The Mihna: Al-Ma'mun's Inquisition and the Making of Sunni Orthodoxy

In 833 CE, the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun launched a religious inquisition known as the Mihna, forcing scholars to profess the Mu'tazilite doctrine that the Quran was created, not eternal. The episode focuses on the defiant resistance of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, who endured imprisonment and flogging rather than recant. It explores how the Mihna backfired, discrediting the caliphate and empowering the ulama to define Islamic orthodoxy independently. The conversation also examines the creation of the Qur'an controversy, the role of the Hanbali school, and the legacy of this struggle for the separation of religious and political authority in Sunni Islam. Drawing on earlier episodes about the Umayyads and earlier Abbasid policies, this episode shows how the state's attempt to control theology inadvertently cemented the ulama's role as guardians of faith. #Mihna #AhmadIbnHanbal #Al-MaMun #MuTazila #AbbasidCaliphate #QuranCreated #Hanbali #Inquisition #IslamicHistory #SunniOrthodoxy #KhalqAlQuran #Baghdad #Ulama #9thCentury #Caliph vs Scholar #History #FexingoHistory #ReligionAndEmpire Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo