ties such as aisha and Hafsa (two of Muhammad’s
wives). Ibn Hanbal has also been credited for
having written on theological, legal, and ethical
topics.
In 833, the Abbasid caliph al-Mamun (r.
813–833) attempted to impose the theological
doctrines of the rationalist mUtazili school and
ran into the staunch opposition of Muslim tradi-
tionalists, the foremost of whom was Ibn Hanbal.
The hadith scholar objected to the Mutazili view
that the Quran was created, holding instead to
the more popular view that it was uncreated and
eternal, thereby affirming its sacred character.
Al-Mamun died, but the Abbasid “inquisition”
(mihna) was continued by his successors, al-
Mutasim (r. 833–842) and al-Wathiq (r. 842–
847). Ibn Hanbal was imprisoned for two years,
and, after being beaten, he was allowed to go
home, where he remained in retirement until
- At the end of the Abbasid persecutions, he
resumed his teaching and was even entertained
as a guest of the new caliph, al-Mutawakkil (r.
847–861). When he died of an illness in 855, it
was reported that thousands attended his funeral.
His tomb in Baghdad’s Martyr’s Cemetery became
one of the city’s most popular shrines. His teach-
ings were preserved and transmitted by his circle
of disciples, including his sons, Salih (d. ca. 880)
and Abd Allah (d. 828).
Ibn Hanbal had a profound effect on the his-
tory of Islam. His legacy is embodied not only in
the Musnad and the legal school that bears his
name, but also by the generations of Sunni Ulama
who have shaped Islamic tradition through the
centuries. He helped make hadith the centerpiece
of Islamic law and theology and strengthened
the religious aUthority of the ulama against state
interference.
See also allah; ibn taymiyya, taqi al-din
ahmad; sUnnism; Wahhabism.
Further reading: Michael Cooperson, Classical Ara-
bic Biography: The Heirs of the Prophets in the Age of
al-Mamun (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2000); Nimrod Hurvitz, The Formation of Hanbalism:
Piety into Power (London: Routledge Curzon, 2002).Ibn Hazm, Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Said (994–
1064) leading Andalusian religious scholar and poet
Ibn Hazm was born in Cordoba, the capital of
andalUsia. He lived in a politically turbulent
time when the Umayyad caliphate was collaps-
ing. Little is known of his family’s background
except that they may have been Iberian Chris-
tians who converted to Islam. His father served
the Umayyad court, and he himself relied on
their patronage. Ibn Hazm spent his youth in the
harem, where he gained intimate knowledge of life
among the Andalusian elite and the roles Women
played in society. He received formal edUcation
in Arabic language arts, religious sciences, phi-
losophy, and history. His gifts placed him in the
circle of the best intellects of his time. He had a
critical temperament and was a nonconformist in
many respects. For example, instead of following
the maliki legal school, the prevailing one in
Andalusia, Ibn Hazm was the leading advocate
of the Zahiri Legal School, which upheld literal
interpretation of the qUran and hadith and
opposed subjective opinion. He was imprisoned
more than once for the political intrigues in which
he became implicated. A prolific writer, his biog-
raphers credit him with some 400 books on many
different topics. Only a few dozen of these have
survived. He spent his last years in exile from his
beloved Cordoba.
One of Ibn Hazm’s most famous books was
Kitab al-fisal fi al-milal wa’l-ahwa wa’l-nihal (The
book of distinguishing between religions, heresies,
and sects), a comparative look at religions and
philosophical schools from the point of view of a
believing Muslim intellectual. It provided a ratio-
nal defense of key tenets of Islamic belief against
the truth claims of the Muslim philosophers,
challenged Jewish legal doctrines, and refuted
Christian teachings about the authenticity of the
Gospels and the divinity of JesUs. It also leviedIbn Hazm, Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Said 331 J