Mihna

Al-Ma'mun (r. 813-833 CE) was the seventh Abbasid caliph and one of the most intellectually accomplished rulers in Islamic history. His reign marked the peak of the translation movement and the flourishing of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, making him a central figure in the Islamic Golden Age.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780–855 CE) founded the Hanbali school of jurisprudence and compiled the Musnad, one of the largest hadith collections. His refusal to affirm the doctrine of the created Quran during the Mihna made him the symbol of scholarly independence from political power.

The Mu'tazilite school of Islamic theology gives priority to reason in interpreting matters of belief. It emerged in Basra in the early eighth century, was the official doctrine of the Abbasid state under al-Ma'mun and his two successors, and set out its theology under five principles.

The Mihna (833–849 CE) was an inquisition begun by Caliph al-Ma'mun to enforce the Mu'tazilite doctrine that the Quran was created. Its failure, symbolized by Ahmad ibn Hanbal's resistance, established the independence of religious scholarship from political authority.