 Thus Mu 'tazilism became closely identified with the new regime of al @-@ Mu 'tasim , and adherence to Mu 'tazilism was transformed into an intensely political issue : to question it was to oppose the authority of the Caliph as the God @-@ sanctioned imām . While Mu 'tazilism found broad support , it was also passionately opposed by traditionalists , who held that the Quran 's authority was absolute and unalterable as the word of God , as well as providing a vehicle for criticism by those who disliked the new regime and its elites . In the event , the active repression of the traditionalists was without success , and even proved counterproductive : the beating and imprisonment of one of the most resolute opponents of Mu 'tazilism , Ahmad ibn Hanbal , in 834 , only helped to spread his fame , and by the time Caliph al @-@ Mutawakkil abandoned Mu 'tazilism and returned to traditional orthodoxy in 848 , the strict and conservative Hanbali school had emerged as the leading school of jurisprudence ( fiqh ) in Sunni Islam . 
