The Mihna. Deconstruction and Reconsideration of the Mu'tazilite role in the Inquisition.

The Miḥna has usually been attributed to the Mu‘tazilite theological school as expression of something unusual, a bid‘ah (Islamic innovation) related to a rationalist group of theologians that tried, in strict political cooperation with al-Ma‘mūn, to subvert the ‘Abbāsid caliphate system. The full support of relevant political and religious authorities, during the Miḥna, to the caliph’s purpose permitted at the ‘Abbāsids to post-pone for few decades, a period of decadence which started with the murderer of al-Mutawakkil in 861/246. It is significant to analyze the role played by the Mu‘tazilite school during the Miḥna, which if was theologically evident, it was also politically non-existent; a reconsideration of the importance of this rationalist school is necessary to make clearer who were the main persecutors during this short inquisitorial period in early ‘Abbāsid age.