The Chaliphate - Muir - The Search For Mecca

won
CHAPTER LXVII
AL-MO'TASni AND AL-WATHIK
218-232 A.H. 833-847 A.D.
Mo'tasim, The ti'oops, at the first, refused to do homage to Al-
8^; ad"
Intolerant
supporter of
Ala mull s
Mo'tasim, preferring rather, in their growing insolence, to
elect Al-'Abbas, son of the late Caliph ; but he, summoned
from Tyana, at once swore allegiance to his uncle, and the
army followed. Tyana w^as abandoned, the rising walls
demolished, and whatever could not be carried off committed
to the flames. Al- Mo'tasim then returned to Bagdad.
Al-Mo'tasim followed his brother Al-Ma'mun, or surpassed
j^jj^_^ rather, in the two weak points of his rules intolerance,
heterodoxy, to wit,
'
and preference for the
.
Turkish
.
soldier. Freedom
of discussion, to an extent never dreamed of till the days
of Al-Ma'mun, still prevailed, excepting in respect of the new
dogmas of the Court. Science and philosophy flourished
under such distinguished professors as Al-Kindi, "the
philosopher of the Arabs," whose works, both original
and borrowed from the Greeks, have . a European
reputation. But from the Mo'tazili creed no divergence
was tolerated ; to it every Muslim must conform. Two
dogmas were especially dear to the Caliph, namely, that
the Kor'an was not eternal, and that by the disembodied
eye in the future life, the Deity could not be seen. The
severest pains and penalties, even to the death, awaited
those who dared to differ. Bagdad was much disquieted
by the intolerant rigour of the Caliph and his doctors ;
the
famous Ibn Hanbal was again arrested, and being firm in
the faith, was pitilessly scourged, and cast scarred and
senseless into prison.
But a still greater trouble threatened the city in the
512