The Tawbah of the Two Caliphs...

Shortly afterwards, Al-Muhtadī Billāh says to Sālih, ❝I remained saying the Qur’ān is created since the Khilāfah of al-Wāthiq until Ahmad Ibn Abī Du’ād came to us with a shaykh from the people of Shām who was from “Athana”, so the shaykh entered upon al-Wāthiq in a state of being chained up, and he had a beautiful face....❞

And this Shaykh was asked by al-Wāthiq to debate Ahmad Ibn Abī Du’ād who would call people towards saying the Qur’ān is created, so after the Shaykh silenced Ibn Abī Du’ād twice, he debates him for a 3rd time;

❝O Ahmad, inform me about this statement of yours; Did Rasūlullāh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) know about it, or was he ignorant about it?

So Ibn Abī Du’ād replied; He knew about it.

The Shaykh said; Did he call the people towards it?

Ibn Abī Du’ād became silent...

So the Shaykh said; O leader of the believers, (debate) for a 3rd time? So al-Wāthiq said, a 3rd time..

The Shaykh said; O Ahmad, so Rasūlullāh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) had the ability (to compel others to say Qur’ān is created) since he knew about it — according to your claim — while he didn’t command his ummah with it?

Ibn Abī Du’ād replied; Yes.

The Shaykh said; Did Abī Bakr as-Siddīq, ‘Umar Ibn al-Khattāb, ‘Uthmān Ibn ‘Affān, and ‘Alī Ibn Abī Tālib have the ability to do so?

Ibn Abī Du’ād replied; Yes.

The Shaykh then turned away from him and faced al-Wāthiq, telling him; O leader of the believers, I have already stated that Ahmad gets cornered and falls short (in replying), and he is weak in debating.

O leader of the believers, if you are not able to hold back from such a statement, Rasūlullāh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) wouldn’t have been able to hold back from it, nor Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān and ‘Alī, may Allāh be pleased with them.

So Al-Wāthiq said; Yes that’s true, if we are not able to hold back from this statement, then Rasūlullāh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) wouldn’t have been able to hold back from it, nor Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān and ‘Alī, may Allāh be pleased with them, so Allāh wouldn’t command something (upon the ummah) which he didn’t command upon them (Rasūlullāh and the Sahābah) who had the ability to call towards it, (and al-Wāthiq ordered); Break the shackles of the Shaykh!❞

At the very end of the incident;

❝(The narrator) Sālih said; Al-Muhtadī Billāh, may Allāh the most High have mercy upon him said, “I have recanted that statement (of the Qur’ān being created) since that day, and I also assume that Al-Wāthiq recanted from it since that time as well.❞

The Muhaqqiq (editor and reviser) of the book “Ash-Sharī’ah” writes a footnote at the end of this narration by saying;

❝The incident is well-known. It was also narrated by Ibn Battah in “Al-Kubrā — Ar-Radd ‘alal-Jahmiyyah” (hadīth #452 & #453), and it was narrated by al-Khatīb in “Tārīkh Baghdād” (10/75-79), and it was narrated by Ibn al-Jawzī in “Manāqib al-Imām Ahmad” (page 431) via 2 chains on the authority of Ahmad Ibn al-Mumtani’, and its Isnād (chain of transmission) has nothing wrong with it.❞

Imām Muwaffaq ad-Dīn Ibn Qudāmah al-Maqdisī (رحمه الله) also mentioned this narration in his book “Kitāb at-Tawwābīn” under the sub-heading;

توبة الواثق بالله وابنه المهتدي بالله

❝The tawbah of Al-Wāthiq Billāh and his son Al-Muhtadī Billāh.❞

And subhān’Allāh, look at how Allāh humiliated the mu’tazilah after almost conquering the Muslim world with their Kufr...

But alhamdulilāh that Imām Ahmad remained firm to the extent that some of the mu’tazili caliphs repented from this bid’ah later on and the authority of leadership in the ummah was passed down to an Imām of Ahlus-Sunnah!

When Al-Wāthiq passed away, al-Mutawakkil (رحمه الله) who is al-Wāthiq’s brother became the caliph and literally destroyed the mu’tazilah and bid’ah of those who called towards saying the Qur’ān is created.

As they say — “What goes around, comes around”.

Ibn al-Zayyāt was one of the ministers of the Abbasid caliphs al-Muʿtaṣim and al-Wāthiq. He was known for his harshness and cruelty. He would torture his opponents by placing them in a wooden box with iron spikes. He was also known to say, “I have never shown mercy to anyone. Showing mercy is a weakness in human nature!”

His power eventually declined with the accession of al-Mutawakkil who seized him and turned his cruelty against him; he imprisoned him in the same wooden box that he would use for torturing people. So he would shout, “Show me mercy!” But in response, he would be told, “Showing mercy is a weakness in human nature!”

Imām Ath-Thahabī (رحمه الله) mentions in his book “Siyar A’lām an-Nubalā’” (12/32):

وكان قاضي البصرة إبراهيم بن محمد التيمي يقول : الخلفاء ثلاثة : أبو بكر يوم الردة ، وعمر بن عبد العزيز في رد المظالم من بني أمية ، والمتوكل في محو البدع ، وإظهار السنة

❝The Qādhī of Basrah, Ibrāhīm Ibn Muhammad at-Taymī would say; The caliphs are 3: Abū Bakr during the apostasy wars, ‘Umar Ibn ‘Abdil-‘Azīz in opposing the oppression of Banī Umayyah, and al-Mutawakkil in wiping out innovation while displaying the sunnah.❞

Imām Ibn Kathīr (رحمه الله) mentioned in “Al-Bidāyah wan-Nihāyah” (5/352):

وكتب (المتوكل) الى أحمد : إني أحب أن آنس بقربك وبالنظر إليك ويحصل لي بركة بدعائك

❝Al-Mutawakkil wrote to Ahmad; I would love to feel at ease by your close company and looking at you, and to attain blessings through your du’ā.❞

Subhān’Allāh, I would also love to feel at ease by seeing the banner of Ahlus-Sunnah being raised high above all forms of falsehood! O Allāh, Indeed you are the most merciful and most generous, allow us to see that day Ya Karīm!