Episode 66: Sunni side up

Despite the religious overtones of the caliphate, there was nothing very islamic about the state when it came to policy. The inquisition marked the first time an administration tried to interfere in matters of faith, and it intensified over the reigns of three caliphs. Al Mutawakkil put an end to the mihna, and reversed the state’s position on a slew of related matters. His new direction proved popular with the masses, but it discriminated heavily against a wide range of communities.

Image

Glossary

• Ahmad ibn abi Du’ad: chief judge under al Mu’tasim and al Wathiq, and a member of the council that elected al Mutawakkil. The mihna had no greater champion than ibn abi Du’ad, and our sources rightly blame him for fanning its flames throughout his tenure. He had a stroke or something at the start of al Mutawakkil’s reign and when he found himself unable to keep up with the job he appointed his own son to fill his shoes. Both were arrested a couple years later when the caliph turned on the Mu’tazalites.
• Yahya ibn Aktham: al Ma’mun’s chief justice was replaced by ibn abi Du’ad as soon as al Mu’tasim came to power. Yahya was against the Mu’tazalites, and so he lived in obscurity during their time in the sun. He returned to court with a vengeance, but was punished with disgrace and dispossession himself by the caliph a couple years later.
• Ahmad al Khuza’i: a respected member of Baghdadi society who led a failed coup against al Wathiq. He wanted to take out the Mu’tazalites and Turks, but his clumsy attempt cost him his life.
• Ahmad ibn Hanbal: a religious scholar and founder of the Hanbali school of jurisprudence, the strictest recognized by mainstream sunni islam. He made his career by resisting the Mu’tazalite inquisition, and survived long enough to see al Mutawakkil turn against them.
• Ali al Hadi: the tenth imam of his time, he was summoned to Samarra early in al Mutawakkil’s reign and forced to spend the rest of his life in the city. His son Hasan was born, lived, and died there as well. Their shrine in the city still stand today, despite several attacks by extremists throughout the years.
• Thul-noon: one of the earliest sufi masters, little is known about this holy man, and he may not have existed at all.