Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Hanbali

by Edgar Thurston

Hanbali. — A sect of Muhammadans, who are followers of the Imām Abū 'Abdi 'llāh Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, the founder of the fourth orthodox sect of the Sunnis, who was born at Baghdād A.H. 164 (A.D. 780). "His fame began to spread just at the time when disputes ran highest concerning the nature of the Qurān, which some held to have existed from eternity, whilst others maintained it to be created. Unfortunately for Ibn Hanbal, the Khalīfah-at-Muttasim was of the latter opinion, to which this doctor refusing to subscribe, he was imprisoned, and severely scourged by the Khalīfah's order."*^[1]

1. * T. P. Hughes. Dictionary of Islam.