Killing of Ahmad ibn Nasr al-Khuza'i

Al-Suyuti relates that the caliph al-Wathiq killed Ahmad ibn Nasr al-Khuza'i in 231 AH. He was one of the people of hadith and upheld enjoining good and forbidding wrong. ²

He was brought from Baghdad to Samarra in chains. He was asked about the Qur'an and said that it is not created; he was asked about the vision and said that this is what the report says. Then he related a hadith, and al-Wathiq said: you lie. He said: rather, you lie. ² The source names Ahmad ibn Abi Duad as the one who incited the caliph.

Al-Wathiq consulted the jurists of the Mu'tazila, who said that his blood was lawful. He struck off his neck himself while he was in chains. His head was carried to Baghdad and hung up, and his body was hung in Samarra. ²

This continued for six years, until al-Mutawakkil became caliph, who took him down and buried him. Al-Suyuti mentions a report from the man who carried the head that he saw it turn toward the qibla and recite the surah Ya Sin. This is a report transmitted without a chain in the sources and needs an additional source. ²