Ibrahim al-Nazzam

Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Sayyār ibn Hāni‘ an-Naẓẓām (c. 775 – c. 845) was an Arab Mu'tazilite theologian and poet. He was a nephew of the Mu'tazilite theologian Abu al-Hudhayl al-'Allaf, and al-Jahiz was one of his students. Al-Naẓẓām served at the courts of the Abbasid Caliph al-Mamun. His theological doctrines and works are lost except for a few fragments. He was famous for his strong rejection of qiyas, juristic preference, binding consensus, and Hadith records believed by many Muslims to accurately describe prophetic traditions as narrated by Abu Hurayra. Al-Nazzam believed that the Quran ought to be interpreted literally without any other sources or methods backing up its interpretation. Some aspects of his beliefs would soon be taken by Dawud Al-Zahiri and the Zahiri school of thought. Shi'a scholars also were known to have quoted him. Although Shi'a scholars positively referenced him, Al-Nazzam himself rejected the view of Shi’a doctrine of the Imamate. Like other early Mu'tazilites, al-Naẓẓām was a scripturalist who had no use for the traditions and accounts supposedly related by Abu Hurayra, the most prolific hadith narrator, which he held to be full of contradictions. Al-Naẓẓām's skepticism involved far more than excluding the possible verification of a report narrated by Abu Hurayra, whether it is traced back to a single source or many. He also questioned reports of widespread acceptance, which proved pivotal to classical Muʿtazilite criteria devised for verifying the single report, thus earning a special mention for the depth and extent of his skepticism.