Chapter 7: The Created Qur'an and the Mihna

This chapter is part of the book The Sacred Editors: Islam.

"A word can be sacred. But is it God Himself? Or His will, spoken in time?"

The Scholar's Trial

The chains were heavy on Ahmad ibn Hanbal's wrists as he was brought before the caliph's court in Baghdad. It was 833 CE, and the elderly scholar—now past sixty and weakened by months of imprisonment—faced an interrogation that would determine not just his fate, but the future relationship between religious authority and political power in the Islamic world. The question put to him seemed simple enough for a theologian: "Is the Qur'an created or uncreated?"

But Ibn Hanbal knew that behind this seemingly abstract theological query lay a fundamental challenge to how Muslims understood their scripture and who had the authority to interpret it. For three years, the Abbasid caliphs had been conducting what they called a mihna—a test or ordeal—requiring judges, scholars, and religious officials throughout the empire to publicly affirm that the Qur'an was created by God rather than co-eternal with Him.¹

Most scholars had complied, some enthusiastically, others reluctantly. But Ibn Hanbal had refused, and his refusal had made him a symbol of resistance to what many saw as unprecedented caliphal interference in matters of religious doctrine. As he stood before his interrogators, he represented more than one man's theological convictions; he embodied a crucial question about the nature of Islamic authority itself.

"The Qur'an is the speech of Allah," Ibn Hanbal reportedly declared, refusing to elaborate further or to accept the theological categories his questioners demanded he use.² He would not say whether this speech was created or uncreated, arguing that such speculative language was not found in the Qur'an itself or in authentic prophetic traditions. For this stance—not merely refusing to affirm the doctrine of creation, but refusing to engage with the theological framework that made such affirmation necessary—he was beaten and imprisoned.

The scene captured a moment of crisis that would reshape Islamic intellectual culture. At stake was not just the metaphysical status of the Qur'an, but the right of political authorities to define religious orthodoxy, the proper relationship between rational theology and scriptural tradition, and the authority of scholarly consensus versus state power. The mihna would end in apparent defeat for the caliphs who had initiated it, but its consequences would influence Islamic thought for centuries to come.

The Theological Background: Speech and Eternity

To understand why the question of the Qur'an's creation became so politically and theologically charged, one must grasp the sophisticated theological discussions that had developed during the early Abbasid period. The issue arose from attempts to reconcile Islamic monotheism (tawhid) with the reality of divine attributes mentioned in the Qur'an—God's knowledge, power, mercy, and speech.

The Mu'tazila, a theological school that had gained prominence in Abbasid intellectual circles, approached this challenge through sophisticated philosophical reasoning influenced by Greco-Arabic translations of Aristotelian and Neoplatonic works. They argued that divine attributes must either be identical with God's essence or distinct from it. If distinct, this would imply multiplicity within the divine nature, potentially compromising monotheism. If identical, then attributes like knowledge and speech must be understood differently than their human analogues.³

Regarding divine speech specifically, Mu'tazilite theologians like Abu al-Hudhayl al-'Allaf (d. 841) argued that the Qur'an, as God's speech, must be created rather than eternal. In their framework, only God's essence was truly eternal; everything else, including divine speech, must be brought into existence through divine will and power. This position had several theological advantages: it preserved divine unity by avoiding eternal multiplicity, it emphasized God's absolute freedom to create and command, and it maintained the distinction between Creator and creation that seemed essential to Islamic cosmology.⁴

The alternative position, favored by what came to be called the ahl al-hadith (people of tradition), approached the question differently. Scholars like Ibn Hanbal were deeply suspicious of applying philosophical categories to theological questions, preferring to rely on Qur'anic language and prophetic traditions. They pointed to verses like "And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice" (6:115), which seemed to suggest that divine speech possessed permanence and authority that transcended temporal creation.

More fundamentally, traditionalist scholars worried that describing the Qur'an as created might diminish its authority and perfection. If the Qur'an were a temporal creation like other things in the world, could it be subject to change, improvement, or error? Would this not imply that God's guidance was contingent rather than absolute, contextual rather than universal? For scholars whose entire intellectual framework was built around the assumption of Qur'anic infallibility and permanence, such implications seemed dangerous to the foundations of faith itself.

The Political Implementation of the Mihna

The transformation of this theological debate into a political test began during the caliphate of al-Ma'mun (r. 813-833), though the intellectual groundwork had been laid during previous reigns. Al-Ma'mun was deeply committed to Mu'tazilite theology and saw the promotion of rational approaches to religious questions as part of his caliphal responsibility to ensure correct belief throughout the Islamic community.⁵

In 827 CE, al-Ma'mun issued a public letter declaring the Qur'an to be created and requiring acknowledgment of this doctrine from judges and religious officials. The letter framed this requirement in terms of the caliph's duty to promote true belief and prevent the spread of theological error. Al-Ma'mun argued that those who claimed the Qur'an was uncreated were effectively asserting the existence of multiple eternal beings, thus compromising the fundamental Islamic principle of divine unity.⁶

The implementation of the mihna intensified under al-Ma'mun's successors, al-Mu'tasim (r. 833-842) and al-Wathiq (r. 842-847). The test was applied systematically to judges (qudah), court officials, legal scholars, and other religious authorities throughout the empire. Those who refused to affirm the created nature of the Qur'an faced dismissal from office, imprisonment, and in some cases physical punishment.

The mihna targeted primarily the educated elite—judges, scholars, and administrative officials—rather than the general population. This reflected both practical considerations about the difficulty of testing ordinary believers and theological concerns about the responsibility of religious leaders to maintain correct doctrine. The caliphs understood that religious authority in Islamic society flowed largely through scholarly networks, and they sought to ensure that those networks transmitted approved theological positions.

The most prominent victim of the mihna was Ahmad ibn Hanbal, whose resistance became legendary in later Islamic tradition. According to detailed accounts preserved in biographical literature, Ibn Hanbal was arrested in 833 CE and brought to the capital for questioning. When he refused to affirm the doctrine of creation, he was imprisoned and subjected to physical punishment, including flogging. Despite this treatment, he maintained his refusal to accept what he saw as an illegitimate theological innovation.⁷

The End of the Mihna and Its Consequences

The mihna came to an abrupt end in 848 CE when Caliph al-Mutawakkil (r. 847-861) reversed his predecessors' policies and declared the Qur'an to be uncreated. This reversal reflected both the practical failure of the mihna to achieve theological consensus and changing political circumstances that made accommodation with traditionalist scholars more advantageous than continued confrontation.⁸

The long-term consequences of the mihna extended far beyond the immediate theological questions that had prompted it. The episode established important precedents about the limits of political authority in religious matters and the autonomy of scholarly institutions from state control. Never again would Abbasid caliphs attempt such systematic interference in theological doctrine, and the principle of scholarly independence that emerged from the mihna would influence Islamic intellectual culture for centuries.

The mihna also contributed to the marginalization of Mu'tazilite theology within Sunni Islam, though this process was gradual and complex. While Mu'tazilite ideas continued to influence Islamic thought through scholars like al-Ash'ari (d. 936), who synthesized rationalist methodology with traditionalist conclusions, the political association of Mu'tazilite doctrine with caliphal coercion damaged its credibility among many scholars and believers.

Perhaps most significantly, the mihna contributed to the elevation of hadith-based scholarship as the primary source of religious authority in Sunni Islam. Ibn Hanbal's resistance was understood not just as personal courage but as defense of prophetic tradition against philosophical innovation. This interpretation supported the development of hadith collections like those of al-Bukhari (d. 870) and Muslim (d. 875) as foundational sources of Islamic knowledge, equal in authority to the Qur'an itself.

The doctrine of the Qur'an's uncreatedness became firmly established in Sunni theology, incorporated into credal statements like the 'Aqida al-Tahawiyya and defended by later theologians as essential to orthodox belief. This theological victory for traditionalist scholars contributed to broader trends toward doctrinal standardization and the establishment of clear boundaries between orthodox and heterodox belief.

What Would Have Changed?

The outcome of the mihna was so consequential for subsequent Islamic development that alternative scenarios illuminate how differently Islamic civilization might have evolved under other circumstances.

Scriptural Interpretation and Legal Development: If the Mu'tazilite position on the created Qur'an had been permanently established, Islamic approaches to scriptural interpretation might have developed along more contextual and flexible lines. Professor Josef van Ess has argued that Mu'tazilite theology's emphasis on divine justice and human responsibility encouraged more dynamic approaches to applying Qur'anic principles to changing circumstances.⁹ A created Qur'an, understood as divinely authored but temporally situated, might have legitimized interpretive methodologies that emphasized historical context, cultural adaptation, and rational reflection. This could have affected everything from legal reasoning to theological speculation, potentially creating space for more diverse opinions about how Islamic principles should be applied in different times and places.

Political Authority and Religious Institutions: The success of the mihna might have established lasting precedents for caliphal authority over religious doctrine that could have fundamentally altered the relationship between political and religious institutions in Islamic civilization. Dr. Mohammad Fadel has suggested that the mihna represented an attempt to create something like "Islamic constitutionalism," with the caliph serving as the ultimate interpreter of religious law and doctrine.¹⁰ If this model had succeeded, later Islamic rulers might have continued to exercise direct authority over theological questions, potentially preventing the development of the autonomous scholarly institutions that came to characterize Islamic intellectual culture. This could have created a more centralized religious authority structure, similar to that which developed in some Christian contexts.

Philosophical and Intellectual Development: The marginalization of Mu'tazilite theology that followed the failure of the mihna had lasting consequences for the relationship between philosophy and Islamic thought. Professor Sarah Stroumsa has argued that Mu'tazilite rationalism provided important foundations for the development of Islamic philosophy and that its decline contributed to later tensions between philosophical and religious approaches to knowledge.¹¹ If Mu'tazilite theology had remained dominant, Islamic civilization might have developed more systematic integration of philosophical reasoning with religious doctrine, potentially influencing fields ranging from natural science to ethics. This could have affected the famous debates between philosophers like al-Ghazali and Ibn Rushd, possibly leading to different resolutions of questions about the relationship between reason and revelation.

Sectarian Relations and Theological Development: The mihna also had implications for the development of sectarian identities within Islam, particularly regarding Sunni-Shi'i relations. Shi'i theological traditions were generally more receptive to rational approaches to religious questions and less committed to the particular form of traditionalism that emerged from Sunni resistance to the mihna. Dr. Ahmad Kazemi Moussavi has argued that different outcomes of the mihna might have created different theological alignments that could have affected sectarian relations.¹² If Mu'tazilite theology had remained dominant in Sunni Islam, this might have created greater theological common ground between Sunni and Shi'i scholars, potentially influencing political and social relations between these communities in subsequent centuries.

Scholar Debate

Contemporary scholarship offers diverse perspectives on the historical significance and theological implications of the mihna, reflecting both confessional commitments and modern analytical approaches to Islamic intellectual history.

Professor Ahmed El Shamsy of the University of Chicago has argued that the mihna was crucial for the subsequent development of Islamic legal and theological authority. El Shamsy contends that the failure of the mihna contributed directly to the canonization of hadith collections and the elevation of hadith-based scholarship as the primary source of religious authority in Sunni Islam. In his analysis, the resistance to caliphal theological authority led to the development of alternative forms of religious legitimacy based on scholarly transmission and community consensus rather than political appointment.¹³

Dr. Sarah Stroumsa takes a more nuanced approach, emphasizing the intellectual sophistication of Mu'tazilite theology and warning against reducing the mihna to a simple conflict between reason and tradition. Stroumsa argues that both Mu'tazilite and traditionalist positions represented sophisticated attempts to address genuine theological problems, and that the political dimensions of the mihna obscured the substantial intellectual merit of both approaches. Her work highlights the continuing influence of Mu'tazilite ideas even after their political defeat.¹⁴

Professor Marshall Hodgson placed the mihna within a broader pattern of Islamic intellectual development that emphasized the decentralization of religious authority and the development of autonomous scholarly institutions. Hodgson argued that the failure of the mihna reflected deeper characteristics of Islamic civilization that distinguished it from Christian and other religious traditions, particularly the absence of centralized ecclesiastical institutions. In his interpretation, the mihna represented an aberrant attempt to create institutional religious authority that was ultimately incompatible with Islamic political and intellectual culture.¹⁵

Traditional Islamic scholarship, represented by figures like Dr. Abdul Hakim Murad and Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah, generally views the mihna as a period of theological confusion that was resolved through the triumph of authentic Islamic tradition over foreign philosophical influences. These scholars emphasize the courage and theological insight of figures like Ibn Hanbal, seeing their resistance as defense of genuine Islamic teaching against innovations that threatened the integrity of the faith. They argue that the ultimate vindication of traditionalist positions demonstrated the self-correcting capacity of Islamic intellectual culture.¹⁶

Contemporary Relevance

The questions raised during the mihna about the relationship between scriptural authority, rational interpretation, and political power continue to resonate in contemporary Islamic thought and practice, offering insights into current debates about religious authority, intellectual freedom, and the role of tradition in modern Muslim societies.

The theological issues at the heart of the mihna speak directly to contemporary discussions about how Muslims should understand the relationship between divine revelation and human interpretation. The question of whether the Qur'an should be understood as timelessly eternal or as divine speech situated within particular historical circumstances affects contemporary debates about everything from gender relations to economic policy to political organization. Modern Muslim scholars continue to grapple with how to maintain fidelity to scriptural authority while addressing questions that arise in contemporary contexts.

The political dimensions of the mihna also provide historical perspective on contemporary questions about the proper relationship between religious and political authority in Muslim societies. The failure of the Abbasid caliphs to impose theological doctrine by force established precedents for scholarly autonomy that continue to influence discussions about the role of religious institutions in modern Islamic states. Contemporary debates about the authority of religious scholars, the legitimacy of state intervention in religious matters, and the proper relationship between traditional Islamic institutions and modern political structures all echo themes that emerged during the mihna.

The methodological questions raised during the mihna about the proper relationship between rational analysis and traditional sources also speak to contemporary Islamic intellectual culture. Modern Muslim scholars seeking to address contemporary challenges while maintaining connection to traditional Islamic learning face similar questions about how to balance inherited wisdom with analytical reasoning, how to respect traditional authorities while engaging with modern knowledge, and how to maintain intellectual honesty while preserving religious conviction.

Furthermore, the mihna provides historical context for understanding contemporary debates about pluralism and orthodoxy within Islamic communities. The ultimate establishment of clear doctrinal boundaries following the mihnacontributed to patterns of religious authority and institutional development that continue to influence how Muslim communities define acceptable diversity of opinion and practice. Understanding this history can help contemporary Muslims think more clearly about how to balance unity with diversity, tradition with innovation, and scholarly authority with personal conviction.

The example of scholars like Ibn Hanbal, who maintained their convictions despite political pressure, also provides resources for contemporary Muslims facing challenges to their religious beliefs or practices in various social and political contexts. The principle of scholarly independence that emerged from the mihna offers both inspiration and practical guidance for maintaining religious authenticity while engaging with broader social and political systems.

Conclusion

The mihna represents one of the most significant crises in Islamic intellectual history, with consequences that extended far beyond the immediate theological questions that prompted it. The episode illuminated fundamental tensions within Islamic civilization about the proper sources of religious authority, the relationship between rational analysis and traditional learning, and the appropriate role of political power in defining religious orthodoxy.

The ultimate failure of the mihna to achieve its stated goals established important precedents for the independence of religious scholarship from political control that would influence Islamic culture for centuries. The resistance of scholars like Ibn Hanbal demonstrated the strength of conviction that could emerge from commitment to traditional sources and methods, while also revealing the limits of state power in matters of religious belief and practice.

Perhaps most significantly, the mihna contributed to the crystallization of distinctive approaches to religious authority that would become characteristic of Sunni Islamic culture. The elevation of hadith-based scholarship, the emphasis on scholarly consensus as a source of religious legitimacy, and the development of autonomous religious institutions all reflected responses to the challenges raised during this period.

Understanding the mihna also reveals the contingent nature of theological development within Islamic tradition. The positions that came to be regarded as orthodox emerged not simply from abstract theological reasoning but from complex interactions between intellectual conviction, political circumstance, and social pressure. This recognition can inspire both greater appreciation for the courage and insight of earlier scholars and greater humility about the relationship between theological truth and historical development.

The questions raised during the mihna about how to understand the nature of divine revelation, the proper methods for interpreting scriptural texts, and the appropriate relationship between religious and political authority remain relevant for contemporary Muslim communities. The historical example of how these questions were addressed—through scholarly debate, political conflict, and eventual resolution through community consensus—offers resources for thinking about how similar challenges might be addressed in contemporary contexts.

Most importantly, the mihna demonstrates that the most profound religious conflicts often arise not from simple disagreement about facts but from competing visions of how religious communities should understand their relationship to divine guidance, scholarly authority, and political power. The scholars and rulers who participated in this controversy were united in their commitment to Islamic faith and their concern for the welfare of the Islamic community, but they differed fundamentally about how these commitments should be understood and implemented.

The ultimate resolution of the mihna through the triumph of traditionalist theology and the establishment of scholarly independence represented not the end of these questions but rather one particular way of addressing them. Contemporary Muslim communities continue to grapple with similar tensions, and the example of the mihna provides both warning about the dangers of political interference in religious matters and inspiration about the possibility of maintaining authentic conviction in the face of external pressure.

In the end, the chains that bound Ibn Hanbal were broken, and the doctrine he defended became the established teaching of Sunni Islam. But the questions that put him in chains—about the nature of divine speech, the proper sources of religious authority, and the relationship between conviction and power—remain as challenging today as they were in ninth-century Baghdad.

Notes

This scene is reconstructed from biographical accounts of Ibn Hanbal's trial, particularly Ibn al-Jawzi, Manaqib Ahmad ibn Hanbal (Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-'Arabi, 1981), 45-52, and al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk, ed. M.J. de Goeje (Leiden: Brill, 1879-1901), 3:1112-1118.
Ibn al-Jawzi, Manaqib Ahmad ibn Hanbal, 48-50.
For Mu'tazilite theology on divine attributes, see Richard M. Frank, Beings and Their Attributes: The Teaching of the Basrian School of the Mu'tazila (Albany: SUNY Press, 1978), 15-35.
On Abu al-Hudhayl's position, see Josef van Ess, Theologie und Gesellschaft im 2. und 3. Jahrhundert Hidschra, 6 vols. (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1991-1997), 3:15-25.
For al-Ma'mun's theological commitments, see Michael Cooperson, Al-Ma'mun (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2005), 75-95.
Al-Ma'mun's letter is preserved in al-Tabari, Tarikh, 3:1108-1112.
The most detailed account of Ibn Hanbal's trial is in Ibn al-Jawzi, Manaqib Ahmad ibn Hanbal, 45-65.
On al-Mutawakkil's reversal, see al-Tabari, Tarikh, 3:1389-1395.
Josef van Ess, "The Logical Structure of Islamic Theology," in Logic in Classical Islamic Culture, ed. G.E. von Grunebaum (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1970), 21-50.
Mohammad Fadel, "The True, the Good and the Reasonable: The Theological and Ethical Roots of Public Reason in Islamic Law," Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 21, no. 1 (2008): 5-69.
Sarah Stroumsa, Freethinkers of Medieval Islam: Ibn al-Rawandi, Abu Bakr al-Razi and Their Impact on Islamic Thought (Leiden: Brill, 1999), 45-75.
Ahmad Kazemi Moussavi, Religious Authority in Shi'ite Islam: From the Office of Mufti to the Institution of Marja'(Kuala Lumpur: International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 1996), 85-105.
Ahmed El Shamsy, The Canonization of Islamic Law: A Social and Intellectual History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 78-105.
Stroumsa, Freethinkers of Medieval Islam, 50-65.
Marshall G.S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam, 3 vols. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974), 1:469-485.
Abdul Hakim Murad, Commentary on the Eleventh Contentions (Cambridge: Quilliam Press, 2012), 25-35; Umar Faruq Abd-Allah, "Theological Dimensions of Islamic Law," Nawawi Foundation Paper (2008): 15-25.