Mihna

The Miḥnah (Arabic: محنة‎, English: "trial" or "testing") refers to the inquisition first instituted by the 'Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun in 218 AH/833 AD in which religious scholars were punished, imprisoned, or even killed unless they conceded the doctrine of the created nature of the Qur'an. The policy lasted for fifteen years (833–848 CE) as it continued through the reigns of al-Ma'mun's immediate successors, al-Mu'tasim and al-Wathiq, and two years of al-Mutawakkil who reversed it in 234 AH/848 (or possibly 851) AD.