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In 833 CE, the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma`mun began a period of inquisition (mihna), one which continued until his successor al-Mutawakkil decreed its end, fifteen years later. During this period, the Caliphs in power strove to promote `correct belief` in the `createdness` of the Qur`an, thus ordering the interrogation of religious scholars on the subject and disqualifying, beating or even executing those who answered incorrectly. Here, John P. Turner examines and analyses this major episode, viewing it as the pivotal point for the era in question and ultimately for the state of relations between the temporal authorities and religious law. Inquisition in Early Islam focuses on the shifting control over matters of belief and orthodoxy, from the Caliph to the religious scholars, and explores the relationships between heresy, power and the articulation and definition of law and doctrine. Turner does so by exploring the mihna within its context, asking questions such as, why was it so pivotal? Why was it begun? Why did it end? When did the meaning of the Caliph`s position in society shift? How did the Caliph lose his ability to assert himself in defining the boundaries and beliefs of religion? And why and when do the religious/legal scholars gain independence and control over the elaboration and interpretation of the law? By examining the definition of `heresy` as conceived of by the Caliphs, Turner presents a vivid account of the heresy trials during this period, as well as an insightful analysis of the nature of rule and religion. Through investigating heretics and heresy in this period, Turner highlights the Caliph`s social role, exploring the relationships between orthodoxy, heresy, power and authority in a context where there was no single arbiter of dogma. This book is therefore of particular interest to researchers and scholars of Islamic history as well as of comparative religion and medieval history.
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Review
`The series of events and practices which took place in Baghdad during a fifteen-year period and which today are known under the title of the mihna, the "Inquisition", have been hailed by many modern historians as of profound, far-reaching and almost cataclysmic importance for the history of the early Abbasid caliphate. This study marks a signal advance on previous scholarly engagements with the mihna and makes an important contribution to the history of the Umayyads and early Abbasids. Turner encourages us to perceive a narrative of caliphs and ruling elites consolidating their legitimacy and realising their divine mandate to govern by wielding inquiry into personal belief and doxography, thus ensuring the creedal probity of their society in an age when dogma and realpolitik were inflections of power. By the tenth century, orthodoxy had been established. The mihna was, as Turner persuasively argues, one of the many complex steps backwards and forwards which culminated in the articulation of Sunni Islam.` James Mont gomery, S i r Thomas Adams Profess or of Ar abic, University of Cambridge `John Turner`s Inquisition in Early Islam is a very novel and important contribution to the field of Islamic Studies. The relationship between Caliph and ulama is used as focus in studying religious trials by the Umayyads to the Abbasids; brilliantly, Turner does not stop in the third Islamic century (as most writers do) but brings his readers up to the fourth Islamic century to explain how Sunni "orthodoxy" further consolidated its position as the leading current in Islam. In short, the book provides us with a number of very original and new insights. Being well-structured and well-written, this book is bound to generate new vistas of research and debates.` John Nawas, Profess or of Arabic and Islamic Stu dies, Catholic University Leuven, Belgium
About the Author
John P. Turner is Associate Professor of History at Colby College, Maine. He holds a PhD in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan.
ISBN - 9781780761640
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