful, where I was made to wait until ʿAmr ibn Masʿada came and entered, then sat in the chamber in which he would habitually sit. He then gave me permission to enter. I entered, and when I stood before him, he seated me, then said: “Are you still holding to what you were upon, or have you recanted?”

I said: “Rather, I remain upon what I was and I have, by the tawfīq of Allah, grown only more certain in my matter.”

ʿAmr said to me: “O man, you have loaded upon yourself a grave affair and reached its utmost extremity of harmfulness. You have exposed yourself to that which you have no strength to withstand opposition to the Commander of the Faithful. You have claimed what furnishes you with no proof against your opponents, nor any other. After the proof is established against you, nothing remains but the sword. Look to yourself, and act before the debate takes place and the proof appears against you, for regret will avail you nothing and you will have no capacity to withstand the authority of the state. You have no ally, no supporter, no companion. I sought to intercede with the Commander of the Faithful may Allah prolong his life and to ask him to pardon your offence and what great wrong you have committed, should you openly recant and show remorse for what you have done. I shall obtain for you a guarantee of safety in your life, your wealth, your family, and your children. If you have a need, I shall fulfil it for you. I have only seated here out of mercy towards you, at what will befall you after a short while if you persist in what you are upon, and I hope that Allah will deliver you through my hand from the grave thing you have cast yourself into.”

I said to him: “I have no regret may Allah honour you nor have I retracted. I did not leave my land, nor expose myself, nor set out my son and I through the open deserts, except in pursuit of this day and this assembly, hoping that Allah ﷻ would convey me to what I hope for. I have no strength save through Allah; in Him I place my trust, and He is sufficient for me and what an excellent Guardian He is.”

ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said: ʿAmr ibn Masʿada rose to his feet and said: “I have striven in my speech to you with all my effort, and you are determined to spill your own blood and kill yourself.”

I said to him: “Allah ﷻ is greater may Allah ﷻ not forsake me nor leave me to myself and the justice of the Commander of the Faithful may Allah prolong his life is too vast for him to do me wrong. And I say: There is no might nor power save through Allah, the Most High, the Almighty.”

An Encounter with Imām Aḥmad

Muḥammad ibn al-Surrī said: Abū ʿAbd Allāh [Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (d. 241 AH / 855 CE)] related to me, saying: Ibn al-Azhar came to me and said: “This man has come” meaning ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz “and he asks you to remember him.” Ibn al-Azhar also said to him: “This matter you are engaged in is not something you are able to bear, so remember me.” Abū ʿAbd Allāh sent back to him: “I have already been tried, and I fear that if I mention you I will bring your blood upon myself, and then it will be I who kills you and I am more beloved to you [that I not be the cause of your death]. Depart in safety.”

The Advice of the Caliph’s Chamberlain

ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said: I was ordered out and taken to the first dahlīz, with a group of guards assigned to me. All the Hāshimites who attended the assembly of the Commander of the Faithful had been instructed to ride out; emissaries had been sent to the fuqahāʾ, the judges, and the mutakallimūn and disputants who agreed with them in their madhhab, summoning them to the house of the Commander of the Faithful; and the ministers, viziers, and commanders were ordered to ride out fully armed all of this to intimidate me by their presence. The people were also prevented from departing until the assembly had concluded.

When the assembly of the Commander of the Faithful had gathered and they had spoken amongst themselves and engaged in their disputation, I was given permission to enter. I passed from one dahlīz to another until I arrived at the chamberlain who held the curtain at the door of the courtyard. When he saw me, he ordered me brought into a chamber, and closed the door upon me. He said to me: “If you wish for me to make your will for you here, then do so.”

I said: “I have no need of that.”

He said: “Then pray two rakʿāt before you enter.” So I prayed four rakʿāt, and supplicated to Allah ﷻ and humbled myself before Him in earnest entreaty. When I had finished, he ordered those who were in his presence to leave the chamber…

al-Kināʾī, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Yaḥyā (d. c. 240 AH / 854 CE). al-Ḥayda wa-al-Iʿtidhār fī al-Radd ʿalā man Qāla bi-Khalq al-Qurʾān. Edited by ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Nāṣir al-Faqīhī. 2nd edition. Maktabat al-ʿUlūm wa-al-Ḥikam: Medina, 1990.