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The reading of the Qadiri Creed in the Dar al-Khilafa

قراءة الاعتقاد القادري في دار الخلافة

c. 5 June 1018 CE · 17 Muharram 409 AH

Baghdad

On Thursday 17 Muharram 409 a book setting out the doctrines of Ahl al-Sunna was read in procession in the Dar al-Khilafa at Baghdad. It stated the creed of the Imam al-Qadir bi'llah, and it was said of it: 'whoever says the Qur'an is created is an unbeliever whose blood may be shed.' al-Qadir confirmed the doctrine of the people of hadith and required people to hold to it in his correspondence and assemblies 1. In 433 the Qadiri Creed was read in full in the diwan of the Dar al-Mulk, in the presence of the vizier, the shaykhs and the judges. In its margin is the hand of the scholar Abu'l-Hasan Ali ibn Umar al-Qazwini, attesting that he heard all of it in 433, that he concurred in it with the Imam of the Muslims al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah, that it is binding proof against whoever shares his faith, and that he holds to the creed it contains. It is the loftiest thing the state of al-Qa'im published in matters of creed 2.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
Region
Levant & Iraq
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

In time

101010201030 c.
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era

In space

Baghdad

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Summary

In Muharram 409 AH the Qadiriyya Creed was read in the caliphal diwan at Baghdad, by order of the caliph al-Qadir billah, to affirm the doctrine of the people of the Sunna and hadith and to refute the doctrine that the Qur'an is created. 1

The reading at the assembly

On Thursday, the seventeenth of Muharram, people were gathered in the procession at the caliphal palace in Baghdad, and there was read to them a statement of Sunni doctrine written by al-Qadir billah. It set out the foundations of belief, the virtues of the Companions, and a refutation of the innovators, and it stated plainly: "Whoever says the Qur'an is created is an unbeliever whose blood may be shed." 1

Doctrinal impact

In the fifth century AH the Qadiri creed became the official creedal document of the Abbasid caliphal court. It was read at public assemblies, the oath of allegiance was taken on the basis of it, and letters were sent with it to the rulers of the provinces in Khurasan and the East. 1

Connections

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Located in
Baghdad
Had participant
al-Qadir bi-llah Ahmad ibn Ishaq ibn al-Muqtadir

People and things also explored

The death of al-Qadir and the accession of al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah, 422· The Baghdad Attestation on Fatimid Lineage· The Baratha Mosque Affair in 420· Riot at the funeral of Bint Abi Nuh and the plunder of the Dar al-Rum church· Al-Qadir's rescript imposing distinguishing dress on the dhimmis· Al-Qadir bans dealing in Maghrebi dinars· The burning of a codex attributed to Ibn Mas'ud and the Karkh strife· Al-Qadir's order of repentance for the Mu'tazila in Baghdad and Khurasan

Sources

  1. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.7 p.289
  2. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.8 p.452-455
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The reading of the Qadiri Creed in the Dar al-Khilafa”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/al-qadiriyya-creed-409/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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The death of al-Qadir and the accession of al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah, 422

The caliph al-Qadir bi'llah died on the night of Monday 11 Dhu'l-Hijja 422, aged eighty-six years, ten months and twenty-one days, having reigned forty-one years and three months, a span no caliph before him had reached. The doors were shut; then al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah came out at the time of 'asr, led the people in the maghrib prayer, prayed over his father with four takbirs, and sat in the Dar al-Shajara in a shirt and mantle. The people gave him bay'a, first among them al-Sharif al-Murtada, and on the next day Abu Ahmad al-Hasan ibn Isa ibn al-Muqtadir came and gave bay'a too. The Turks clamoured over the bay'a money; when a Hashimite killed a Turk, a signed decree of the caliph was issued on the matter, and it was settled that the bay'a be levied at three million dinars. Among his well-known displays of tact, he put up a caravanserai, a garden and a heap of goods for sale to meet it. He gave titles to the viziers and chamberlains and arranged the offices of state.