Abdal Hakim Murad - The Cambridge Companion to Islamic Theology

Theology and Sufism 261
Sufism. 12 Nevertheless, in the meantime there had indeed been figures
categorised as ‘‘Sufi Mu‘tazilites’’ (s _
ufiyyat al-mu‘tazila). The founder of
the Baghdad school of Mu‘tazilite theology, Abu Sahl Bishr ibn
al-Mu‘tamir (d. 825), numbered Sufis among his followers, such as
Abu’l-Qasim al-Balkhı; one of the most famous of all Mu‘tazilite
thinkers, al-Naz _
z _
am (d. 845), had students who were Sufis, such as Fad _
l
al-H _
adathı and Ibn Khabit _
; and the already mentioned major figures
Bist _
amı andH _
addadı were members of the Mu‘tazila. 13
The foreclosure of a Mu‘tazilite Sufism was accelerated by the
famous caliphal Inquisition (mih _
na) between 833 and 851, in which the
confession of the created status of the Qur’an was enforced by the
Abbasid state in line with Mu‘tazilite doctrine. Prominent contemporary
Sufis resisted the policy in varying degrees. A major Baghdadı leader
of the Sufi movement, Bishr al-H _
afı (d.841 or 842) typically adopted a
stance of ‘‘passive resistance’’, lauding Ibn H _
anbal for not yielding to the
pressure of the authorities, yet avoiding putting himself in direct
jeopardy. But despite his high standing, Bishr was strongly criticised for
his quietistic attitude, even by disciples. 14 Other mystics, such as the
mysterious Dhu’l-Nun al-Mis _
rı (d. 860), resisted as actively as Ibn
H _
anbal himself, and underwent imprisonment for their intransigence. 15
At any rate, the period of the mih _
na appears to have confirmed Sufism’s
already strong links with the ‘‘orthodox’’ Sunnı party (ahl al-h _
adıth).
The latter triumphed under al-Mutawakkil’s caliphate, and with the
discrediting of Mu‘tazilism the Sufi Mu‘tazilite became an anomalous
figure.
the bakriyya, salimiyya and karramiyya
Bas _
rı’s main legacy to Sufism must be sought in a different quarter
from the Sufi Mu‘tazila. The important eighth-century proto-Sufi order
known as the Bakriyya derived directly from his influence. This group,
who were strongly aligned with the ahl al-h _
adıth, had their origins in a
figure who was reputedly a student of Bas _
rı, ‘Abd al-Wah _
id ibn Zayd (d.
793), although the name Bakriyya derives from the latter’s nephew and
disciple Bakr ibn Ukht ‘Abd al-Wah _
id ibn Zayd. The sect was strongly
focused on the inner life of its adherents. An ascetic community of Ibn
Zayd’s followers established themselves at ‘Abbadan,atthattimean
island between the estuaries of the Qarun and Tigris rivers, where they
used distinctive conical cells 16 for contemplative exercises. One of Ibn
Zayd’s main disciples was Abu Sulayman al-Daranı (d.830), who is a
significant link in the development of Islamic mystical thought insofar
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