Nawas (John a.)_The Miḥna of 218 AH:833 AD Revisited. an Empirical Study (Journal of the American Oriental Soc. 116:4, 1996, 698-708)

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The Miḥna of 218 A. H./833 A. D. Revisited: An Empirical StudyAuthor(s): John A. NawasSource: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 116, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 1996), pp. 698-708

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2/12

THE

MIHNA

OF 218 A.H./833 A.D. REVISITED: AN

EMPIRICAL

STUDY

JOHN

A.

NAWAS

UNIVERSITY

OF

UTRECHT

Exhaustive

biographical

nformation

from

numerous chronicles has been found for

twenty-eight

of

the

forty-four

men,

known

by

name,

who were

interrogated

on order

of

al-Ma'min in the mihna.

Comparable

information was

obtained for

fifty-six

randomly

selected

men

used

as

a control

group.

The

findings

indicate

that al-Ma'min chose

to

focus

on

the

interrogees,

first,

on account of their

greater

ntellectual eminence and

social

influence

and,

second,

to make of them an

example

to all tra-

ditionists,

with the

aim

of

censoring

the hadith

enterprise.

This

interpretation upports

the

hypothesis

which

explains

the

mihna

as a

design

on

the

part

of

al-Ma'mun

to

secure for the

caliphal

institution

full control over

religious

matters. An alternative

hypothesis

which

explains

the mihna as an

attempt

by

the

caliph

to

quell

opposition

is

cast into further

doubt,

in that

there was

no

predominance

of

(Arab-)

Khurasanians

within the

ranks of

the

opposition,

as this

hypothesis

states.

As

ONE

OF

A

SEEMINGLYnterminable

series of

pa-

pers

written

in

the

last

hundred

years

in search

of ex-

plaining

the

mihna,

it

is

fitting

to

introduce this article'

by recalling

Thomas

Kuhn's thesis

about the manner

in

which

ideas

change

and

evolve.2

No matter how

defec-

tive,

tattered,

and

vehement

the attack

on

it

is,

Kuhn

wrote,

an

explanation,

a

theory,

a

supposition,

an idea

will retain a

permanence

that

will

outlive

the

eloquence

and

logic

of

its

critics;

it

will

die

away

only

when an

alternative

comes

along,

one that

explains

better,

pre-

dicts more

accurately,

and

encompasses

a

wider

range

of

diverse facts in total harmony. We can scarcely aspire

to

such an

ultimate

stage,

but

in the

1970s,

explanations

of

the

mihna have

undergone

what

Kuhn

calls a

para-

digm

shift, an intermediate

and

decisive

phase

in

the

natural

evolution of

ideas.

This

shift,

and the

sig-

nificance

to it

of

the

results

of the

investigation

being

reported

in this

article

will

be

described

shortly.

First,

however,

a few

words

about

the

mihna

itself,

a

phe-

nomenon

that-though

now

over

a millennium

old,

and

a

single

event in

the

twenty-years-long

reign

of

the

man

who ordered

it-continues

to

puzzle

researchers

and en-

gage

their

attention.3

1

This

research

was

supported

by

the

Netherlands

Organiza-

tion for Scientific Research

(NWO).

I am

grateful

to Prof.

Richard

W. Bulliet for the

valuable

suggestions

he made

on an

earlier

draft.

The

responsibility

for the content

of the

paper

is,

of

course,

fully

my

own.

2

T. S.

Kuhn,

The Structure

of Scientific

Revolutions

(Chi-

cago:

Univ. of

Chicago

Press,

1962).

3

For

a

general

overview

see,

Encyclopaedia

of

Islam,

new

ed.

(EI2),

s.v.

(Martin Hinds).

A

monographic

treatment

of

the

The

name of

the seventh Abbasid

caliph

al-Mamunn

(r. 198-218/813-833)

has become

synonymous

with the

mihna,

inquisition,

which in

218/833,

just

four months

before

his

sudden

death,

the

caliph

ordered

his

gover-

nor of

Baghdad,

Ishaq

b.

Ibrahim,

to

initiate. Of

the vari-

ous reasons for this

lasting

link between al-Ma'muin

and

the

mihna,

the

following

are of

signal

importance.

1)

An

order which

essentially

aimed at

forcing compliance

with

a

particular

doctrinal issue runs

counter to

all that

is

known

about al-Ma'muin-his

breadth of intellectual

ho-

rizon,

commitment

to the

path

of

reason,

patronage

of

wide-ranging

and

open debates,

dedication

to

infusing

Islamic

scholarship

and

modes

of

thought

with alien

ideas

and novel outlooks

on the world.

2)

The mihna

had

no

precedent

in

Islam,

al-Ma'mun

barred

no means

for

implementing

it,

and

the number of

men

subjected

to

it

ran into

the

hundreds.

3)

The mihna

stood

in violation

of

the letter and

spirit

of the

Qur'an.4

4)

As

though

this

infringement

on

the

Qur'an

were not

enough,

the

caliph

saw fit to

make its status

the touchstone

of

the

inquisi-

tion,

requiring

the

interrogees

to

acquiesce

in the doctrine

that the

Book was a created

object

(the

khalq

al-qur'an).

For some seven decades

beginning

with the

first

extensive

and serious

study

of

the mihna

by

Patton

in

1897,5 explanations-more accurately, explanatory hy-

potheses-have

focused

on

some

variation

or

other

of a

subject

is Fahmi

Jad'an,

Al-Mihna:

Bahth

fi

jadaliyyat

al-dini

wa

al-siyasifi

al-islam

(CAmman:

Dar

al-shuriq

li-al-nashr

wa

al-tawzic,

1989).

4

See,

for

instance,

Qur'an

2:256:

la

ikraha

fi

al-din

...

,

meaning

no

compulsion

in

religion.

5

Walter

M.

Patton,

Ahmed

ibn

Hanbal and

the Mihna

(Lei-

den:

E. J.

Brill,

1897).

698


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3/12

NAWAS: The Mihna

of

218

A.H./833

A.D.

Revisited

Muctazilite/Shicite

theme.

Proponents

of this

perspec-

tive would have us believe that what drove

al-Mamunn

o

write this

extraordinarychapter

in the

history

of

Islam

was his

need to

gain

the

approbation

of

Muctazilites

and

Shicites, by expressing supportfor their views. This out-

look,

extensively

discussed

by

Gabrieli

and

Sourdel,6

leaves the

impression

that

al-Ma'mun

was a naive senti-

mentalist,

a

view

that runs counter to the

overwhelming

consensus

that

he

was,

rather,

a

very

shrewd,

realistic,

foresighted politician,

if not an

outright

Machiavellian,

as

al-Duri

thinks he was.7 It

is

true that

al-Ma'mun

ap-

preciated

the Mu'tazilites'

openness

to unfamiliar

per-

spectives

and

ideas,

but some of

their tenets did not

sit

well with

him, and

al-Ma'mun's

circle of intimate intel-

lectual

companions

included both

Muctazilite

thinkers

and

strong

anti-MuCtazilites

s

well.8

It is also truethat the

caliph

did

have a soft

spot

for

CAli

b. Abi

Talib,

son-in-

law of the Prophet,and was partial o the CAlids nd their

followers,

the

shilat

CAll

( partisans

of

CAli,

hence

Shicism),

but

this does not

justify

the inferential

ump

that

the

mihnawas a

consequence.

Only

when

proponents

of

the

Muctazilism/Shicism

explanation

are able to meet two

essential

requirements

an their views be taken

seriously.

First,

they

have

to

spell

out those elements which

trans-

cend or cut

across the

heterogeneity

of the

vague,

clash-

ing,

directionless strandsof

ideas-in-the-making

which is

all that

ShiCism/MuCtazilism

f the

time

had.

Second,

they

must

identify

the causal bond between this

rhapsody

and

al-Mamuin'sissuance of the

mihna order.

The

Mu'tazilite/Shi'ite

genre

of

hypotheses

has lost

ground

in

the last

twenty years

in two

ways.

Central to

the

first is

the idea

that,

in

carrying

out the

mihna,

al-

Ma'mun was

basically

setting

his

sights

on the

future,

aiming

to

secure for the

caliphal

institution

a universal

and

unquestioned

authority

on all

matters,

secular

and sa-

cred,

a status that

was

in

force

during

the

Umayyad pe-

riod and

was

especially

characteristicof the

founders

of

Islam

but had

since

vanished.

Allowing

for

variations in

6

Francesco

Gabrieli,

Al-Ma'man e

gli

'Alidi

(Leipzig:

Verlag

Eduard

Pfeiffer,

1929).

Dominique

ourdel,

La

politique

e-

ligieuse

du calife

Cabbaside

l-Ma'mun,

Revue des

etudesislam-

iques

30

(1962):

27-48.

7

CAbd

l-'Aziz

al-Duri,

al-CAsr

l-CAbbasi l-awwal

(Beirut:

Dar

al-talica

li-al-tibaa

wa

al-nashr,

19882),

173.

8

Josef

van

Ess,

Dirar bn 'Amr

und

die

'Cahmiya':

Biogra-

phie

einer

vergessenen

Schule,

Der Islam

43

(1967):

241-79;

44

(1968): 1-70,

318-20,

in

particular,

p.

30ff.

JohnA.

Na-

was,

A

Reexamination

of

Three

Current

Explanations

for al-

Ma'mun's

Introductionof

the

Mihna,

International

Journal

of

Middle East

Studies

26

(1994):

615-29,

especially

pp.

616-17.

details and

accents,

this

hypothesis

was

championed by

Tilman

Nagel

and

by

Crone

and

Hinds,

and it

continues

to

gain support.9

The second

explanatory perspective,

adopted

by

Ira

Lapidus

and

Wilferd

Madelung,

albeit in

somewhatdifferingversions, regards he mihna as a mea-

sure al-Ma'mun had

taken to

quell festering

resentments

and

ongoing opposition

to his

regime by

several

group-

ings

and factions in

which a

Khurasanian

background

s

quite prominent.'0

The work

of

Lapidus signals

two breaks with

past

tradition,

one

in

content,

the other in the direction

of

researching

the mihna. His alternative

explanatory hy-

pothesis, just

sketched

and to which we shall

return

ater,

has

already opened up

a new avenue of

inquiry

and de-

bate.No less

important

s the coursehe has

taken,

eading

us

away

from the well-trodden

path

of

probing

the

mo-

tives and external nfluences which

may

have induced

the

caliph to order the inquisition. Instead, Lapidus turned

the

focus to characteristics

of the men whom

al-Ma'mun

happened

to

single

out

for

inquisition.

In his recent

call

for

a

systematic,

in-depth, scrutiny

of

biographical

en-

tries

on the

interrogees,

van

Ess, too,

is of the

opinion

that clues

to whatever

al-Ma'mun

sought

to

accomplish

may

well

be found

in

the men whom

al-Ma'mun

surely

did

not

pick

at

random.1

The

study

reported

in this article derives from

the

outlook

of

Lapidus

and van

Ess,

but the method

and

procedures

of its execution

owe

their

logic

to a

direc-

tion in

historical research

that is

firmly

embedded

in

an

empirical,

social-scientific

approach,

which

gives

fac-

tual data

priority

over

impressionistic

constructions.

The

results of

our

investigation

will

have

direct

bearing

on

our

postulated

paradigm

shift,

and on

the Khurasa-

nian

connection and

caliphal

authority

hypotheses,

9

Tilman

Nagel, Rechtleitung

und

Kalifat:

Versuch iber eine

Grundfrage

der

islamischen

Geschichte,

Studien

zum Minder-

heitenproblem

m

Islam,

2

(Bonn:

Selbstverlag

es Orientali-

schen

Seminars er

Universitat,

974).

Patricia

rone nd

Martin

Hinds,

God's

Caliph:

Religious

Authority

n

the First Centuries

of

Islam

(Cambridge:

ambridge

Univ.

Press,

1986).Nawas,

Reexamination.

10IraM.

Lapidus,

The

Separation

f State

and

Religion

n

the

Development

f

Early

slamic

Society,

nternational

our-

nal

of

Middle

East Studies

6

(1975):

363-85. Wilferd

Made-

lung,

The

Vigilante

Movement of

Sahl b.

Salama

al-Khurasani

and the

Origins

of

Hanbalism

Reconsidered,

Journal

of

Turk-

ish

Studies

(Fahir

Iz

Festschrift,

I)

14

(1990):

331-37.

11

Josef van

Ess,

Theologie

und

Gesellschaft

im

2. und 3.

Jahrhundert idschra

Berlin:

Walter e

Gruyter,

992),

3:448,

n.

28.

699




4/12

Journal

of

the American

Oriental

Society

116.4

(1996)

allowing

us to

evaluate

which of the two has the

greater

cogency

and

explanatory

power.

METHOD

AND

PROCEDURE

Rationale

for

the Method

Used

This

study

and

the method chosen for its

implemen-

tation are

anchored

in

one fundamental

assumption

or

hypothesis

and two

requirements

that are essential for

testing

it. The

assumption

is

simply

that the

interrogees,

as a

group,

did have

in

common some characteristics

which rendered

them a suitable locus for the realization

by

al-Ma'muin

of whatever he had

hoped

to achieve

through

the mihna.

Required

for a fair test of this

hy-

pothesis

is a

set of

characteristics

or variables that are

comprehensive in scope and objectively definable. The

other

requirement-and

one which has

been

largely

met

by Lapidus-pertains

to the sources selected

for check-

ing

the

presence

or absence of

these

characteristics;

he

sources

will

have

to be

sufficiently

wide-ranging

and

detailed to

permit

the

optimal

unveiling

of

relevant data

and

cross-checking

them.

If,

on the

condition that

the

two

requirements

are

met,

the search fails

to uncover

denominators

common to the

interrogees,

the

hypothesis

would

have to be

rejected

as unsubstantiated.

The

opposite

is not

necessarily

true,

however.

The

presence

of shared

characteristics

among

the

interrogees

lends

validity

to

the

hypothesis

only

if

it is shown that a comparable peer group, a control

group,

did

not

possess

these same

characteristics.

The

criteria

for

defining

the

comparable

peers,

or control

group,

will be

set forth

in the

body

of

the next

paragraph.

Composition

of

the

Two

Groups,

the

Interrogees

and Controls

The

most

comprehensive

list

of names

of the men

who

were

interrogated

by

al-Ma'mun

himself

or on

his order

by

Ishaq

b.

Ibrahim,

his

governor

in

Baghdad,

is found

in al-Tabari's

Ta'rikh

al-rusul

wa

al-muluk,

where

forty-

four

names

are

given.12

The

listing

of

names

is,

how-

ever,

one

thing;

a

straightforward

verification

of

who,

for

instance,

Ibn

al-Hirsh

or al-Sindi

are

is

altogether

another

matter.

Thanks

to the

contributions

of Edmund

12

Al-Tabari,

Ta'rikh

al-rusul

wa

al-muluk,

ed.

M. J. de

Goeje

et

al.

(Leiden:

E. J.

Brill, 1879-1901),

3:1116-32.

It

is certain

that,

as

al-Tabari

tates,

more

than

forty-four

men were

involved

in

this

interrogation,

a

matter to

be

discussed

at

length

later.

Bosworth,

van

Ess,

and

especially

Hans

Uhrig,'3

it

was

possible

to

establish,

with a

high degree

of

confidence,

the

identity

of

twenty-eight

of the

forty-four

men

men-

tioned

by

al-Tabari.The

empirical part

of this

study

is

restricted to these twenty-eight men.'4

Decisions had to be made about

the size of the con-

trol

group;

the criteria

defining

their

comparability

o

the

interrogees;

and

how,

according

to

the

accepted

norms

statisticians

use,

they ought

to be selected.

Strictly speak-

ing,

a

control

group

of

twenty-eight

individuals

would

suffice,

since it would match

numerically

the

group

of

the men

interrogated.

A

larger

size is not

only

permissi-

ble

but

would

also

increase the

pool

of information.

It

was

therefore

decided to double

the number

by

selecting

fifty-six

control

group

individuals.

13

C. Edmund

Bosworth,

The

History of

al-Tabari,

vol.

32:

The

Reunification of

the CAbbasid

Caliphate (Albany:

State

Univ.

of New York

Press,

1987),

204-19;

Josef

van

Ess,

The-

ologie

und

Gesellschaft,

3:455-56;

Hans

F

Uhrig,

Das

Kalifat

von al-Ma'mun

(Frankfurt:

Verlag

Peter

Lang,

1988),

256-85.

14

The

twenty-eight

interrogees

with,

in

parenthesis,

their

Is-

lamic

years

of

death

when

known are:

CAbdalaCla'.

Mushir

(d.

218);

CAbdalmalik

b. CAbdalCaziz

d.

228);

'AbdalmunCim

b.

Idris

(d. 218);

CAbdalrahman

.

Ishaq

(d. 232);

CAbdalrahman

.

Yunus

(d.

224);

Ahmad

b. Ibrahim

(d.

246);

Ahmad

b. Hanbal

(d.

241);

Ahmad b.

Yazid;

CAli

b. al-Ja'd

(d.

230);

CAsimb.

CAli

(d.

221);

Bishr

b. al-Walid

(d. 238);

al-Fadl

b.

Ghanim

(d.

236);

al-Hasan b. Hammad(d. 241); al-Hasanb. CUthman d. 242);

Ibrahim

b. Muhammad

al-Mahdi

(d.

224);

Ishaq

b. Ibrahim

(d.

246);

Isma'il

b. Ibrahim

(d.

236);

Ismacil

b.

Abi

Mascid;

Jacfar

b.

'Isa

(d.

219);

Muhammad

b.

Sacd

(d.

230);

Muhammad

b.

Hatim

(d. 236);

Muhammad

b. Nuh al-Madrub

(d. 218);

al-

Muzaffar

b.

Murajja;

Qutayba

b.

Sacid

(d.

240);

Sacid

b.

Sulay-

min

(d.

225);

'Ubaydallah

b. 'Umar

(d.

235);

Yahya

b.

Macin

(d.

233);

Zuhayr

b.

Harb

(d.

234).

The

names of

the sixteen

men

excluded

because

of

lack of

further

dentification

are: Ismacil

b.

Dawud;

CAli

b. Abi

Muqatil;

al-Dhayyal

b.

al-Haytham;

Ibn

al-Hirsh;

Ibn

CUlayya

al-Akbar;

Yahya

b. CAbd

al-Rahman

al-'Umari;

another

descendant

of

CUmar

. al-Khattab

who

was

judge

of

al-Raqqa ;

al-Fadl

b.

al-

Farrukhan;

l-Nadr

b.

Shumayl;

Ibn

Shujac;

Ubaydallah

b. Mu-

hammad

b.

al-Hasan;

Ibn

al-Bakka';

a blind

man

who

was not

a

faqih ;

Ibn

al-Ahmar;

al-Sindi;

CAbbas.

Though

suggestions

have been

made

as to

the

identity

of

some

of these

sixteen

names

(like

IsmaCil

b. DawOd

or

Ibn

CUlayya

al-Akbar),

it was

nevertheless

considered

better

to

leave

them

out

if

any

doubt

remained.

All sources

report,

for

example,

that

al-Nadr

b. Shu-

mayl

had

died

more than

a

decade

before

the

inception

of the

mihna;

he

was,

consequently,

not

included

in

the final

list of

interrogees.

700




5/12

NAWAS:

The

Mihna

of

218

A.H./833 A.D.

Revisited

To

assure

comparability,

our criteria

were used.

First,

names of

the

fifty-six

men

had to be

drawn from

that

one

single

source which

happens

to

provide

information

about

more of

the

twenty-eight

interrogees

than

any

other. In a pilot study, I scrutinized several promising

sources and found

al-Khatib

al-Baghdadi's

Ta'rikh

Bagh-

dad

to

have entries

on all of

the

twenty-eight

men

inter-

rogated.

Consequently,

this

source was

used as basis

for

selection

(first

criterion).

Statisticians counsel

the use

of

a table of randomnumbers

or the

purpose

of

eliminat-

ing

selection bias-and

such a table

was

used,

and

quite

easily,

since the entries

in Ta'rikh

Baghdad

are

num-

bered.

However,

not

everyone

who

happened

to

turn

up

via this

randomization

procedure

was

selected as

part

of

the

pool

of

fifty-six

men.

Of

these,

only

the

individuals

who

met the other

three

criteria of

comparability

to

the

interrogees

were

taken

up

in

the final

list:

they

had

to

be

membersof the samesex, all men;who had not been sub-

jected

to the

mihna;

and,

who

were

contemporaries

of

the

twenty-eight

men,

in

that

they

died between

218/833

and

246/861-respectively,

the

earliest and

latest

years

of death of

the

interrogees.

The

Variables

Used

for

Comparing

the

Two

Groups

I

startedoff

with

a

list of

ninety-four

distinct

pieces

of

data

covering

as

many

aspects

and

phases

of

human

life

as I

could

think

of.

After

scrutinizing

the

sources

used

in

this

study,

it

became clear

that this list

of

variables

was too

ambitious,

as the

vast

majority

of the

variables

fell beyondthe

scope

of whatmedievalchroniclers ended

to

present

n their

biographical

dictionaries.

Of the

orig-

inal

list of

ninety-four

variables,

nineteen

emerged

as

usable

due

to

availability

of

information

and

practical

relevance

for

this

investigation.

These

variables

and the

three

main

categories

under which

they

are

classifiable

are

the

following.

a)

Vital

statistics and

means of

livelihood:

year

of

birth;

places

of

birth,

upbringing,

residence,

death

and

burial;

occupational

pursuits

of the

men

and

their

ancestors.

b)

Geographic

origin

and

ethnic

background:

geo-

graphic

origin;

Arab

versus

mawla

(a

non-Arab

client).

c)

Intellectual

standing

and

ideology:

course of

study;

where

they

studied;

specialization

(e.g.,

legal

expert,

genealogist);

places

of

transmission;

where

they taught;

ascription

as

transmitter of

hadith

(e.g.,

trustworthy,

weak);

names

and

number of

teachers;

names and

num-

ber

of

pupils;

ideological

position.

The

Sources

Used

Inasmuch as

Lapidus

paid

close

attention

to

the

inter-

rogees

as a

group,

I

used

the

same

biographical

sources

he had

employed,

but

added

others for a

more

complete

picture

and a

broader

base for

comparing

the two

groups

of

interrogees

and

controls.

The sources

used

by

Lapidus

are

al-Dhahabi,

Tadhkirat

al-huffaz;

Ibn

Hajar,

Tahdhib

al-tahdhib;al-Khatibal-Baghdadi,Ta'rikhbaghdad;Ibn

al-CImad,

hadharadt

l-dhahab;

Ibn

Sacd,

Kitab

al-tabaqat

al-kabir;

Ibn

al-Taghribirdi,

l-Nujum

al-zdhira

fi

muluk

misr wa

al-qdhira;

al-Subki,

Tabaqdtal-shdficiyya

al-ku-

bra;

al-SamCani,

al-Ansdb;

Wakic,

Akhbdr

al-qudat

wa

tawdrikhihim.'5

n the

initial

phase

of

this

study,

I

added

to this list

Ibn

Hajar,

Lisdn

al-mizdn,

and two

major

bio-

graphical

dictionaries that

had not

been

published

when

Lapidus

wrote his

article,

al-Dhahabi,

Siyar

acldm

al-

nubalad,

and

al-Mizzi,

Tahdhib

al-kamal

fi

asma' al-

rijal.'6

Additional

sources,

to be

cited

later in this

article,

were

used for

answering questions

which arose

as re-

search

progressed.

In collecting the information,all but the safest infer-

ences

were

avoided,

and I

have

remained

very

close

to

the

explicit

statements

made in the

texts.

Determination

of

whether a

person

was a

mawld

or not

illustrates

my

approach.

Even

though

the

adjective

of

relation

nisba)

in a

name can

help

determine

ethnicity,

it was

deemed

prudent

to

designate

a

person

as Arab or

mawld

only

if

the

chronicler

himself

unequivocally

tells us

thathe

was

one or the

other.

The same

stringency

was

applied

in

re-

cording

information on all

the

variables.

RESULTS

As the results

are

being

presented,

the reader will

en-

counter

percentages

and

absolute

numbers.Both

have to

15

Lapidus,

Separation,

81,

n. 1.

The

editions used

or his

study

are:

al-Dhahabi,

Tadhkirat

l-huffaz,

5 vols.

(Hyderabad:

Da'irat

al-mac'rif

al-'uthmaniyya,

1968);

Ibn

Hajar,

Tahdhib l-

tahdhib,

14 vols.

(Beirut:

Dar al-fikr

al-'arabi,

1984);

al-Khatib

al-Baghdadi,

Ta'rikh

Baghdad,

15 vols.

(Beirut:

Dar

al-kutub

al-Cilmiyya);

Ibn

al-'Imad,

Shadharat

al-dhahab,

8

vols.

(Bei-

rut:Dar

al-afaq

al-jadida);

Ibn

Sacd,

Kitab

al-tabaqat

al-kabir,

ed.

Ihsan

CAbbas,

vols.

(Beirut:

Dar

sadir);

Ibn

al-Taghribirdi,

al-Nujum

l-zdhira

i

mulukmisrwa

al-qdhira,

6

vols.

(Cairo:

Wizarat

al-thaqafa

wa

al-irshad

al-qawmi,

1929-72);

al-Subki,

Tabaqdt

al-shdfiCiyya

al-kubrd,

ed.

Mahmud

al-Tanahi

and

cAbdalfattah

al-Hilw,

10

vols.

(Cairo:

Dar

ihya'

al-kutub al-

Carabiyya,

964);

al-SamCani, l-Ansab,

ed.

CAbdallah

l-Baridi,

5

vols.

(Beirut:

Dar

al-janan,

1988);

Wakic,

Akhbdr

al-qudat

wa

tawarikhihim,

3

vols.

(Beirut:

cAlam

al-kutub).

16

Ibn

Hajar,

Lisdn

al-mizan,

7 vols.

(Beirut:

Mu'assasat al-

aClami

i-l-matbuicat,

986); al-Dhahabi,

Siyar

acldm

al-nubald',

ed.

Shucayb

al-Arna>it

and

others,

25 vols.

(Beirut:

Mu'assasat

701




6/12

Journal

of

the

American Oriental

Society

116.4

(1996)

be

kept

in mind

at the same

time,

for

otherwise a dis-

torted

picture

s

likely

to

emerge.

As will

be

recalled,

the

two

groups

varied in

size-the controls

counting

twice

as

many

as

the

interrogees-and

the

amount

of

data

found for each group on most of the variables differed

even

more

radically.

These

divergences

dictate the need

for

presenting

the results in

terms

of

percentages.

How-

ever,

percentages

alone can be

misleading.

(A

difference

between

25% and 50% is

impressively

large

but such a

difference

can

arise from a

single

case-a ratio of 1:4 is

25%

while

for

2:4,

the

percentage

jumps

to

50.)

It is

therefore

essential

to

keep

both

absolute

numbers

as

well

as

percentages

in the

background

as the one or the other

is

being

pondered.

Turning

to

contents,

a bird's

eye

view

of

the

totality

of

the

data

which

the sources

generated

on the interro-

gees

and

the

control

group separately

discloses a strik-

ing

dissimilarity

from two

perspectives.

First,

on fifteen

of

the

nineteen

variables

studied,

the

sources contained

more

information

on

the

men

interrogated

than on their

counterparts,

the

control

group.17

Second,

the sources

yielded

225

pieces

of

data

on the

twenty-eight

inter-

rogees

but

only

299

on

the

fifty-six

members of

the

con-

trol

group, averaging

8 and

5.3,

respectively.

These

findings

have

two

implications.

They

tell us that ancient

chroniclers

have accorded

the

men

interrogated

a rela-

tively

high

degree

of attention.

This can

be taken as an

index of

eminence,

but

it

is

just

as

likely

to be

a

reac-

tion on

the

part

of

the

chroniclers

to

a

unique

event,

the

mihna.The second implicationof the findings is that the

amount

of

information

available

in the

sources is far

more

restricted than

one

hopes

for;

this is

not

surpris-

ing

to

modern

scholars

who

know

that

their ancient

counterparts

had no

use for the

variables

contemporaries

deem

important,

nor

do these restricted

data

form an

im-

pediment

to

historians

who

are

used

to

working

with

precious

few and

fragmented

data.

The

presentation

to

follow

immediately

will

report

the

findings

pertaining

to each

of

the

three

categories

under

which

the nineteen

variables

were

grouped,

one at a

time,

and

discusses

them

as

we

go

along.'8

al-risala,

1993)

and

al-Mizzi,

Tahdhib

al-kamalfi

asmad

al-rijal,

ed. Bashshar

Macrif,

35

vols.

(Beirut:

Mu'assasat

al-risfla,

1992).

17

The

four variables

regarding

which more information

was

found

for the

control

group

than for the

interrogees

are:

num-

ber

of men whose

teachers

are

listed;

number

of men

whose

pupils

are

listed;

towns

where the men

lived;

and

place(s)

of

transmission.

18

In the interestof

brevity

and to

spare

the

reader nonessen-

tial

details,

only highlights

of the results are

presented

in the

Vital

Statistics and

Means

of

Livelihood

In

the

year

of

the mihna the

average age

of the

two

groups

was

close;

the

interrogees

had an

average age

of

66 while the control group'saverage was 62. Consider-

ing,

however,

that the

age

of

only

12.5

percent

of

the

controls was

given

in

the

sources

(versus

64%

of

the

interrogees),

the

age

difference

is

probably simply

a

re-

flection

of

this

variation in

raw data.

There is much

similarity

as to where

members

of

both

groups

were

born,

brought

up,

lived,

died

and were in-

terred. That

Baghdad

was central to the

two

groups

is

not

unexpected.

There was little

information

on

where

the

men were born or where

they

were

raised

(nasha'a).

Of

the

interrogees,

two

were born and raised in

Bagh-

dad and one

in

Wasit;

one member of

the

control

was

born in Marw

and another

in

Basra.

While

the

majority

of both the

interrogees

and members of the control

group

spent

and ended their lives in

Baghdad,

this

was

somewhat more so for

the

former.19

The

sources had

precious

little to

say

about the oc-

cupational pursuits

of members

of

the two

groups

and

even less about the

occupations

of

their ancestors.

In

all,

four

different

occupations

were

mentioned,

and

of these

the

legal profession

claimed more than

the

others-five

of the

twelve

interrogees

on whom information was

available

(42%)

versus four

of the

eight

controls

(50%).20

Geographic Origin

and Ethnic

Background

In

investigating

the

geographic

origin

of

the two

groups,

I have

paid

close

attention to whether

or not

Khurasan

was a

prominent

place

of

origin,2'

he aim

being

to shed

light

on the formulation

of

Lapidus, Madelung,

article.Detailed

esults

as

well

as information bout

any

other

aspect

of

this

study

complete

ist of

variables,

he names f all

the teachersand/or

pupils

of the two

groups,

etc.)

will be

gladlysupplied pon

request.

19

Of the

interrogees

bout

whom nformation as

available

on theseparticularariables, ll lived

in

Baghdad11:11),

75

percent

15:20)

died

n

Baghdad

ndall

(6:6)

wereburied here

versus,

espectively,

7

percent

20:26),

54

percent

15:28)

and

67

percent

2:3)

for the controls.

20

The other hree

occupational ursuits

weremerchants:

n-

terrogees

our,

controls

wo;

mustamli/katib

clerks ):

nterro-

gees

three,

controls

one;

khadim

servant):

nterrogees

ero,

controls ne.

21

My

thanks

go

to Professor

Lapidus

who,

in a

personal

communication

ated

July

18th,

1994,

helped

me

to

decide

how

to

define

of Khurasani

rigin.

702




7/12

NAWAS: The Mihna

of

218 A.H./833

A.D. Revisited

and

van

Ess,

who all had

something

to

say

about the

mat-

ter.22

To determine

which

places belonged

to

Khurasan,

I

relied

largely

on

Yaqut's

Mucjam

al-bulddn.23

Accord-

ing

to

this

source,

the

following

towns were located in

Khurasan:

Balkh, Hara,Marw, Nasa, TUs.

The

village of

Zamm

(not

in

Yaqut)

was also included because the bio-

graphical

works stated that

it

lay

in

Khurasan.Our data

indicate that of

the

interrogees

46

percent

(6:13)

came

from

Khurasan,

while 54

percent

(7:13)

did

not. For

the

controls,

43

percent

(6:14)

had

Khurasanian

roots,

and

57

percent

(8:14)

originated

elsewhere. Informationon

ethnicity,

defined

as

being

Arab or

mawla,

was

found

on sixteen

interrogees

and twelve controls. There were

four

Arab

interrogees

(25%)

and four Arab control

group

members

(33%).

The

mawlas

among

the first-mentioned

totaled

twelve

(75%),

versus

eight

controls

(67%).

In

a

word,

the

mawlds

greatly

outnumbered he

Arabs in

both

groups.The issue of geographicand ethnic origins of the

interrogees

will be

discussed later.

Intellectual

Standing

and

Ideology

The

informationon course

of

study,place

of

study, spe-

cialization,

places

of

transmission

or

teaching

was much

too

scant to

warrantconsideration.

There

was, however,

sufficient nformation

about the

ascription

of

quality

of

the men

as

transmittersof

hadith.

Data

were uncovered

for

twenty-three

of the

twenty-eight interrogees

(82%)

and

thirty-nine

of

the

fifty-six

control

group

members

(70%).24

The

general

patternsuggests

that the chroniclers

accord the

interrogees

a

higher rating

as transmitters.

Of the

interrogees,

87

percent

were rated

thiqa

(reliable)

or

saduq

(veracious),

while

13

percent

were

rated

as Id

ba's

bihi

(not

bad,

neutral)

or

daCif

weak,

objectionable).

Comparable figures

for the control

group

are

72

percent

positive

and 28

percentweak/objectionable.

If this

picture

reflects

intellectual

stature,

is it con-

firmed

elsewhere? In

answering

this

question,

I

sought

specific

information

about the

presence

or absence of the

men

in the

six canonical

Sunnite

hadith

collections. The

rationale for this

exploration

is that

if

the

interrogees,

as

compared

to the

controls,

had

any

special

claim to

intellectual

eminence,

this

should be

reflected

in

the so-

22

Lapidus,

Separation ;

Madelung, Vigilante

Movement ;

van

Ess,

Gesellschaft,

3:448-9.

23

5 vols.

(Beirut,

Dar

sadir).

24

In

general,

the

sources

relied

heavily

on

al-Khatib al-

Baghdadi's ascription

of

reliability

for

the

individual

con-

cerned.

The

variations

offered

are

restricted to the

degree

in

which someone was

rated as

either

positive

or

negative.

called isnads

( chains

of

transmission )

ound in the

six

standard

collections of hadith.25Al-Mizzi's Tahdhibal-

kamdlfi

asmda

al-rijdl

lists where

all transmittersare to

be found in the six canonical

books.26

A

search in this

source revealed that seventeen

(61%)

of the

interrogees

are mentioned in the

canonical

works,

versus

twenty-

seven

(48%)

of

the

controls.

An

inspection

of

details

provides

an even more

impressive

differencebetween

the

two

groups.

Of the seventeen

interrogees

who

appear

n

the canonical

collections,

five

(29%)

are found

in all six

of

them,

versus

only

two of the

twenty-seven

controls

(7%).

Greater confidence

can be lent to this trend if

it

were to be corroborated

by

other data-which turns

out

to be the case as one

inspects

the numberof teachers

and

pupils

of the two

groups.27

Al-Khatib

al-Baghdfdi usually

starts off his

entries

by listing

teachers

of the

individual

in the

form

of

had-

datha Can he reportedfrom ) or rawd Can he trans-

mitted

from )

or samiCamin

( he

heard

from )

and

so

forth.

Counting

the names of such

teachers listed

in

al-

Khatib

al-Baghdadi

for

each of

the

twenty-five

(of

the

twenty-eight) interrogees

and

fifty-three

(of

the

fifty-six)

controls,

I found

that

the

former had a total of

150 teach-

ers

(averaging

six

per person)

while

the controls had

a

total of

221,

thus

averaging

a little over four-which

is

distinctly

less than what

the

interrogees

averaged.28

The

25

A

chain

of

transmission

lists

the

names of

the

people

who

reportedly transmitted the text of the hadith which is pre-

sented

after the

isndd.

The

six

canonical collections are

those

by

al-Bukhari, Muslim,

al-Tirmidhi,

Abu

Da'ud,

Ibn

Maja,

and

al-Nasa'i.

26 On al-Mizzi and his

Tahdhib

al-kamal see

El2,

s.v.

(G.

H. A.

Juynboll).

27

The sources

included

many

overlaps

in

the names of

teachers and

pupils.

In order

to

overcome the

difficulty

of

man-

aging

the

hundredsof names listed of

both

groups,

I

relied,

as

did

most of the

sources

used,

on

al-Khatib

al-Baghdadi.

How-

ever,

as the

findings

on the

numbers of

teachers and

pupils

ap-

peared

compelling,

I

consulted,

as a

check,

al-Mizzi's

Tahdhib

al-kamal and

al-Dhahabi's

Siyar

aclam al-nubald3

who,

just

like al-Khatib

al-Baghdadi,

have elaborate

listings

of teachers

and

pupils.

28 The two

groups

had

five teachers

in

common. The vast

ma-

jority

of the

teachers mentioned were

prominent

hadith

scholars

of

their

day. Sufyan

b.

CUyayna

a

famous hadith

scholar who

died in Mecca in

198/814)

heads the

lists for both

groups.

The

others

who are

unique

to each

group

do not show

that the

inter-

rogees

can be

associated

with

any particular

group

of

hadith

scholars or with

any particularregion

since their

teachers

were

spread

over the

main centers of the

Islamic

empire.

703




8/12

Journal

of

the American

Oriental

Society

116.4

(1996)

results obtained

from other

sources

point

in the same

direction.29

The size of the student

body

for each of the

two

groups

was

almost

an exact

parallel

for the

body

of

teachers.Morespecifically,twenty-three nterrogeeshad,

according

to al-Khatib

al-Baghdadi,

104

pupils

(averag-

ing

between

four and

five)

compared

to 150 individuals

who came under

the

tutelage

of

the

fifty-three

controls,

an

average

of less than

three.30Once

again,

these results

are confirmed elsewhere.31

These

findings

clearly

mean

that the

interrogees

were more

sought

after

as teachers

than were

their

peers

of the control

group.

And,

inas-

much

as

the

pupils

of both

groups

were

geographically

very widely

spread,

it can be concluded

that,

throughout

the

Islamic

empire,

the

overall

influence

of the interro-

gees

was

greater

than that

of the

controls.

The

information

available

on

the

ideological

positions

(e.g., Shicite, Muctazilite,Hanbalite,etc.) of membersof

either

group

was

much

too limited

to have

any signif-

icance.

Data on

only

five of the

interrogees

(17.6%)

and

on four

(7.1%)

of

the control

group

was found

and these

show no trend

whatsoever.

The matter was

pursued

fur-

ther,

however,

by

consulting pertinent

sources

to

see if

posterity

saw

fit to

link

any

of the

men

to a

particular

ideology.

I decided

to

use for

this

purpose

representative

works

from

each

of the four

Sunnite

schools

of law

(Mal-

ikites,

Hanafites,

Shaficites,

Hanbalites),

together

with

a

compendium

of ShiCite

hadith

collectors.32

Disregarding

29

Al-Mizzi

ists 802

teachers

or

17

interrogees

nd771

for

31

controls,

veraging

7 teachers

er

nterrogee

ersus25

per

control

roup

member.

Al-Dhahabi's

iyar

mentions 45

teach-

ers for

the 18

interrogees

e includes

average

er

nterrogee

s

19)

and215

for

24 controls

averaging

ine). The

difference

n

number

f controls

ound

n al-Mizzi

with the

number

men-

tioned

previously

n the

article

i.e.,

27],

has

to do

with he

fact

that

our

of the 31

controls

ound

n

al-Mizzi's

workdo

not

ap-

pear

n

the

canonical

ollections,

which was

the

point

being

made

earlier.)

30

Just

as

was the

case

with

the

teachers

f the

two

groups,

there

was

overlap

n the

namesof

their

pupils

but

no

specific

pattern

f

scholastic

ffiliation

merged.

31

Al-Mizzi

gives

the

names

of 574

pupils

for

17

interro-

gees-on

the

average

4

per

nterrogee.

or31

controls,

e

lists

773

pupils,

which

is about

25

per

control

group

member.

n

al-Dhahabi's

iyar,

18

interrogees

ad 304

pupils

average:

7

per person)

while

24 controls

had

218

pupils-which

is nine

per

member

f this

group.

32

Al-Qadi

CIyad,

Tartib

al-madirik

wa

taqrib

al-masilik

li-

macrifat

aclam

madhhab

malik,

ed.

Ahmad

Mahmud,

3 vols.

(Beirut:

Dar

maktabat

l-hayat,

n.d.);

Ibn

Abi

al-WafSa,

l-

overlap

(i.e.,

mention

of a

person

in,

say,

the

Hanbalite

source and the Shaficite

one),

thirteen

of the

twenty-eight

(46.4%)

compared

with

a

mere

seven of the

fifty-six

con-

trol

(12.5%)

had earned mention

in

these works.33

DISCUSSION

AND CONCLUSIONS

Our

closing

remarkswill address

two basic

issues.

The

first

explores

the reason

for al-Ma'min's

singling

out

for

inquisition

this one

particular

group

of

forty-four

men-

and whose

characteristics

we

have

sought

to

identify

in

the

present

nvestigation.

Next to

be discussed

is whether

our

findings

shed further

light

on

the

paradigm

shift

which has occurred

when the

mihna is

explained

by

re-

lating

the results

to the two

hypotheses

which underlie

the

shift-the

caliphal

authorityhypothesis,

and its

alternate

which links the

mihna to

oppositional

forces,

in which the

Khurasanianswere key players.

Why

These

Forty-four

Men in

Particular?

Judging

by

the subset

of

the

twenty-eight

on whom

information

was available

and

who are assumed

to be

no different

from the

total

group,

our

findings

indicate

that there

was

something

exceptional

about

the

forty-

four men

as

a whole.

They

were selected

by

the

caliph

as a

target

because

of

who

they

were

and,

as

such,

they

served as

a most

convenient

vehicle

for

getting

a

par-

ticular

message

across

to

others.

Not before

our

comparisons

included

the

category

of

intellectual

standing

did

it become

clear

why

al-Ma'min

had

singled

out this

particular

group.

The

interrogees

stood

out

on

virtually

every

one

of

the

five

indices

used

in

this

study

for

gauging

intellectual

quality

and

social

influence;

herein lies

their

uniqueness

and

why

al-

Ma'mun

selected

them as

a

target.

The

high-profile

attributes

of

the

interrogees

are indi-

cated

by

the

following

specific

findings.

1)

They

were

mentioned

in

far more

biographical

dictionaries

and at

Jawahir

al-mud4ia

fi

tabaqat

al-hanafiyya,

ed.

CAbdalfattah

al-Hilw, vols.

(Riyad:

Daral-'ulum,19932); l-Subki,Tabaqat

al-shafitiyya;

Ibn

Abi

YaCla,

Tabaqat

al-hanabila,

ed.

Muham-

mad

al-Fiqi,

2 vols.

(Cairo:

Matbacat

al-sunna

al-muhammad-

iyya);

al-Irdabili,

Jami'

al-Ruwdt,

2

vols.

(Beirut:

Dar

al-adwa',

1983).

33

Distribution

of the

entries

is as

follows.

For

the

interro-

gees:

two

in

the

Malikite,

six

in

the

Hanafite,

one

in

the

Shafi'ite,

four

in

the

Hanbalite,

and

none

in

the

Shicite

source.

For

the control

group:

Shaficite,

two;

Hanbalite,

four;

Shicite,

one;

no Malikite

or

Hanafite entries.

704




9/12

NAWAS:The Mihna

of

218

A.H./833 A.D. Revisited

greater

ength

than

their

counterparts.

2)

The

interrogees

were ascribed

a

quality

as transmittersof hadith

superior

to that

of their

counterparts.

3)

Proportionately,

more

of

the

interrogees

were

part

of one or

more

of

the isndds

in

the canonical

Sunnite

hadith

collections.

4)

The

inter-

rogees

averaged

more

teachers

than did members of the

control

group.

5)

An even more

impressive

difference

emerged

in the

comparison

of the numberof

pupils

to

whom the

interrogees

were

tutors;

they averaged

more

than one-and-a-half

times

as

many

pupils

as did

the

controls.

Unambiguously,

then,

the

findings

tell us that the

in-

terrogees

were muhaddithin of

distinction,

men

highly

esteemed for their

intellect,

as well

as their social

status

and

influence34-indeed,

the

creme

de la creme

of

Baghdadi

hadith-scholarship,

as

van Ess

aptly

put it.35

The

caliph's inquisition

aimed

at more

than

simply

humiliating and muzzling the traditionists. This group

of

luminaries was

itself a

target,

to be

sure;

but

it

was

also

the

proxy

through

which

al-Ma'mun

sent

a

loud

and

clear

message

that

henceforwardthe business of

hadith

was under

his

censorship,

and those who transmit or

teach

it

accountable o

him.

By making

an

example

of the

leadership,

as

the

caliph

characterized the men to be

put

to

the

test,36

he

was

serving

notice

to

all

traditionists,

the

muhaddithun,

whose number and tomes were bur-

geoning

and

followers

spreading

far and

wide,

that it is

now the

Commander

of

the Faithful

who

has

the author-

ity

on

religious

matters.

As

though

to

give

immediacy

and

concreteness to the aim

of

exercizing

this

authority,

al-Ma'mun

issued an interdict to two reluctant

interro-

gees

that

further hesitation

would

result

in

their

being

banned

from

transmitting

or

teaching

hadith in

private

or

in

public. 37

t

is evident

from

the

very

decree of

the

mihna

itself,

as

well

as

from the

tactics used in

imple-

menting

it,

that the

caliph

was

determined to leave no

stone

unturned

n order to

convey

that

message

to the

34

This

may

well have been what

al-Tabariwas

trying

to

say

without

committing

himself. I base

such an

inference

on

the

general

drift

of

his narrative and an

intriguing slip

of

the

pen

he

made.

Al-Tabari included

al-Nadr b.

Shumayl

among

the

forty-four

interrogees

although

he

had died a

decade earlier. It

is

understandable

or

al-Tabari

to

have made such

a

slip;

al-

Nadr b.

Shumayl

was

known to have

been a

foremost

figure

(imam)

in...

hadith and

the

first to have

expounded

the

sunna

(awwalu

man

azhara

al-sunna)

in

Marw and

all

of

Khurasan

(al-Mizzi,

Tahdhib

al-kamal,

29:383).

35

Van

Ess,

Theologie

und

Gesellschaft,

3:455.

36

Al-Tabari,

Ta'rikh,

3:1114.

37

Al-Tabari,

Ta'rikh,

3:1125;

3:1129.

traditionistsas

effectively, energetically,

and

swiftly

as

his and the talents of

his

governor

allowed.38

And al-

Mamuiinhad

good

reasons.

Why

the Traditionists as Mihna

Target?

The traditionists were a

threat. Al-Ma'miin saw

them

as

sowing

seeds

of

destruction,

menacing

for who

they

were,

for

what

they

had come to

be

within the social

fab-

ric,

and for the kinds of activities

they

were

carrying

out.

The

sheer number and influence of these

self-appointed

spokesmen

for

Islam,

involved

in an

enterprise

to

which

they

had not been

commissioned and without

any

con-

trol from

above,

made them a force no ruler could

afford

to

ignore.

The traditionists were no

ordinary

men

harm-

lessly busying

themselves within the confines

of

ivory

38

In

all,

the literal

texts

of four letters on the mihna

issued

by

al-Ma'mun

are

found in al-Tabari'sTa'rikh:the first

letter,

3:1112-16;

second

letter, 3:1117-21;

third

letter, 3:1125-31;

fourth

letter,

3:1131-32.

Much that is of relevance

to this

point

can

be

gleaned

directly

from

the text

of these

mihna letters

and

the

circumstances

urrounding

heir

dispatch.

1)

Practicallyevery

interrogee

was threatened with loss of function and means

of

livelihood

if

compliance

was not obtained

(in

particular,

:1115);

some men were

tortured;

thers threatenedwith

death;

and

about

a dozen were blackmailed

into

acquiescence

by

accusations

that

they

were

usurers,

thieves, liars, bribe-takers,

or

polytheists,

etc. (see, especially, first and thirdletters). 2) Indicatorsof the

sense of

urgency

are the fact that

the first

mihna

letter was

writ-

ten

by

al-Ma'mun

while he was

away

from

Baghdad

on the

Byz-

antine battlefrontand that

the third letter was

dispatched

by

a

special

courier

(3:1130-31). 3)

The

governor

was

instructedto

remain alert

by keeping

a watchful

eye

on

even those

who

ac-

knowledged

the doctrine

(3:1116

and

3:1120-21).

4)

On several

occasions the

governor

was

instructed

o

make

public

the names

of

the men

who

had

acquiesced

in

the doctrine

(3:1116;

3:1117;

3:1126-27, twice;

3:1130). 5)

Intriguing,

too,

is an

episode

whose

components

stand out for

their oddities but

which fall

into

place

once

viewed within the

context underdiscussion. The

episode

is

embodied in another

mihna

letter whose literal text

was

not

preserved

by

al-Tabari.In

it,

the

caliph

asked the

gov-

ernor to

dispatch

to him

at

al-Raqqa

seven

specific

men he

wanted

to

interrogate

in

person

(3:1116-17).

Though

all did

profess

to

the

caliph

their

acceptance

of

the

doctrine,

and

appar-

ently

without

pressure

or

duress,

al-Ma'mun

chose

to send them

back to

Ishaq

b. Ibrlhim

with

a

dual

instruction. The

governor

was, first,

to

put

the

men to the test

once

again,

but this time be-

fore

a

gathering

of

experts

in

religious

law and senior

tradi-

tionists

(3:1117) and,

second,

to

lose no time in

making

their

confession

before this

group public.

705




10/12

Journal

of

the

American

Oriental

Society

116.4

(1996)

towers,

but deluded...

depraved...

untrustworthy...

heretics...

the

tongue

of

Iblis

(the

devil)...

making

a

pretense

of

piety

and

knowledge

in

order

to lead the

masses

astray -expressions

continuously

used

by

the

caliph in the mihna letters to describe the interrogees;

and,

as he tells it in the

preambles

o both

the first and

sec-

ond

mihna

letters,

al-Ma'mun saw it was his

solemn

duty

to

call to order

anyone

he saw as a

renegade.

The

mihna

was

an

expression

of this

duty.

The ascent

of

the

muhaddithun

o

prominence

is

but

one

part

of the mihna

equation.

The other is the

product

of the

traditionists'

abors,

the mountains

of hadith

that

were

transforming

the social

order,

with

promises

of

more to

come,

for the

momentumhad

already

been build-

ing

for some

time. In the course of the first two

centuries

of

Islam,

countless

numbers of

hadiths

had been col-

lected in various

regions

of

the

empire,

all

alleging

to

be authenticrecordsof what the

Prophet

and his Com-

panions

(al-Sahaba)

had

said and how

they

conducted

themselves

(al-sunna).

These hadiths were in

reality

con-

coctions

which

mainly

reflected

regional

and

local

needs,

local

law, customs,

and

tastes,

with

flavorings

from the

men

who

transmitted,

aught

and

copied

them.39

The

changes

in

society attending

the dramatic

expan-

sion

of

the

Islamic

empire

created needs too manifold

and

circumstances too

pressing

to

be

accommodated

by

the

then

existing

set of

laws,

making

it

necessary

to turn

to

hadiths

to

supplement

the

Qur'an

as the basis

for

extending

and

updating

the

sharca,

the Islamic law. But

a sharica whose objective is to define what is just and

right

and

how

Muslims

ought

to conduct

themselves and

deal

with

one

another

cannot be

founded

on

hadiths of

questionable

reliability.

Something

had

to be

done.

In

response,

initiatives

were undertaken

o

purify,

resolve

contradictions,

classify,

collate

and set standards

or

the

authentification

of

hadiths.

This

daunting

ask

was

shoul-

dered

largely

by

the

four

emerging

schools

of

Islamic

jurisprudence,40

nd

instruments

were created

for

execut-

ing

it.

The

most

important

of these

instrumentswas the

ijmad

(consensus),

which

was to become

in

its

own

right

a

pillar

upon

which

the

sharica rests

(holding

a

position

of

priority

next to

the

Qur'an

and

hadith,

in this

order).

Qiyas

(analogy with a rule derived from any of the other

39

G.

H. A.

Juynboll,

Muslim

Tradition: Studies

in

Chro-

nology,

Provenance

and

Authorship

of

Early

Hadith

(Cam-

bridge: Cambridge

Univ.

Press,

1983).

40

These are the

Malikite,

Hanafite, Shaficite,

and

Hanbalite.

They

were named for

Abu

Hanifa

(d.

150/767),

Malik

b. Anas

(d. 179/795),

Muhammad

b. Idris

al-Shafici

(d. 205/820),

and

Ahmad b.

Hanbal

(d. 241/855).

three)

was

then added as

the

fourth foundation for

the

shariCa

and

its

lowest

in

hierarchy).

These

activitieswere in full

swing

during

the

caliphate

of

Harun

al-Rashid

(r.

170-193/786-809)

and the

ten-

ure of his son, al-Ma'miin. They were exhaustive, fo-

cusing

on

hadiths which

were to

be

incorporated

into

the canon

to

regulate

the

totality

of

a

person's

conduct

and to

prepare

him or her

for

likely

encounters

with the

unknown,

perplexing

ethical

issues-and

trivialities,

as

well.

This

corpus

served

as

a

mainspring

on

which defini-

tive

canonical

compilations,

such as those of

al-Bukhari,

Muslim and

others,

drew.

Very

active

in

these

endeavors

were

Ahmadb.

Hanbaland

especially

al-Shafici,

two

con-

temporaries

of

al-Ma'miin

who

did not

have an

easy

time with the

Abbasids;

al-Shafici was

imprisoned

in

Baghdad

for

participation

n

a

Shicite

revolt

in

Yemen,

and

Ibn

Hanbal

was the man

interrogated

on

orders of

al-Ma'mun,and who never

acquiesced

in the doctrine of

the

creatednessof the

Qur'an,

even

when

threatened

with

the sword.

While Ibn

Hanbal

taught

that a

caliph

must be

obeyed,

there was a limit

to this

duty

when it

came to

matters

which

touch faith

deeply.

Al-Shafici

and his

followers

held the view

that the

caliph

was the

state's

executive

head,

but one

whose voice in terms

of

ijmai

counted no

more than

that of

any

other

member of the commun-

ity.4'

Such

thoughts

must

have infuriatedthe

caliph,

who

saw

himself,

long

before the

mihna,

as God's

deputy

on

earth... inheritorof the

prophethood....

direct

recipi-

ent of knowledge from God 42and the man responsi-

ble

for

the

salvation of the

souls

of

Muslims

(letters

1

and

2).

The more

so

since,

by

the nature

of

things,

it was

the

traditionists,

the

living

repository

of

hadith knowl-

edge,

who

were

now in

the

saddle,

leaving

the

caliph

behind.

Al-Ma'mun

knew full well that

principles

codi-

fied

without his authorization offered

enough

room

for

circumventing

and

delegitimizing

his

commands,

indeed

41

On

al-Shafici and

these

developments,

see

Joseph

Schacht,

The

Origins of

Muhammadan

Jurisprudence

(Oxford:

Claren-

don

Press,

1950);

MarshallG. S.

Hodgson,

The

Ventureof

Islam,

vol. 1:

The Classical

Age of

Islam

(Chicago:

Univ. of

Chicago

Press,

1974),

315-50.

42

The same

theme

was

expressed

at the outset

of

al-

Mamuin's

reign,

some

twenty

years

prior

to the

mihna,

in

the

Risalat

al-khamis,

an

epistle

written for the

purpose

of

rallying

the forces behind

him;

for

the text of this

epistle

see

Ahmad

Zaki

Safwat,

Jamharat

rasa'il

al-'arab,

4 vols.

(Cairo:

Mustafa

al-Halabi,

1937),

3:377-97.

For

an

analysis

of

al-Ma'mun's

conception

of the

caliphate hroughout

his

reign,

see

Nawas,

Reexamination,

619-21.

706




11/12

NAWAS: he Mihna

of

218

A.H./833 A.D.

Revisited

overruling

him-especially

since these were

anchored

n

religion.

Having

thus far

succeeded

in

maneuvering

their

way

into the

legal

establishment,

perhaps

these men could

be

undercut

by taking

on the

entire

legal system.

This is

precisely

what al-Ma'mun

planned

to do. His

instruc-

tions to

Ishaq

b.

Ibrahim

specified

three

groups

as tar-

gets

for

the

inquisition:

1)

the

qu.dat

judges, plural

of

qadi)

and

shuhud

(court officials, witnesses,

plural

of

shdhid);432)

The

muhaddithun,

ncluding

the

forty-four

men

named;

and

3)

thefuqahda

(plural

of

faqih),

experts

in

law and

theology

who had one foot in

each of the two

other

camps.

It

follows from

this, then,

that an

adequate

explanation

of the mihna

must be based on the

totality

of men

subjected

to

it,

not

only,

as has been done in

the

past,

on the

interrogees

whose names are known

and

who are

but a small

fraction of the total-a matter

to be

taken up shortly.

Implications

for

Explanations of

the Mihna

There

are two

viable

explanatory

hypotheses

for the

mihna,

as we have

indicated earlier.

One views the

mihna as an

instrument which

al-Ma'min used to se-

cure for

the

generations

of

caliphs

to come the

total

and

unquestioned

authority-on

all

matters,

religious

and

secular-that was

vested

in

the

founding

fathers of

Islam.

The other

hypothesis

centers on the

caliph's

in-

tent to

do

away

with

opposition

to his

regime by

several

groups

and

factions,

notably

those of

(Arab-)Khurasa-

Documents

Nawas (John a.)_The Miḥna of 218 AH:833 AD Revisited. an Empirical Study (Journal of the American Oriental Soc. 116:4, 1996, 698-708)