In this pioneering biography, Christopher Melchert examines the forefather of the fourth of the four principal Sunni schools of jurisprudence, the Hanbali.

In this pioneering biography, Christopher Melchert examines the forefather of the fourth of the four principal Sunni schools of jurisprudence, the Hanbali. Upholding the view that the Qur'an was uncreated and the direct word of God, Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780-855) thought that the holy text should be read literally, rejecting any possibility for metaphorical or revisionist interpretation. Showing that even in his own lifetime, ibn Hanbal's followers were revising his doctrines in favour of a more commodious Islam, Melchert assesses the importance of ibn Hanbal's teachings and analyses their relevance in modern Sunni Islam.

Makers of the Muslim World: This series is devoted to the men and women who made the Muslim world what it is today, be it in political, social, cultural or religious terms. Concise and thoroughly readable, yet drawing on impeccable scholarship, it includes thinkers and doers, figures early and late, in addition to many who were not Muslims by some or even any standards - heretics, apostates, secularists, dhimmis, and pre-Islamic figures. The intention is to introduce those individuals of an Islamic background who lay the foundations not only for the modern Muslim world, but also for the world at large.