Chapter 8: Who Owned the Text? Religion, Empire, and Control

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

"To own the text is to shape the faith. And to shape the faith is to wield power."

The Scholar's Lament

In the private study of the great Baghdad scholar al-Ṭabarī, sometime around 920 CE, the aging exegete paused in his writing and contemplated the path that had brought Islamic textual culture to its current state. Before him lay dozens of manuscripts—Qur'anic commentaries, legal treatises, theological disputations, and administrative decrees—each representing layers of human interpretation that had accumulated around divine revelation over the previous three centuries.¹

Al-Ṭabarī had witnessed the transformation of Islam from a community guided primarily by oral tradition and personal piety into a civilization governed by written authorities and institutional interpretations. He had lived through the final years of the mihna, seen the rise and fall of theological schools, and participated in the great scholarly debates that had shaped Sunni orthodoxy. Now, as he worked on his monumental Qur'anic commentary that would synthesize centuries of interpretive tradition, he understood both the necessity and the cost of this transformation.

The Qur'an itself remained unchanged—the same verses that had been revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and carefully preserved by his companions. But the meaning of those verses, their application to daily life, their relationship to political authority, and the methods by which they could be legitimately interpreted had all been profoundly shaped by human decisions made over generations of struggle, debate, and institutional development.

As al-Ṭabarī dipped his pen in ink to continue his work, he embodied the complex relationship between divine authority and human stewardship that had emerged from the first three centuries of Islamic history. He was not creating new revelation, but he was certainly shaping how future generations would understand the revelation they had inherited. In this sense, he—like the caliphs, scholars, and scribes who had preceded him—was participating in the ongoing process of determining who could legitimately speak for the Qur'an and how its voice would be heard in the world.

The Imperial Architecture of Scripture

The journey chronicled in Part II of this volume reveals how the Qur'an evolved from oral recitation to imperial instrument, from prophetic guidance to institutional authority. This transformation began with the Umayyad recognition that sacred text could serve political purposes as effectively as spiritual ones. When Caliph ʿAbd al-Malik commissioned the Dome of the Rock in 691 CE, he fundamentally altered how the Islamic community understood the relationship between divine revelation and worldly power.

The inscriptions carved into that magnificent building were not merely decorative but declarative—assertions of Islamic theological superiority over Christianity and Judaism, proclamations of political authority backed by divine mandate, and demonstrations that the Qur'an could speak as powerfully through stone and gold as through human voices. As we explored in Chapter 5, this architectural deployment of sacred text established precedents that would influence Islamic culture for centuries: the principle that beautiful presentation of divine revelation constituted worship, the legitimacy of using Qur'anic authority to support political claims, and the transformation of Arabic from a regional language into an imperial medium.²

The Umayyad innovations also revealed the inherent tension between the universal message of the Qur'an and its particular cultural expressions. While the text itself transcended tribal, ethnic, and geographical boundaries, its deployment in specific architectural and administrative contexts inevitably reflected the political needs and cultural assumptions of those who controlled its presentation. The same divine verses that proclaimed God's unity and justice could be arranged to support very different political projects and social arrangements.

This tension became even more pronounced under Abbasid rule, when systematic scholarly institutions began to develop comprehensive approaches to Qur'anic interpretation, legal derivation, and theological speculation. The House of Wisdom in Baghdad symbolized both the remarkable intellectual achievements of this period and the ways in which state patronage could influence religious scholarship. As Chapter 6 demonstrated, the transition from oral to written religious authority created new possibilities for preserving and transmitting Islamic knowledge, but it also created new forms of institutional control over religious interpretation.

The Institutionalization of Religious Authority

The Abbasid transformation of Islamic textual culture involved more than the simple preservation of existing traditions in written form. It represented a fundamental shift in how religious authority functioned within Islamic society. The legal schools (madhāhib) that crystallized during this period created systematic methodologies for deriving practical guidance from Qur'anic principles, but they also established institutional frameworks that could control access to legitimate religious interpretation.

The development of tafsīr as a scholarly discipline exemplified both the benefits and the costs of this institutionalization. Scholars like al-Ṭabarī produced commentaries of unprecedented comprehensiveness and sophistication, synthesizing linguistic analysis, historical research, and theological reasoning in ways that illuminated the depth and complexity of Qur'anic meaning. But these same commentaries also established interpretive boundaries that could marginalize alternative approaches and exclude voices that lacked proper scholarly credentials.

The theological systematization that occurred during this period had similar implications. The rational theology of the Mu'tazila represented genuine intellectual achievement and serious engagement with philosophical questions about divine attributes and human responsibility. However, the political association of Mu'tazilite doctrine with caliphal authority during the mihna ultimately discredited rationalist approaches to theology among many Muslims, contributing to the marginalization of philosophical reasoning in later Sunni religious culture.

Perhaps most significantly, the Abbasid period saw the emergence of hadith collections as sources of religious authority equal to the Qur'an itself. The monumental works of al-Bukhārī, Muslim, and their contemporaries provided systematic access to prophetic guidance that complemented Qur'anic revelation, but they also created new forms of textual authority that could be manipulated by those who controlled access to authenticated traditions.

The Mihna and the Limits of Political Control

The crisis represented by the mihna illuminated fundamental tensions within Islamic civilization about the proper relationship between religious truth and political power. When Caliph al-Ma'mūn and his successors attempted to impose the doctrine of the created Qur'an through state coercion, they revealed both the extent and the limits of caliphal authority over religious matters.

The theological questions at the heart of the mihna were not merely academic but touched on essential issues about the nature of divine revelation and its relationship to human understanding. If the Qur'an were co-eternal with God, this seemed to imply the existence of multiple eternal beings, potentially compromising monotheism. If it were created, this might suggest that divine guidance was contingent rather than absolute, temporal rather than eternal. Both positions represented serious attempts to address genuine theological problems, and both were defended by scholars of unquestioned piety and learning.

The political dimensions of the controversy revealed how theological debates could become instruments of imperial control. By requiring affirmation of particular doctrinal positions, the caliphs sought to ensure ideological conformity among religious authorities while demonstrating their own theological competence and religious legitimacy. The resistance they encountered, epitomized by Ahmad ibn Hanbal's refusal to submit, established important precedents for scholarly independence and the limits of state authority over religious belief.

The ultimate failure of the mihna marked a turning point in Islamic political culture. Never again would Abbasid caliphs attempt such systematic control over theological doctrine, and the principle of scholarly autonomy that emerged from this crisis would influence Islamic intellectual culture for centuries. However, the desire to control religious interpretation through institutional mechanisms rather than direct coercion would continue to shape how Islamic authorities approached questions of orthodoxy and heterodoxy.

Alternative Voices and Suppressed Memories

Throughout this period of institutional development and doctrinal crystallization, alternative voices and interpretive traditions continued to exist, though often in marginalized or concealed forms. The Shi'i traditions about the Muṣḥaf of ʿAlī that we explored in Interlude B represent one example of how communities that were excluded from political power maintained their own understanding of sacred text and its proper interpretation.

Whether or not ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib actually compiled a distinctive codex of the Qur'an, the persistence of traditions about such a text within Shi'i culture reveals important dimensions of how religious communities understand the relationship between textual authority and political legitimacy. The idea that the official compilation of the Qur'an might have omitted or de-emphasized material relevant to the rights of the Prophet's family served both to explain Shi'i political marginalization and to preserve hope for eventual vindication.

The doctrine of taqiyya that developed within Shi'i theology provided a framework for maintaining alternative interpretive traditions under adverse political circumstances. This principle of concealment when under threat allowed Shi'i scholars to preserve their distinctive understanding of Islamic history and theology while participating in the broader Islamic textual culture dominated by Sunni institutions. The result was a form of parallel preservation that maintained alternative memories and interpretive possibilities even when they could not be publicly expressed.

Similar patterns of concealment and alternative preservation characterized other marginalized groups within Islamic society. Sufi communities developed esoteric approaches to Qur'anic interpretation that emphasized inner meaning over literal application. Various regional and ethnic communities maintained local interpretive traditions that reflected their particular cultural perspectives and historical experiences. Women scholars and mystics preserved their own approaches to understanding divine guidance, often through informal networks that operated outside official institutional structures.

What Would Have Changed?

The institutional developments that characterized the Abbasid period were so fundamental to subsequent Islamic culture that alternative scenarios reveal how differently Islamic civilization might have evolved under other circumstances.

Continued Theological Pluralism: If the mihna had succeeded in establishing Mu'tazilite theology as orthodox doctrine, subsequent Islamic intellectual culture might have developed along more rationalist lines. Professor Mohammad Fadel has argued that Mu'tazilite approaches to theology provided important resources for developing what he calls "Islamic constitutionalism"—systematic approaches to governance based on rational principles derived from Qur'anic guidance.³ A different outcome to the mihna might have created lasting precedents for using rational analysis to address contemporary challenges, potentially affecting everything from legal methodology to political theory to scientific inquiry.

Decentralized Religious Authority: The emergence of centralized scholarly institutions during the Abbasid period had profound effects on how religious authority functioned within Islamic society. Professor Marshall Hodgson argued that this centralization distinguished Islamic civilization from other religious traditions that maintained more decentralized approaches to religious authority.⁴ If Islamic culture had developed along more decentralized lines, with regional and local religious authorities maintaining greater autonomy, this might have created more space for cultural adaptation and interpretive diversity. However, it might also have made it more difficult to maintain coherent religious identity across the diverse geographical and cultural contexts of the Islamic world.

Alternative Canonical Traditions: The systematic marginalization of non-Sunni interpretive traditions during this period had lasting effects on Islamic intellectual culture. If alternative canonical traditions had been preserved and developed in parallel rather than being suppressed or concealed, contemporary Islamic culture might be more pluralistic and diverse. Dr. Wilferd Madelung has suggested that the early suppression of Shi'i and other alternative traditions represented a significant loss for Islamic intellectual development.⁵ Different patterns of canonical development might have created more space for theological diversity while also providing resources for addressing contemporary challenges that require creative synthesis of traditional and modern perspectives.

Different Relationships with Political Power: The Abbasid period established important precedents for how religious institutions related to political authority. If different patterns had emerged—either more systematic integration of religious and political authority or more complete separation between them—this might have significantly affected subsequent Islamic political development. Professor Ahmed El Shamsy has argued that the particular form of scholar-state relations that emerged during this period created both opportunities and constraints for later Islamic societies.⁶ Alternative patterns might have provided different resources for addressing modern questions about the relationship between religious values and political organization.

Scholar Debate

Contemporary scholarship offers diverse perspectives on the significance and implications of the institutional developments that characterized the Abbasid period, reflecting both traditional Islamic understanding and modern analytical approaches.

Professor Jonathan A.C. Brown emphasizes the remarkable achievement represented by the synthesis of diverse oral traditions into systematic written compilations during this period. Brown argues that scholars like al-Bukhārī and al-Ṭabarī succeeded in preserving authentic prophetic guidance while creating institutional frameworks that could transmit Islamic knowledge across cultural and temporal boundaries. His work highlights the sophisticated methodological approaches that early Islamic scholars developed for authenticating and systematizing religious traditions, demonstrating how written preservation could serve rather than undermine the original oral culture.⁷

Dr. Ahmed El Shamsy takes a more critical approach, emphasizing how the institutionalization of Islamic law during this period served particular social and political interests while marginalizing alternative approaches to religious authority. El Shamsy argues that the canonical legal collections that emerged during the Abbasid period reflected the concerns and perspectives of urban, male, scholarly elites rather than the broader Islamic community. His analysis suggests that different approaches to legal development might have created more inclusive and adaptive religious institutions.⁸

Professor Patricia Crone and Dr. Martin Hinds offer a political analysis that emphasizes how Abbasid religious institutions served imperial rather than purely religious purposes. Their work demonstrates how caliphal support for particular scholarly approaches and institutional developments reflected strategic calculations about maintaining political control rather than disinterested pursuit of religious truth. This perspective suggests that the religious institutions that emerged during this period cannot be understood apart from their political contexts and functions.⁹

Traditional Islamic scholarship, represented by figures like Dr. Muhammad Mustafa al-A'zami and Dr. Abdul Hakim Murad, generally views the Abbasid institutional developments as representing the natural maturation of Islamic intellectual culture rather than politically motivated innovation. These scholars emphasize the continuity between early oral traditions and later written compilations, arguing that the systematization that occurred during this period faithfully preserved and transmitted authentic Islamic teaching rather than creating new forms of religious authority.¹⁰

Contemporary Relevance

The questions about religious authority, institutional development, and textual interpretation that emerged during the Abbasid period continue to resonate in contemporary Islamic thought and practice, offering insights into ongoing debates about tradition, adaptation, and religious authority in modern Muslim societies.

The institutional frameworks that developed during this period continue to shape how contemporary Islamic education, scholarship, and religious authority function. Modern Islamic universities, legal institutions, and scholarly organizations all trace their legitimacy to precedents established during the classical period, while also grappling with questions about how to adapt traditional approaches to contemporary circumstances. Understanding the historical development of these institutions can help contemporary Muslims think more clearly about how to preserve authentic religious teaching while addressing modern challenges that require institutional innovation and adaptation.

The methodological approaches to Qur'anic interpretation that were systematized during the Abbasid period also continue to influence contemporary Islamic scholarship and religious practice. Modern debates about the proper relationship between traditional interpretive authorities and contemporary analysis, between linguistic and historical approaches to understanding Qur'anic meaning, and between scholarly expertise and personal religious experience all reflect tensions that first became visible during this formative period.

The political dimensions of the mihna and other institutional developments also speak to contemporary questions about the proper relationship between religious institutions and political authority. Modern Muslim societies continue to grapple with questions about how to maintain religious authenticity while participating in pluralistic political systems, how to preserve traditional religious values while adapting to democratic institutions, and how to balance religious authority with individual freedom and social diversity.

Perhaps most importantly, the example of scholars like Ibn Hanbal, who maintained their convictions despite political pressure, continues to provide inspiration for contemporary Muslims facing challenges to their religious beliefs and practices. The principle of scholarly independence that emerged from the mihna offers resources for thinking about how to maintain religious integrity while engaging constructively with broader social and political systems.

Conclusion

The transformation of Islamic textual culture during the Umayyad and Abbasid periods represents one of the most significant developments in religious history. The evolution from oral recitation to imperial architecture, from prophetic guidance to scholarly authority, from community consensus to institutional control reveals both the remarkable adaptability of Islamic civilization and the inevitable tensions that arise when eternal truths encounter temporal circumstances.

This transformation was neither accidental nor inevitable but reflected countless decisions made by individuals and communities seeking to preserve divine guidance while addressing the practical challenges of building and maintaining complex societies. The caliphs who commissioned architectural inscriptions, the scholars who developed systematic commentaries, the jurists who established legal methodologies, and the theologians who defended particular doctrinal positions were all participating in the ongoing process of determining how divine revelation would be understood and applied in human communities.

The institutional achievements of this period provided Islamic civilization with frameworks for preserving and transmitting religious knowledge that proved remarkably durable and effective. The legal schools, interpretive methodologies, and scholarly institutions that emerged during this time continued to shape Islamic culture for centuries, providing resources for addressing new challenges while maintaining connection to foundational sources and principles.

Yet these same achievements came with costs that continue to influence Islamic culture today. The marginalization of alternative voices, the centralization of religious authority, and the establishment of rigid boundaries between orthodox and heterodox belief all reflected particular solutions to the challenges of institutional development that might have been addressed differently under other circumstances.

Perhaps most importantly, this history reveals the fundamentally human character of religious institutional development, even when dealing with texts and traditions understood to be divine in origin. The Qur'an itself remained unchanged throughout this period, but the frameworks through which it was understood, interpreted, and applied were profoundly shaped by human decisions made in specific historical contexts for particular purposes.

Understanding this history can deepen rather than threaten religious faith by revealing the careful attention, profound commitment, and remarkable creativity that earlier generations brought to the task of preserving and transmitting divine guidance. The scholars and institutions that emerged from this period were not perfect, but they succeeded in creating mechanisms for maintaining religious continuity across vast changes in social, political, and cultural circumstances.

For contemporary Muslims, this history provides both inspiration and resources for thinking about how to address similar challenges in modern contexts. The example of earlier generations who successfully adapted Islamic principles to new circumstances while maintaining essential religious commitments suggests possibilities for contemporary innovation and adaptation. The recognition that current institutional arrangements reflect particular historical developments rather than eternal necessities can inspire greater creativity in addressing contemporary challenges.

Most fundamentally, the story told in Part II reminds us that the preservation of sacred truth always requires human agency, institutional development, and adaptive wisdom. The divine word endures, but its preservation and transmission depend on human communities willing to undertake the difficult work of interpretation, application, and institutional development that each generation must perform anew.

The question posed in this chapter's title—"Who owned the text?"—ultimately cannot be answered simply. Divine revelation belongs to God, but its preservation, interpretation, and application depend on human communities and institutions. The remarkable achievement of early Islamic civilization was not the elimination of human agency from textual transmission but its channeling in service of divine guidance. That achievement continues to provide resources and inspiration for contemporary efforts to maintain religious authenticity while addressing the challenges of modern life.

Notes

This scene is reconstructed from what we know about al-Ṭabarī's scholarly methods and the intellectual environment of early tenth-century Baghdad. For his biographical details, see Franz Rosenthal, The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume I: General Introduction and From the Creation to the Flood (Albany: SUNY Press, 1989), 5-134.
For the Dome of the Rock inscriptions and their political implications, see Oleg Grabar, The Dome of the Rock(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006), 56-75; Christel Kessler, "'Abd al-Malik's Inscription in the Dome of the Rock: A Reconsideration," Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 103, no. 1 (1970): 2-14.
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.
Marshall G.S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam, 3 vols. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974), 1:315-358.
Wilferd Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 310-340.
Ahmed El Shamsy, The Canonization of Islamic Law: A Social and Intellectual History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 185-210.
Jonathan A.C. Brown, The Canonization of al-Bukhārī and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunnī Ḥadīth Canon (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 315-345.
El Shamsy, The Canonization of Islamic Law, 78-105.
Patricia Crone and Martin Hinds, God's Caliph: Religious Authority in the First Centuries of Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 85-115.
Muhammad Mustafa al-A'zami, The History of the Qur'anic Text from Revelation to Compilation (Leicester: UK Islamic Academy, 2003), 202-230; Abdul Hakim Murad, Commentary on the Eleventh Contentions (Cambridge: Quilliam Press, 2012), 45-65.