In this paper I will briefly examine the relationship between the Mu'tazilite doctrine of the Qu'ran as the created Word of God, and the political interests of the Abbasid rulers, particularly Al-Ma'mun and his two immediate successors.  This essay is a prelude to my term paper, because the two papers share a common subject matter:  the nature of the Qu'ran in Islamic theology.  In the present paper I will focus on the political reasons for the Abbasids support for the idea that the Qu'ran is created, while in my final paper I will center more directly on the theological development which took place in the early centuries of the Muslim era.  It should be pointed out that both sides in the theological dispute accepted the concept of a preexistent Qu'ran, and that the disagreement between them concerned the nature of the Qu'ran, whether it was to be seen as eternal and uncreated and as a consequence of this, binding for all time; or whether it must be held to be created in order to maintain the absolute unity of God as the Mu'tazilites asserted.

          The Mu'tazilites association with the Abbasid dynasty was no doubt detrimental to their cause in the final analysis, for when it began to weaken the Mu'tazilites who had cast their lot with them slowly faded from sight.  Interestingly the Umayyads tended to side with the Shia and those whom you have called the "piety minded" Muslims because both these groups held to a doctrine of predestination, which was helpful to the Umayyads since they were able ". . . to legitimate their rule . . . claiming (among other things) that the caliphate had been bestowed on them by God" [Watt, Islamic Creeds, p. 6].  Of course there were religious scholars who were critical of them and their policies (both among the Mu'tazilites and among the "piety minded") and these individuals pointed out that the Umayyads used the doctrine of predestination to ". . . defended unjust actions . . . saying that they had been predetermined by God" [Watt, Islamic Creeds, p. 6].  The Mu'tazilites would have been major critics of the Umayyads in this regard, because they denied the doctrine of predestination.  So with the shift of dynasties the  Mu'tazilites moved from opponents (doctrinally speaking) of the ruling elite, to being used as a support for the new government.  No doubt one of the many ironies of history.

          During the 9th century the Caliph Al-Ma'mun, who reigned from 813 to 833, initiated an inquisition of sorts, which was called the mihna, he did this in order to enforce the Mu'tazilite doctrine that the Qu'ran is the created Word of God.  His reasons for supporting the Mu'tazilite view were no doubt connected to his desire to be an absolute ruler.  The theology of the Mu'tazilites was a perfect compliment to the Caliph's desire in that it would give divine support to his contention that the Caliphate was necessary in the government of the Ummah, in order to make clear the divine decrees.  If the Qu'ran was created it was in some sense imperfect, because it would ". . . not be eternally true and [could] be overridden by a divinely-inspired Caliph" [Watt, Islamic Creeds, p. 7]. Thus the Caliph would be above the Qu'ran and so he would be the ultimate source of the communities laws and even of its beliefs, not the Qu'ran.  By instituting the minha, Caliph Al-Ma'mun was, by his action in doing so, asserting that he had the right and the power to determine Islamic belief.  Thus the Caliph could in theory decree laws which would supersede and even abrogate the Qu'ranic revelation.  His two successors continued his policy on this matter, all three having Mu'tazilite sympathies.

          The inquisition was begun by Al-Ma'mun, when — a few months prior to his death in 833 — he ". . . instructed the governor of Baghdad to require from the qadis and other prominent persons a public declaration of their assent to the doctrine that the Qu'ran was the created speech of God" [Watt, Islamic Thought, p. 178].  This instruction was sent throughout the empire, but was applied to the same degree that it was being enforced in Baghdad.  The minha went well at first, the majority of the qadis agreed to make the public declaration immediately upon being asked, many others that were reluctant to do so, relented under the threat of torture.  A small number of individuals refused to make the public statement, the most important dissenter being Ahmad Ibn Hanbal.  He was one of the leading scholars of Hadith, and he adamantly refused to say that the Qu'ran was created, he insisted that as the Word of God, the Qu'ran must by uncreated and eternal.  Hanbal and several other scholars of the Hadith (i.e., "piety minded"), were persecuted for their refusal to submit to Caliphal authority.

          Shortly after having begun the minha, Caliph Al-Ma'mun died and was succeeded by Al-Mu'tasim, who reigned from 833 to 842, he was succeeded by Al-Wathiq, who continued the inquisition against the "piety minded" Muslims until his death in 847.  With the accession of Al-Mutawakkil to the Caliphate, the persecution of those who believed in the uncreated nature of the Qu'ran came to an end. By ending the minha, the Caliphate admitted that it had lost its battle for supremacy against the religious scholars, and W. Montgomery Watt points out that the cessation of persecution in 848/849 can be seen as the birth of the Sunnite sect of Islam [see, Watt, Islamic Creeds, p. 7]  What had played out during that 15 year period was the Muslim equivalent of a battle for the separation of Church and State.  It can be said unequivocally that the state lost the battle, but as far as the Islamic view of society is concerned, it is not as easy to say that the religious community won, for the desire on the part of many in the Islamic world for a specifically Islamic State continues even today.

          In closing, I think it is important to reiterate that both sides in this theological dispute held that the Qu'ran was preexistent, but they disagreed about the nature of the Qu'ran as the Word or Speech of God.  Accepting the concept of the preexistence of the Word does not necessity belief in its being uncreated or eternal [see, Wolfson, The Philosophy of Kalam, 238-241].  I will investigate that topic in greater detail when I examine the origins of this belief in my final paper, and will at that time explain the differences between the two positions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Works Cited:

Ira M. Lapidus.  A History of Islamic Societies.  (Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press, 1999).

W. Montgomery Watt.  Islamic Creeds:  A Selection.  (Edinburgh:  Edinburgh University Press, 1994). 

W. Montgomery Watt.  The Formative Period of Islamic Thought.  (Oxford:  Oneworld Publications, 1998).

Works Consulted:

Harry Austryn Wolfson.  The Philosophy of Kalam.  (Cambridge:  Harvard University Press, 1976).   

The Abbasids and the Mu'tazilites

by Steven Todd Kaster

San Francisco State University

History 604:  Islamic World I

Professor Fred Astren

30 October 2001

Copyright © 2002-2025 Steven Todd Kaster