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Concept
Quranic createdness
Summary
Quranic createdness refers to the doctrinal position that the Quran was created, rather than having always existed and thus being "uncreated". In the Muslim world the opposite point of view — that the Quran is uncreated — is the accepted stance among the majority Muslims. Shia Muslims on the other hand argue for the createdness of the Quran.
The dispute over which was true became a significant point of contention in early Islam. The Islamic rationalist philosophical school known as the Mutazila held that if the Quran is God's word, logically God "must have preceded his own speech". The Mutazilites and the Jahmites negated all attributes of God, thus believed that God could not speak, hence the Quran was not the literal word of God, but instead a complete metaphor of his will.
The controversy over the doctrine in the Abbasid caliphate came to a head during the reign of Caliph Abd Allah al-Ma’mun. In 827 CE, al-Ma’mun publicly adopted the doctrine of createdness, and six years later instituting an inquisition known as the mihna (test or ordeal) to "ensure acquiescence in this doctrine". The mihna continued during the reigns of Caliph Al-Mutasim and Caliph Al-Wathiq, and during the early reign of Caliph Al-Mutawakkil. Those who did not accept that the Qur’an is created were punished, imprisoned, or even killed.
According to Sunni tradition, why "tested", traditionist Ahmad ibn Hanbal refused to accept the doctrine of createdness despite two years imprisonment and being scourged until unconscious. Eventually, due to Ahmad ibn Hanbal's determination, Caliph Al-Mutawakkil ʿAlā ’llāh, released him and the Mu'tazila doctrine was silenced for a time. In the years thereafter in the Abbasid state, it was the minority of Muslims who believed in Quranic createdness who were on the receiving end of the sword or lash.
The influential scholar Al-Tabari (d.
Official source
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