The early Murji'a in Khuräsän and Transoxania
and the spread of Hanafism*
Von Wilferd Madelung (Oxford)
Considerable progress has been made in recent years in the study of the
origins and nature of the politico-religious movement of the MurjTa.1) The
movement arose apparently in the aftermath of the second Civil War (fitna)
and the Küfan Shiite revolt under al-Mukhtär in favour of Muhammad b. al-
Hanafiyya. Its main thesis was that judgment concerning 'Uthmän and 'Ali
should be deferred to God, while the conduct of the first two caliphs, Abu
Bakr and 'Urnar, deserved unqualified approval. The early MurjiX who
spread in particular in Küfa and Basra, thus aimed at uniting the Muslim
Community by rejecting the condemnation of any of the four patriarchal
caliphs by the extreme ShTa, the Khärijites, and extreme partisans of
'Uthmän. Although they clearly sought an accomodation with the
Umayyad regime, their support of it was not unconditional, and they
became embroiled in the revolt of'Abd al-Rahmän b. al-Ash'ath against al-
Hajjäj and that of Yazid b. al-Muhallab against the caliph Yazid ü.la)
* Paper read at the lOth Congress'of the TJ.E.A.I. in Edinburgh, September
1980.
]
) See W. Madelung, Der Islam al-Qäsimibn Ibrätüm, Berlin 1965, pp. 228-241;
H. Brentjes, Die Imamatskhren im Islam nach der Darstellung des AsKari, Berlin
1964, pp. 45-50; J. van Ess, Das Kitab al-Irffi des Hasan b. Muhammad b. al-Hana-
fiyya, in ArabicaXXI (1974), pp. 20-52; J. Givony, TheMurjfa and the Theological
School ofAbü Hamfa: A Historical and Theological Study, D. Phil. Diss., Edinburgh
1977.
la
) Since the writing of the present paper, an important new text concerning the
early Murji'a, a polemic of the Ibädi Sälim b. Dhakwän, has been published and
analysed by M. Cook (Early Muslim Dogma, Cambridge University Press 1981,
pp. 3-47, 89-103, 159-163). The Murji'a are there described äs militantly anti-
Umayyad and äs supporting revolt against the unjust rulers. Cook suggests to date
the text, if authentic, in the early 70s H. (p. 93). This would mean, äs he points out,
that the Murji'a began äs a much more revolutionär^ movement than has generally
been assumed. The evidence for such an eäily date does not seem stringent,
however, and the general tenor of the document may rather indicate that it was
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The early Murji'a in Khuräsän and Transoxania 33
The ahn of the present paper is to review some aspects of what may be
termed a second stage in the history of the MurjTa, their activity in eastern
Khuräsän and Transoxania. The Murjfa there were associated in particular
with the struggle for equality for the new local converts to Islam and their
exemption from the payment of the jizya which the Umayyad administra-
tion continued to impose on them,2) Doctrinally this effort on behalf of the
new converts was based on the MurjTite thesis that the Status of faith
depended on the mere confession of belief in Islam to the exclusion of all
works, i.e. the actual perfonnance of the ritual and legal obligations of
Islam. This meant that the mass converts in central Asia could not be
denied the füll Status by the government on the pretext that they continued
to ignore many of their duties äs Muslims. The MurjTite exclusion of works
from faith took on a new practical signifacance. Later it has always been
considered the most essential element of irjöf.
The Murjfite struggle on behalf of the new converts to Islam begins in
the account of al-Tabari in the year 100/718-9, when a certain mawlä, iden-
tified äs either Abu l-^aydä' §alih b. Tarif al-Dabbi or Sa'id al-Nahwi,
complained to the caliph 'Umar about the roughness of the govemor of
Khuräsän, al-Jarräh b. 'Abd Allah, and the fact that some 20,000 clients
served in the anny without stipend and a similar number of new converts
were forced to pay tribute. The caliph ordered al-Jarräh to remove the jizya
from all those praying in the direction of the qibla and, when the governor
responded with a subterfuge, dismissed him.3) These measures had,
however, only temporary effect. In 110/728-9, the governor of Khuräsän,
Ashras b. 'Abd Allah, commissioned Abu 1-Saydä' to propagate Islam in
Transoxania pledging that all new converts would be exempted from the
jizya. This pledge was soon broken, and the tribute was reimposed on Abu
l-Saydä"s Soghdian converts. When they put up resistance, Abu l-^aydä'
and a number of his associates sided with them. He and Thäbit Qutna, a
well-known fighter of the faith, poet, and Champion of the doctrine of irjS of
long standing were imprison'ed and carried off to the governor in Marw.4)
Six years later the great revolt of the Murji'a under al-Härith b. Surayj
broke out. Its support came mostly from Jüzjän, Färyäb, Taliqän, and
written during the great anti-Umayyad revolt of Ibn al-Ash* ath (ca. 82/701). At that
time there was an anti-Umayyad consensus in Iraq, äs it is described by Sälim,
when even the „Quietists" (ftnh, p. 34, read qcfada ?) held the Umayyads to be evil
rulers, although they would not join the revolt.
2
) See G. van Vloten, Recherche* sur la Domination Arabe, le Chiitisme et les
Croyances Mesaianiques svu& le Khalifat des Omayadw, Amsterdam 1894, p. 28-33.
3
) Al-Tabari, TctfMi, (Leiden ed.), 1353-5.
4
) Tab. 1507-10.
3 Ißlam , Heft l
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34 Wilferd Madelung
Balkh.5) Driven out of the Muslim territory, al-IJärith allied himself with
the Khaqän of the Türgesh and other infidel chieft. That bis movement
essentially represented the aspirations and principles of Abu l-^aydä' and
Thäbit Qufcna has been noted already by van Vloten.6) Several of the men
earler backing Abu 1-gaydä' like Rabr b. 'Imrän al-Taymi, Bishr b. Jurmüz
al-t)abbl, Abu Fätima al-Azdi, and al-Qäsim al-Shaybäni, are also
mentioned among the most prominent and ideologically engaged asso-
ciates of al-IJärith b. Surayj. His religious spokesman was, at least in the
later phase of his career, Jahm b. §afwän, who on account of some of bis
theological views was later considered by traditionalist Muslims äs one of
the archheretics of Islam but was also known for his radical formulation of
the Murji'ite doctrine of faith. Al-Härith called for reform on the basis of the
Qur'än and the Sunna of the Prophet and for a shüra to choose the most
acceptable candidate for the ealiphate. He displayed the blaek flags asso-
ciated with the messianic restorer of justice and personally seems to have
believed in his own mission "to destroy the walls of Damascus" and to
overthrow the Umayyad ealiphate.7).
His open revolt against the Muslim government and his alliance with
its infidel enemies must have cost al-Härith b. Surayj the support of many
of the moderate MuqTites who had favoured the more peaceful struggle of
Abu l-gaydä". Al-TabarPs account provides some evidence. Khälid al-
Nahwi, a brother of the previously mentioned Sa'id al-Nahwi, had together
with Abu 1-Saydä' joined the Soghdian converts resisting payment of the
jizya. He remained aloof of al-Härith b. Surayj, however, and cooperated
with the Umayyad governor Nasr b. Sayyär who later employed and
his brother Yazid äs his envoys to al-Härith when seeking an agreement
with the latter.8) Yet the rupture between al-Härith and the moderate
Murji'a was not complete. It is significant that when he sought the pardon
of the caliph Yazid in 126/744, his two emissaries passing through Küfa
requested and received a letter of introduction to the caliphal court from
Abu Hanifa, the most prominent protagonist of irjS in Iraq then.9) When
al-IJärith returned to Marw, he could act and be widely received more like a
wronged champion of a good cause than a pardoned traitor and quickly
enlisted broad support for his reform program, threatening the position of
Nasr b. Sayyär.10).
5
) Tab. 1568.
6
) Van Vloten, Recherches, p. 30.
7
) Tab. 1919.
8
) Tab. II 1928.
9
) Tab. 1867.
10
) Tab. 1887-90.
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The early Murji'a in Khuräsän and Transoxania 35
The death of al-IJärith b. Surayj in 128/746 left the Khuräsänian
Murji'a in disarray just before Abu Muslim brought the 'Abbäsid revolution
out into the open. What was their reactiön to the rise of this new movement
calling for the overthrow of the Umayyad regime which the Murji'a, too,
had come to view more and more äs irretrievably iniquitous? The chronicles
are silent about the relationship between Abu Muslim and the Khuräsänian
Murjfa. There is, however, some scant evidence in the biographical sources
of a serious clash in the year 131/748-9 leading to the execution of at least
two leading Murji'ite moderates in Marw. One of them is Yazid (b. Abi
Sa'id) al-Nahwi, who has already been mentioned äs one of three brothers
prominent in the struggle for the equality of the non-Arab Muslim converts.
A pious worshipper and knowledgeable in the Qur'än, Yazid was, according
to bis biographers, killed by Abu Muslim in 131/748-9 because "he ordered
him to do what is proper" (bi-amrihi bi'l-marüf)}1) The second one is
Ibrahim b. Maymün aJ-Sä'igh al-Marwazi, a student and close associate of
Abu Hanifa. He is mentioned by al-Tabari in a somewhat obscure passage
äs having been appointed by Nasr b. Sayyär to an official position appa-
rently because he was acceptable also to al-Härith b. Surayj.12) When Abu
Muslim came to Marw, Ibrahim al-gä'igh according to the biographical
sources used rough language towards him and was arrested. After the
intercession of the jurists and pious men, Abu Muslim released him, but he
continued to attack his conduct and finally threatened to wage a jihäd
against him with his tongue since his band had no power. Abu Muslim now
killed him.13)
'Abd Allah b. al-Mubärak, the famous traditionist of Khuräsän, related
that he was present with Abu Hanifa when the news of the execution of
Ibrahim al-ijä'igh arrived. Abu Hanifa wept bitterly and said that he had
feared this end for him. He explained that Ibrahim and he had once agreed
after a discussion that the "ordering of what is proper and forbidding what
is reprehensible" was a religious duty imposed by God (farüfa min Allah).
Thereupon Ibrahim spontanedhsly ofiered to pledge allegiance to Abu
Hanifa. The latter was shocked and explained that this was a duty which, if
it were taken on by someone on his own, he would expose his life to danger.
It required a group of righteous helpers and a trustworthy chief to lead
them.14)
The story deserves, despite its hagiographical colouring, some further
consideration. In al-Fiqh al-akbar, the brief creed composed of Statements
") Ibn ßajar, Tahdhfo al-tahdtäb. Haydarabad 1325-27, XI 332.
12
) Tab. 1919.
13
) Ibn Abi i-Wafa', al-Jawahir al~mu$a, Haydarabad 1332, I 49-50.
14
) Ibid.
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36 WUferd Madelung
of Abu IJamfa, the Obligation of "ordering what is proper and forbidding
what is reprehensible" figures prominently äs the second article.15) Other-
wise this duty was vigourously espoused by the Khärijites and constituted
one of the five basic principles of the Mu'tazila expressing their spirit of
revolt against the unjust rulers, but was not usually found in Sunnite
creeds. The reaction ascribed to Ibrahim al-Sä'igh evidently illustrates how
the principle was commonly understood at the time. Its presence in the
creed of Abu Hanifa seems to reflect, if not an ineitement to revolution, a
militant advocacy of reform.
The reports about the two executions by Abu Muslim provide preeious-
ly little information. It can only be assumed that the two incidents were
related. The concrete issues and motives remain obscure. So much is
evident, however, that Abu Muslim failed to rally the Murjfa to the
4
Abbäsid war on the discredited Umayyad regime and that he considered
them äs dangerous enough to kill two of their real or potential leaders.
The unabated strenght of MurjTite sentiment in eastern Khuräsän is,
however, most strikingly reflected in the rapid spread of the school of Abu
Hanifa there in this very period. Abu Hanifa became the undisputed spiri-
tual, if not political, leader of the eastern Muijfa. His following became
particularly broad in the same regions from which al-Härith b. Surayj had
initially drawn his support: in Jüzjän aiid Tukhäristän. Impressive evi-
dence for this is provided by the city history of Balkh of §afi al-Din al-
Wä'iz al-Balkhi (written in 610/1213-14) whose Persian Version has
recently been published.16) In the introduction the author states that some
shaykhs and scholars of Küfa (presumably opponents of Abu Hanifa) used
to call Balkh Murji'äbäd. The reason was, he explains, that Abu Haiufa was
called a Murjf ite, and all the inhabitants of Balkh were followers of his
school. When the people of Khuräsän travelled to Iraq in the quest for
learning they went to some other scholars except for the people of Balkh
who always studied with Abu Hanifa. 17J
In 142/759-60, still in the lifetime of Abu Hanifa, a student and close
companion of his, 'Umar b. Maymün al-Rammäh (d. 171/787-88) became
qadÄ, of Balkh, and he remained in office for over two decades.18) After him
15
) A. J. Wensinck, The Muslim Creed, Cambridge 1932, p. 103.
16 c
) Abd Allah b/Umarb. Muhammad b.Däwüd Wä'iz-i Balkhi, Fatäil-i Balkh,
Persian transl. by 'Abd Allah Muhammad Husayni Balkhi, ed. 'Abd al-Hayy Habibi,
Tehran 1350.
n
) Fatfötü, pp. 28f.
18
) Faffiil, pp. 124-9; Ihn Abi 1-Wafa*, I 399. He succeeded Mutawakkü b.
EEumrän who was küled in 142/759-60 (Faffiil, pp. 85-9).
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The early Murji'a in Khuräsän and Transoxania 37
the detested 'Abbäsid governor of Khuräsän, 'Ali b. !sä b. Mähän,
appointed a qa$, who persecuted some Ilanafite scholars. This qcufi was
later ignominiously chased out of the town to Marw and replaced by the
Hanafite seholar Abu Mutf al-Balkhi (al-Hakam b. <Abd Allah), who held
the judgeship for sixteen years.19) Abu Mutf is well-known äs the author of
the so-ealled al-Fiqh al-absat in which he gathered bis teacher Abu Hanifa's
answers to theological questions and in which he quoted bis Murjfite affir-
mation that a Muslim convert in the territory of polytheism who confessed
Islam without any knowledge of the Qur'än or any of the religious obliga-
tions of Islam is a true believer (mitmin) .20) Abu Mutr also transmitted the
Kitab al-alim wa l-muta'allim, an exposition of the doctrine of irjct of Abu
Muqätil al-Samarqandi and attributed by the latter to his teacher Abu
Hanifa.21) These two works formed the basis of all later Murjfite theology
of eastern Hanafism. After Abu Mutr, who died in 197/812-13, all qadÄs of
Balkh were Hanafites.22) Besides them numerpus early scholars are
mentioned in the history of the town who were immediate students of Abu
Hanifa or of one of famous companions, Abu Yüsuf, al-Shaybäni, and
Zufar.23) Even Shaqiq b. Ibrahim al-Balkhi, one of the founders of the §üfi
school of Balkh, studied under Abu Hanifa and Abu Yüsuf and later
remained personally attached to the latter.24) The city history of Balkh
provides at the same time consistent evidence for the lack of popularity of
19
) Fadäti, pp. 145-54; Ibn Abi 1-Wafa', 265-6.
20
) K al-fiqh al-absat, in al-Älim wa l-Mutäattim, ed. Muli. Zähid al-Kawthari,
Cairo 1368, p. 42.
21
) J. Schacht, An Early Murdite Treatise: TheKitäb al-Älim wal-Muttfattim, in
Onens (1964), p. 100.
22
) After Abu Mutf al-Balkhi, Shaddäd b. IJukaym, a student of Zufar, was
appointed qädi of Balkh against his will. He fled after six months (Fadctil, pp. 185-
95; Ibn Abi 1-Wafa', 1256). Thp caliph al-Ma'mim then appointed €Abd Allah, a son
of the former qädi 'Umar b. Maymün al-Rammäh (Fadtiil, pp. 162-5). He was
succeeded by al-Layth b. al-Musäfir, who resigned in protest against the mihna
(Fatäü, pp. 208-10; Ibn Abi l-Wafö>, 1417). After that the town did not have a qäffi
for some time but bnly a$fyäb mazälim.
23
) Students of Abu ilanifa were Abu Mu'ädh Khälid b. Sulaymän (d. 199/814-
15) (Faffiü, pp. 142-6; Ibn Abi 1-Wafa', I 229) and l^äm b. Yüsuf (d. 215/830)
(Faffiü, pp. 202-206; Ibn Abi 1-Wafa', I 347-8). Wasim b. Jumayl and Salm b.
Sälim related liadith from Abu iianifa (Fadctil, pp. 156,160). Khalaf b. Ayyüb was a
pupü of Abu Yüsuf, al-Shaybäni, and Zufar (Fadctil, pp. 178-85; Ibn Abi 1-Wafa',
I 231-2). Another student of Abu Yüsuf was Ibrahim b. Yüsuf (d. 239/853), the
brother of Isäm (Fa&til, pp. 214-19; Ibn Abi l-Waia', I 51-2). '
24
) FatffO, pp. 131, 138.
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38 Wilferd Madelung
the 'Abbäsid regime and its representatives in the town throughout this
period.25)
Balkh thus became the chief center of Hanafite learning in the east. In
other towns of eastern Khuräsän and Transoxania, the school of Abu
Hanifa also found an early foothold though it did not gain immediately such
predominance. A student of Abu Hanifa, Abu <I§ma Nüh b. Abi Maryam,
known äs al-Jämf (d. 173/789-90), became gö^lofMarw26); another, <Abd
al-' b. Khälid al-Tirmidhi, qad/i, of Tirmidh.27) From Jüzjän came Abu
Sulaymän Müsä b. Sulaymän al-Jüzjäni, renowned student of al-Shaybäni
and transmitter of his books in the east äs well äs author of several fiqh
works of his own.28) Our documentation for Samarqand is, unfortunately,
25
) The people of Balkh opposed the army under Abu Dawüd Khälid b. Ibrahim
sent by Abu Muslim. The populär Opposition was evidently led by the religious
leaders; for affcer the victory of the cAbbäsid army Mutawakkil b. Humrän, Muqätil
b. Hayyän, Muqätil b. Sulaymän, and Ibn al-Rammäh all went into hiding until they
were granted an amnesty by Abu Däwüd (Fadtfil, p. 86). Abu Dawüd then
appointed Mutawakkil äs qadÄ, who is alleged to have stipulated that he would not
name him äs the governor on the pulpit nor accept the testimony of representatives
of the govemment. He returned a letter of the caliph with the order not to render
judgment concerning caliphal property rejecting the order with a Qur'änic quota-
tion. He soon ran into trouble with the governor and was put to death. The people of
the town closed their shops for a long time äs a sign of mourning (Fadtiil, pp. 87-8).
Abu Mutr al-Balkhi stirred up protest against an official letter of the caliphal court
in which the Qur'änic verse "We gave him judgment äs a boy" (XIX 12) was used
referring to the Barmakid Yahyä b. Khälid or to the caliph's son al-Ma'mün (Fadtiil,
pp. 149-50). Salm b. Sälim al-Balkhi professed to have no doubt that looking the
unjust ruler or his helpers in the face was illicit. The only question was whether
speaking to them was permissible or not (Fadä'il, p. 157). The governor 'AK b. *Isä b.
Mähän wrote the caliph complaining about Salm that he disregarded the caliph's
signature and rejected the testimony of govemment offlcials. As a result, Salm was
arrested and imprisoned while on a visit to Baghdad (Fadtiil, p. 156). The clash of
Ibn Mähän with the people of Balkh about the judgeship has been mentioned above.
Ibn Mähän's qafi9 Abu Muhammad al-A'mash, was accused by the Hanafite Abu
Mu'ädh of infidelity because of a point of ritual. Ibn Mähän ordered a public
punishment of Abu Mu'ädh and banished him from the town. The Hanafite qädä of
Tirmidh, 'Abd al-' b. Khälid, gave Abu Mu'ädh a splendid welcome. Al-A'mash
ordered the same punishment and banishment for him. Abu Mu'ädh and 'Abd al-
' went together in exile to Farghäna and Shäsh where they are said to have
converted 100,000 infidels to Islam. When Abu Mutf al-Balkhi became qüdi, they
both returned home (Fadtiil, pp. 145-6).
26
) Ibn Abi 1-Wafa', I 176.
27
) Ibn Abi 1-Wafa', I 318.
28
) Faffiü, pp. 210-14; Ibn Abi l-Wafa>, II 186-7.
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The early Murji'a in Khuräsän and Transoxania 39
insufficient to trace the beginnings of IJanafism there. Later overwhelm-
ingly Hanafite and the home of the Hanafite Murji'ite theological school
named after it to which al-Mäturidi belonged, the town had early been the
center of Murji'ite activity and must have been predisposed to accept the
teaching of Abu Hanifa.29) Abu Muqätil al-Samarqandi, who has already
been mentioned äs the author of the Kitab al-ülim wa l-muta 'aüim, was a
stüdent of Abu Hanifa. Otherwise the town does not seem to have produced
any prominant representatives of Hanafism in the early time but rather
may have looked to Balkh for religious guidance. In Bukhärä the local
Hanafite school was founded somewhat later by a stüdent of al-Shaybäni,
Abu Hafs al-Kabir (AJtunad b. Hafs, d. 217/832), who came to be revered
nearly äs a saint in the town.30) Sunnite traditionalism was, however,
strongly established in Bukhärä and influenced the local Hanafite creed.31)
The triumph of Hanafism in Transoxania came with the reign of the
Sämänid dynasty. The Sämänids, originating from a village near Balkh,
traditionally favoured the Hanafite 'ulama! and appointed them to official
positions. The amir Ismail b. Ahmad (279-95/892-907) is reported to have
assembled the scholars of Samarqand, Bukhärä and other towns in Tran-
soxania and asked then to expound the Sunnite faith in view of the spread
of heresies. They commissioned the Hanafite scholar Ishäq b. Muhammad
al-Hakim al-Samarqandi to compose a statement of the orthodox creed.
After its completion it was formally approved by the amir and the *ulamä\
This creed, the well-known al-Sawäd ol-dzam, became the official cate-
chism under the Sämänids.32) It fully endorsed the Murji'ite definition of
faith äs excluding works.33) But it also stressed the duty of the faithful to
obey and support the ruler, be he just or oppressive, and to act in solidarity
with the Muslim Community.34) The eastern MurjTa had gradually changed
from a revolutionary reform movement working for the overthrow of the
Umayyad caliphate to an officially sponsored body backing the established
govemment.
29
) Muqätil b. IJayyän al-^abati (d. after 150/767), who was qafidi Samarqand
for some time, is described äs having been a companion of Abu Hanifa (Fadä'il,
pp. 75, 78.
30
) Narshakhi, Ttfnkh-i Bukhära, ed. Modarres Rezavi, Tehran 1351/1972,
Index.
31
) Madelung, The Spread ofMaturidism and the Türke, in Actas do IV Congresso
de Estudos Ärabes e Islämicos, Leiden 1971, p. 117 with n. 30.
32
) Al-5akim al-Samarqandi, Tarjuma-yi al-sawäd al-a'zam, ed. *Abd al-gayy
Kabibi, Tehran 1348, pp. 17-19.
33
) Al-Hakim al-Samarqandi, al-Sawäd al-dzam, [Istambul 1204/1886], espe-
cially mas'ala l, 44, 48, and 49.
34
) AI Sawad al-tfzam, especially mas'ala 2, 7, and 9.
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