T Y E M I N ROD U CTOR R ARKS . The follo wing p ages contain the record o f the Imam ‘ Ahmed ibn Ha nbal a nd o f a struggle ) with which he stood connected , whose issu es were so gre at a s to wa rra nt a close stu dy o f all th at is involved in the movement . The history o f Dogma in Islam as written by Western writers has given u s an idea o f the qu estions which were being dispu ted at this time , a nd the o u tward history o f events has recorded in very meagre outline the most importa nt p ublic occ u rrences of our narrative ; but there has been , so far , no u s e ma de o f the . rich opportu nity presented in the biogra phy o f Ahmed ibn Hanb al to see the theologic al controversies o f Isla m in their f a connection with the o u tward history o the St te . This kind of historic al st u dy is the more interesting , becau se from it we ar e en abled to u ndersta nd the relation o f the State to gion at that time , a n d the place occ u pied by religion 5 teachers in the State . m nin al ea fir n usa a F gvjl gfin ge _ , ‘ cc _ - - - idents of for tu n e 01 Jhe ae do ns of me n ,. is ofte n u s e d , VI I I Form of the er s “ wi r e fe r e n l 1 iou s v b U ) th c e to a r e g - to .. obtai n ing asse nt tm s ome pa r ticu lari elieLa yst em of this s p e cial u s age l ar gel y ill u strat e d in the r e c or ds of the the a f ccoun t o which is to app e ar in the s e qu el . It accou n t s of the O r thodo x in qu isition un der the Khal if M os t c ommonl y, the Whol e p e r se cu tion e xten ding fr om 2 A . H . is all e e 1 n a . 34 c d t . 2 ' We h a ve referred a bove to the iss u es o f the M ihn a , as is c alm e a a o f la for all f l win a a n d orthodox ch r cter wIs m o lg g ges , in t he pr e seWrva tion W s l a m l l itself , in ou r j u dgment . Ha d Ration a ism s u cceeded n bring ing a bo u t by persec u tion a general a b a ndonment o f ortho doxy , it is proba ble th a t the principl e o f free tho u ght , witho u t recognition o f a u thority , wo uld h a ve ha d a d is in - t e g r ating e ffect within Islam itself , a nd wo u ld ha ve m a de - .it m u ch more s u sceptible to modifying a nd reforming in — ~fiu e nc e s from witho u t ; so th a t , in time , we sho ul d h a ve seen sta nd a rds o f fa ith a nd l ife , which contr a vene o u r re a son as the Koran a nd Tra dition do , given u p for some thing more s a tisfying to re ason a nd moral j u dgment . We need not enter into the q u estion whether a ny good c a me from the preserva tion o f orthodoxy , fu rther th a n to s ay tha t if Islam was to contin u e to be Islam , to preserve orthodoxy was the best wa y to a ccomplish s u ch a res ult . We o u ght to give Ra tion alism credit fo r h aving a sserted - the principl e , u n Islamic tho u gh it be , th a t tho u ght m u st - be free in the se arch fo r tr u th . The a b u se of free thinking , ’ however , in a love of spec ulation for spec ulation s s a ke , a nd in a n inordin a te desire o f controversi al victory is , in the history o f this period , a b u nd a ntly exemplified . Ahmed ibn H a nb al d u ring his whole c a reer s u bsequ ent to - c a of a al Shafi i 20 . a s the mo st ar k the de th the Im m ( 4 A H ) w c znem a l u th mm M — oxflmd e x b e fig re in e m t a m y , arid stood ~ ' ‘ ’ t afidirfig of fall rrf g bf orth odoxy in its time of tri al ; a nd there is little exa ggera tion in the sta tement , m a de more ‘ tha n once concerning him , th a t all men were looking to him for an ex a mple , th a t a s he decided on the test as to a ’ the Kor n being a pplied to him , so they might follow . We h a ve some interesting circ u msta nti al evidence of ’ Ahmed s position a nd infl u ence a mong the people from the ’ f - way in which he was treated by the Khali s . A l M a mun ha d made u p his mind to cite him to a ppear with the first seven men to whom he pu t the test , bu t even the violent bigot Ahmed ibn A bu D owad the Chief-Kadi a dvised his master not to s u mmon him , do ubtless r e c ogn1z1ng tha t s u c cess with the seven men wo u ld be m u ch more diffic ult sho uld Ahmed be with them , a nd feeling th at the res u lt o f their tri al wo u ld better determine whether or not it wo u ld be ’ ’ A I-M a f1 n s l wise to a ttack o ne gre ater tha n they . m etter to his governor in B aghdad a fter the l atter ha d exa mined the doctors tre ats with gentleness Ahmed ibn H a nbal , when one re ads wh at he had to s ay a bo u t most o f the other ll doctors there a u ded to . {In W e L/ u bea a d id s c o u r éhmed nntil h e m st r in mind th t he not g eo had au av J b i ht a r w um s a e ts exh sted every to _ s e n g n s a g D la ha d al M a ments a nd entre aties . He dec red tha t m u n not -W “ n u-01 ‘ ‘ ordered him to de al with 11 16?l s u ch as he , he wo u ld have ha d nothing to do with the infliction o f the p u nishment . ” fi f ‘ a t “ fi -w “m fi - FuThEfihb r e , the scourging took place in the co u rt ya rd o f the p ala ce u nknown to the m ass o f the peopl e , who stood ide wa iting for the a nno u ncement a s to how the trial ended . As soon a s they s u spected that their Imam was g tortu red , there was a tremendo u s excitement ; a n d it ’ d a s if the Kh alif s p ala ce wo u ld become a n obj ect ‘ ’ - 3 It , when a l M u tas im ha d Ahmed s u ncle Ishak o u t , a nd ha d this man falsely intimate to them ha d a not h rmed his nephew in the least . To ma ke still more sec u re against the da nger of a pop u la r c al-M u tas im kept Ahmed within the precincts o f the p alace u ntil the evening , a nd then dressed him u p in gala costu me a nd sent him u nder cover o f d u sk to his ll m ’ dwe ing . We ay consider it a s significa nt of Ahmed s standing a mong the people that there were no fu rther at tempts to coerce him d u ring the remaining fifteen ye a rs o f the Mihna , tho u gh we ar e a ssu red tha t he was a ctive in teaching a nd as pop u la r as he ever had been , or even more 4 ’ - i s a fu so . Al Wath k tre tment rnishes some evidence to shew ’ l a how he regarded Ahmed s infl u ence . We ar e to d th t , despite the u rging of Ibn A bu D owad , he wo uld not cite Ahmed fo r exa min a tion before him , but sent word to the Imam to remove from his co u ntry ; a good proof th a t Ahmed l a ha d gre at power with the peop e .