chief judge, while several more of Ibn Abi Du'ad's qadis were dismissed. The caliph also attempted to reconcile with Ahmad ibn Hanbal and removed Ahmad ibn Nasr's body from public display, and finally, in March 852, he ordered that all prisoners held on account of the Inquisition be released, thereby largely bringing a close to the period. Ibn Abi Du'ad survived for only three years after the loss of the chief judgeship. He died in June 854, twenty days after the death of his son Muhammad. Legacy and assessment With the political decline of Mu'tazilism and the victory of orthodoxy, Ibn Abi Du'ad was criticised for his doctrinal beliefs and the prosecution of the . Sunni writers often made no attempt to conceal their hostility toward him, and passed severe judgement on his tenure in office. The trial and flogging of Ahmad ibn Hanbal in 834-5, in which Ibn Abi Du'ad played a major role, was particularly condemned. Ahmad himself is quoted as having remarked that Ibn Abi Du'ad was a "disbeliever of God Almighty (kafirun bi'llah al-'azim)" and "the most ignorant of people in knowledge ('ilm) and theology (kalam)," and later sources portrayed Ahmad as heroically defending the traditionalist cause in the face of an ignorant bigot. Individuals associated with Ibn Abi Du'ad also occasionally faced discrimination after his death, as when the caliph al-Mu'tazz (r. 866–869) cancelled the appointments of eight men as qadis and exiled them to Baghdad upon learning that they had been followers of the former judge. While condemned for his religious policies and activities, Ibn Abi Du'ad was simultaneously praised by the sources for his tolerant and humane nature, along with his learning and magnanimity. Numerous anecdotes consistently portray the chief judge as a man of compromise and generosity, and he is frequently shown as intervening to resolve disputes between the caliphs and their opponents in an effort to prevent bloodshed. He was also known as a competent poet, and was a patron of various poets and literary men. He particularly was associated with the fellow Mu'tazilite and author al-Jahiz, who dedicated at least one of his works to him and provided him with theological arguments to use against the traditionalists. More recently, some modern scholars have argued that Ibn Abi Du'ad's role in maintaining the under al-Mu'tasim and al-Wathiq may have been overstated by the sources. Tayeb el-Hibri believed that with the gradual