“I did not need to have four people at my door who would not be at my door more virtuous than them.. They are the pillars of the kingdom, and the kingdom is not reformed without them..: As for one of them, he is a judge (= Minister of Justice) who does not take the blame of a blamer in God, and the other is a policeman” = Minister of the Interior) does justice to the weak from the strong, and the third is the owner of an abscess (= the Minister of Finance) who investigates and does not oppress the subjects.., and the fourth.. the owner of the post (= intelligence director) writes the news of these people on health!!

This is a saying that al-Tabari (d. 310 AH / 922 AD) - in his history - attributed to the true founder of the Abbasid state, Caliph Abu Jaafar al-Mansur (d. 158 AH / 775 AD), and it indicates to what extent the complexity and detail of institutional thought within the system of the Islamic state, especially in its square The strategy we call today “sovereign ministries”: justice, security, economics, and information. It also reveals - contrary to what some think - the ingenuity of this state in the structural administrative division, and the accuracy in distributing the functional roles of government departments.

The truth is that the establishment of an information-gathering device is a logical thing in the history of the Islamic State, which has been on the line of fire throughout its history. The internal scrambling between it and its global competitors did not stop for a moment, nor did the attempts to penetrate it from the inside with agents and spies did not abate. Therefore, it was necessary for the Islamic countries to go through the paths of the kingdoms of intelligence darkness, and they reached the maximum that can be observed in the arts of this type of specialized hidden work, and by tracing the history of the Islamic intelligence service, the researcher finds that there is a kind of continuous development and cumulative heritage in experiences and practices.

Perhaps one of the important facts here is to say that no matter how tight and efficient these devices were, their role remained mainly focused on protection and combating rival opponents, and it was not - in most of the times - controlling the masses by counting breaths, silencing opinions and interfering in life details, as is currently known. The aim of this article is to unveil a much unknown pattern of the historical institutional thought of the Islamic state; Briefly exhibiting the emergence of its intelligence apparatus, reviewing some of the growth and complexity of its goals and mechanisms, and its wit and ingenuity in messages and means, which makes it a pioneering and wonderful model in security work, administrative thought and intentional jurisprudence.

The Seeds of Foundation


During the time of the Prophet - may God bless him and grant him peace - and his rightly-guided caliphs, Muslims did not know an organized type of security work. However, that early era witnessed great security efforts to inquire about the enemies and to combat their spying activities, which intensified the suffering of the first Islamic community.

In the Meccan stage;

We find that "Al-Hakam bin Abi Al-Aas was spying on the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and convey his news to the infidels";

As narrated by the tribe of Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 654 AH / 1256 AD) in 'Mirat al-Zaman'.

When the Muslims immigrated to Medina, the targeting intensified, with its Jews joining the Quraysh and their allies in communicating with them.

Among the examples of this is what Al-Balazari (d. 279 AH / 892 AD) mentioned - in 'Ansab al-Ashraf' - that "Malik bin Abi Ququl was a seeker (= pretender) of Islam, transmitting the news of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, to the Jews"!

As a result of these dangerous espionage activities, Muslims paid a heavy price for the security breach.

Among the facts of this is what was narrated by Imam al-Bayhaqi (d. 458 AH/1066 AD) - in 'Dalaa' al-Nubuwwah' - that when the Prophet - may God bless him and grant him peace - returned from the Umrah of the Judiciary in the year 7 AH, he sent a company to the tribe of Bani Sulaym near Medina, "and it was Ain (= A spy) of Banu Sulaym was with him, and when the [company] separated from Medina, the eye went out to his people and warned them, and told them, so they gathered a large crowd.. When the companions of the Messenger of God - may God bless him and grant him peace - saw them and saw their gathering, he invited them to Islam, so they threw them with arrows, and they did not listen. their saying."

The Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - had eyes that penetrate the ranks of his enemies and bring him their detailed news;

In Sahih al-Bukhari, he - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - once made a state of ihram to perform Umrah, “and he sent an eye for him from the Khuza’a (tribe) to feel for him the news of the road.”

The Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - and his companions had many stories in combating their enemies’ spies, including what was narrated by al-Bukhari (d. 256 AH / 870 AD) - in his Sahih - that “one of the polytheists came to the Messenger of God”, and when he came out secretly, he said, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him : «Ali the man, kill him»! So they raced to him, and Salamah ibn al-Akwa' (d. 74 AH / 693 AD) killed him.

In contrast; The Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - had eyes that penetrate the ranks of his enemies and bring him their detailed news; In Sahih al-Bukhari, he - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - once made a state of ihram to perform Umrah and “sent for him an eye from [the tribe of] Khuza’ah” to feel the news of the road to him, and the Prophet went on his way until his “spy al-Khuza’i” - who was said to be a polytheist - came to him with certain information about what he intended. Quraish He said to him: "The Quraysh gathered a crowd for you.. and they fought you and pushed you away from the House (= the Kaaba)!" It was stated in the book 'Assimilation' by Ibn Abd al-Bar (d. 463 AH/1070 AD) that al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (d. 32 AH/652 AD) had converted to Islam before [the Battle of] Badr, and he...written with the news of the polytheists to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace.. And he liked to come to the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, so the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, wrote to him: Your station in Makkah is better.

As for the era of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs; The tribe of Ibn al-Jawzi - in "Mirror al-Zaman" - reported evidence of the care of the security work of the Caliph Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (d. 13 AH / 624 AD); So he came in his will to his military commander, Yazid bin Abi Sufyan (d. 18 AH / 629 AD): “And if the messengers of your enemy come to you and make a good home for them, then it is your first goodness to them. your camp, and excite (= activate) the eyes and guards" in your camp. Likewise, Omar Ibn Al-Khattab (d. 23 AH / 645 AD), who was sent to Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan (d. 60 AH / 680 AD) instructing him to take care of the coasts of the Levant and “set up guards on their landscapes and take the ropes for them”; According to Al-Baladhuri in "Futuh Al-Buldan". It was famous for him that he would go out at night "guarding the people"; As mentioned by Ibn Shabbah (d. 262 AH / 876 AD) in 'Tarikh al-Madina'.

Al-Waqidi (d. 207 AH/822 AD) - in 'Futuh al-Sham' - tells us many of the espionage quirks between Muslims and the Romans; However, the “security services” were not known in their “institutional” form except in the Umayyad state, in comparison with what Ibn Hajar (d. 852 AH / 1448 AD) mentioned about the emergence of the Shatta apparatus, he said - in 'Fatah al-Bari' - that "'the owner of the police' ( = the police chief) was not present in the Prophet’s era with any of the workers, but rather it happened in the state of the Umayyads.”


Umayyad leadership


Perhaps the most dangerous security apparatus adopted by the Umayyads in their state was the "post" system, which was run by "the owner of the mail" or "the owner of the news", which in our time is equivalent to the "director/chief of intelligence". Which can be considered the basic core of the "intelligence service" in the Arab-Islamic civilization. And about the Umayyad establishment of the postal system, al-Askari (d. about 395 AH/1004 AD) - in 'Al-Awael' - says that "the first to put mail in Islam was Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan, and Abd al-Malik (bin Marwan d.

Then al-Askari added that Abd al-Malik appointed his clerk Salem Abu al-Za’aza to the post of “mail owner” in the Arab Islamic state, stressing that “when the mail comes from day or night, it is not veiled, and it may spoil the people’s arrangement of their Sunnah by locking them up in the mail for an hour”! It seems that some of the Umayyad caliphs had special “eyes” of trustworthy men; It was also reported by Ibn Hajar - in 'Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb' - that the modernist scholar "Khalid bin Abi al-Salt... was an eye of Omar bin Abdul Aziz (d. 101 AH / 720 AD) in Wasit" which was located in southern Iraq.

The mail was not - as it is today - a means of correspondence used by governments and the general public. Rather, it performed exclusively the official tasks that we will mention to the intelligence service;

It is no wonder that we find the person in charge of the post called in the first Islamic centuries: “The owner of the news.” Al-Subki (d. 771 AH / 1369 AD) said in “Tabaqat al-Shafi’i”: “The owner of the news means that he is reading the news of the city.”

Perhaps this name is the source of the modern name for information security agencies, as in the words: “intelligence” and “intelligence.”

It seems that Muslims took the "mail" in this sense from the Persians;

Al-Muhaddith Ibn al-Atheer (d. 606 AH / 1210 AD) says - in “Al-Nihaayah” - that “mail is a Persian word that is originally intended: mule, and its origin is: ‘mail is blood’, that is: omitted (= cut) sin, because mail mules were omitted tails. Like a sign for her, she expressed (= Arabized)" the word when it was translated into Arabic.

And they used to make post stations, which they called "postal railways", in which Al-Khalil Al-Farahidi (d. 170 AH / 786 CE) says in his book 'Al-Ain': "The post rails, each of them is twelve miles (= 22 km)". On each rail, the bearer of news would change his beast or hand the "map" - the bag of news reports - to another postal employee; Al-Futni (d. 986 AH / 1578 AD) said in 'Bihar al-Anwar Complex': "The postal horses are the ones that are monitored on the way to carry news from the country, from them everywhere there is something [prepared] for that."

Muslim historians have mentioned the Persian Empire’s precedent to the use of mail in the manner that took place later in the Islamic state, and they mentioned the existence of “people of news” appointed in the regions of the state; In Ibn al-Jawzi’s al-Muntadhim, it is reported that Khosrau Anushrouan (d. 579 AD) “reported to him by 'the author of the news' in Niyaspur that a man appeared in whose image nothing left of the image of the king, and that his name was Anushrawan"; Perhaps he feared that in his presence - despite his great resemblance to the king - there would be a security threat to the government. It seems that the Romans resembled the Persians in using mail for security, as can be learned from poems narrated by Al-Jahiz (d. 255 AH / 868 AD) in his book 'The Mules'.


Abbasid boom and


after a period in which the two names were called together on one employee whose administrative position was known as “Diwan Al-Khobar and Al-Barid”, as Ibn Katheer (d. 774 AH / 1372 AD) called him in “The Beginning and the End”; It seems that the designation of “the owner of the news” has technically separated - since about the fourth century AH - from the job of “the owner of the post”, although the latter remained responsible for helping to deliver the news by virtue of his possession of the approved means of transportation, but the responsibility of collecting news and managing intelligence elements became the specialty of “the owner of the news.” The news alone.

However, we find that the Fatimids used to call this information device “the diwan of arrangement,” and its supervisor “the owner of the arrangement”;

Al-Maqrizi (d. 845 AH / 1441 AD) says in 'Ita'az al-Hanafa': "This arrangement is said to him in other than this [Fatimid] state 'the owner of the post'. his hand and responds to it with his handwriting."

The postal owner had a permanent headquarters in the main city centers from which informants and their espionage activities were managed, and security reports were deposited there in order for them to be sent to the “Post and News Bureau” (the General Directorate of Intelligence) in the capital.

It was preserved for us from its headquarters, "Dar Sahib al-Barid" in Mecca, whose exact location was determined by al-Fakihi (d. 272 ​​AH/885 AD) - in 'Akhbar Makkah' - and he mentioned that from the "houses that receive the Grand Mosque from its sides outside... from what follows al-Sham... is a house The owner of the post, which is inhabited by the owners of the cold (= collecting mail) in Makkah.”

The importance of the “Diwan Al-Khobar” grew and the traditions of its intelligence institution were consolidated in the days of the Abbasids, who overthrew the Umayyads through a fierce armed revolution. Security and intelligence work was one of its deadly weapons, and therefore they cared for this institution from the beginning.

The importance of the "Diwan Al-Khobar" grew and the traditions of its intelligence institution were consolidated in the days of the Abbasids, who overthrew the Umayyads through a fierce armed revolution, and security and intelligence work was one of its deadly weapons.

Therefore, they cared for this institution from the beginning;

We have previously mentioned the founding saying of their second caliph and the true founder of their state, al-Mansur on the four “pillars of kingship,” which al-Tabari narrated.

Proceeding from that; The Abbasids took care of providing the resources to support the intelligence institution to perform its work to the fullest extent in a vast country that stretches from China to Morocco. It was stated in the book 'Mufid al-Ulum and Exterminator of Concerns' attributed to al-Khwarizmi (d. 383 AH / 993 AD) that "Al-Ma'mun the Caliph (d. 218 AH / 833 AD) arranged for the postal owner four thousand camels - with their supplies and machines - to inquire about the affairs of the kingdom, so he knew the affairs of the world in one day One"! It is not surprising that "the wise (= sane) kings take out of their treasuries very great money to 'the owners of the news', and they do not increase it alongside what they benefit from from their sides"; As Miskawayh (d. 421 AH / 1030 AD) says in 'Experiences of Nations'.

Politicians and scholars have talked about the importance of intelligence services that are disciplined in the public interest and the qualities required in their competent and trustworthy elements, which are many qualities and conditions for which al-Qalqashandi (d. 821 AH / 1418 AD) singled out a chapter in his book 'Al-Asha'. Perhaps the most unanimous text on this is what Imam al-Mawardi (d. 450 AH/1058 AD) said in “Ijtiel al-Nisa’”: “The king is worthy that neither the young nor the old, the news of his flock and the matters of his entourage, and the biographies of his successors and his representatives in his work, constantly inquire about them and broadcast 'companions' The news 'in them secretly and openly. And he delegates (= chooses) for that he is honest and trusts with his news, and advises the king in his absence and his scenes, not greedy for slander, nor one who is whimsical, narrates or transgresses, so that the soul may be silent to his experience, and to reveal the facts of things stagnant.


A lofty position


The "Diwan Al-Khobar" (the General Directorate of Intelligence) was of high importance in the Islamic State due to the gravity and sensitivity of its missions, just as the intelligence services are today. Therefore, some of those in charge of this apparatus were called “the danger of the state,” such as Al-Hussein bin Ibrahim Al-Baghdadi (d. 552 AH / 1158 AD); According to Al-Safadi (d. 764 AH / 1363 AD) in 'Al-Wafi with Deaths', and the source of his danger is that he is "experienced with everything that is necessary and aware of what has been decided"; According to the combined expression of Ibn al-Fawti (d. 723 AH / 1323 AD) in the 'Majma' of Arts'.

The rulers would choose for the position of "the owner of the news" - who is the director of the General Intelligence or one of its sub-stations in a city - men of trust, culture and intelligence due to their high position in decision-making circles; That is why Al-Khwarizmi said that the first layer of “the properties of the king” includes “the owner of the post because he is like the king’s hearing.. [so] he informs him of the kingdom’s interests and corruptions.” Then he adds - explaining the vitality of this institution for the stability of states - that "from the literature of war is the execution (= sending) of the eyes, spies and news-people, for they have a great intrigue."

Therefore, we find among those who took this position famous scholars and writers, and sometimes they even made it hereditary in their families in order to stabilize the work of this sensitive apparatus for the security of the state and society.

Among these famous people is the writer Hariri (d. 516 AH / 1122 AD), the author of Maqamat for Hariri;

Al-Asbahani (d. 597 AH/1200 AD) said in 'Khurrayat al-Qasr': "Al-Hariri was still the owner of the news in Basra in the Caliph's Court, and I found this position for his children until the end of the Al-Muqtafi era," that is, the era of Caliph Al-Muqtafi Allah (d. 566 AH / 1171AD).

Among the manifestations of the importance of the intelligence service to the sultans is that they were assigned only to the people of culture and trust, and therefore we find among those who took over this institution famous scholars and writers, and sometimes they even made it an inheritance in their families in order to stabilize the work of this sensitive apparatus for the security of the state and society

Among the indications of the importance of this position is the promotion of some of its directors to the position of prime minister; Al-Dhahabi mentioned - in 'History of Islam' - that Abu Nasr al-Kandari (d. 456 AH/1064 AD) contacted Sultan Tughrul Bey the Seljuk (d. 455 AH/1063 AD), and made him "the owner of his news", that is, director of his intelligence, and then "asked him (= appointed him as a minister) and he has Thirty-one years..., and the Caliph [Abbasid] called him: 'The Master of Ministers'.

And this court was seen as a security necessity that should not be neglected - as long as it was disciplined within the limits of its legitimate powers - no matter how noble the motive for compromising was, and perhaps they considered its neglect a reason for the collapse of states. Al-Asbahani tells - in 'The History of the State of the Seljuk Family' - the story of the assassination of the Assassin Division of Minister Nizam al-Malik (d. 485 AH/1092 AD), after which the disruption of the Seljuk state began with the internal fighting between the princes of the ruling family; He stated that this was only "because the state had no 'owners of news', and the drawing in the days of Daylam (= the Buyids) - and the kings before them - was that they were not vacated part of the 'owner of news and mail', so the news of the near and far and the situation was not hidden from them. The obedient and the disobedient."

Then he adds that the reason for neglecting this is that Sultan Alp Arslan said to Nizam al-Malik: “We do not need a reporter, for the world is not without every country in it from our friends and enemies. The friend is in the image of the enemy, and the enemy is in the image of the friend. So the Sultan dropped this drawing because of the illusion that had occurred to him, and he only felt the appearance of the people (= the Hashashin) and their bases were firmly established. The strange thing is that this king's regime held a nice chapter in his book 'Siyasat Namah' on the importance of the intelligence service and its role in the stability of states!!

Among those who were known for neglecting the intelligence apparatus and underestimating the importance of its efforts, historians considered this as one of the distant reasons for the Tatars toppling the Abbasid state in the year 656 AH / 1258 AD; The Caliph al-Zahir (d. 623 AH / 1226 AD), who refused to see the secret security reports that were submitted to him, "When he died, they found... in his house thousands of patches (= security reports) all sealed and he did not open them, so he was told to open them and he said: We have no need for them. All are endeavors! According to Golden in the 'History of Islam'.


Between two approaches,


what Al-Zahir did was in contrast to what his father, the Caliph Al-Nasir (d. 622 AH / 1225 AD) was known for, was very careful about the intelligence apparatus and reading its reports daily, as serious heads of state do today; In his era, we find that "the guards of the paths used to raise to the Caliph - every morning - what they had of the good and bad conditions of the people, so he [his son and his successor] ordered Al-Zahir to nullify that, and he said: What is the benefit in revealing the conditions of people? He was told: If you leave that Corrupt the people! He said: We are calling for them to reform. According to Ibn Taghri Bardi (d. 874 AH / AD 1469 AD) in 'The Shining Stars'.

If we try to determine the tasks that the "Diwan Al-Khobar" apparatus has been performing throughout the centuries;

We will find it mainly located in four directions: The first: following up on the important news and the general conditions of the state's regions;

Second: Monitoring senior employees to ensure their integrity and to ensure the validity of their loyalty;

The third: the pursuit of opponents, critics, protesters and potential revolutionaries;

Fourth: Gathering news about the external enemy.

Muslims have excelled in following the news of the enemies to ensure advance preparation of their plans, according to what the “news people” provide them with from the spies who infiltrate the ranks of the enemies on the battlefields, or who live with them in their countries disguised as merchants or owners of crafts, and sometimes these spies are among the enemies themselves.

The “people of the news” would monitor all the hadiths and facts and then send them to the relevant higher authority, regardless of their security, military or political importance. Oraib al-Qurtubi (d. 369 AH / 979 AD) transmits to us - in the 'Relationship to the History of al-Tabari' - a rare document of a complete report sent by the 'owner of news', and it does not contain important information, but rather a strange story about a mule who was born a filly! He said: "The book of 'The Postman' was received in dinars (= a city located in western Iran) mentioning that a mule there placed a caeman, and the copy of his book: ... etc." Then he cited the text of the report, including the news of the mule with complete accuracy, with a mention of its direct source and its interactions between people; This is despite the insensitive nature of the news, so what if it was news that had security or political repercussions?!

Muslims have excelled in tracking the news of the enemies to ensure advance preparation of their plans, according to what the “news people” provide them with from the spies who infiltrate the enemy’s ranks on the battlefields, or who live with them in their countries disguised as merchants or craftsmen, and sometimes these spies are among the enemies themselves. Muslims recruiting them to penetrate the security of the hostile front. Perhaps one of the most wonderful activities of Muslims spying on enemies is what the history books have reported from the stories of their deep and qualitative security penetration of the Crusader kingdoms on the coast of the Levant.

Here is the historian Abu Shama al-Maqdisi (d. 665 AH / 1267 AD) telling us the story of the recruitment of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi intelligence (d. 589 AH / 1193 AD) for a distinguished Crusader woman, the wife of the Crusader King of Antioch Bohemond III (d. 598 AH / 1201 AD). In order to obtain dangerous information from a high-ranking crusader source; This Sultan - who is known for his deep religiosity - was not embarrassed to enlist a Crusader woman. Rather, we find him giving her precious gifts for that, and honoring her by releasing prisoners from her family in order to continue her intelligence assistance to his country.

Abu Shama says in 'Kitab al-Rawdatain': "The woman of Abrins (= Amir) of Antioch known as Dam (= Madame) 'Sabil' (Sibylla died after 584 AH / 1188 AD) was loyal to the Sultan [Salah al-Din], an eye for him on the enemy, guiding him, advising him and informing him. On their secrets, and the Sultan honors her for that and gives her the most precious gifts. When he opened (in the year 584 AH / 1188 AD) the fortress of Barzieh [near Antioch] and he was captured by this group (= sister of Sabeel and her relatives) and the hands of the Muslims separated with them, the Sultan followed them and saved them from captivity and blessed them. He prepared them and led them to Antioch for the sake of the woman of Al-Abrnas, so she thanked him [Sabil] for that and her affection and benefit for the Muslims continued!!


defense and rooting


and half a century later; We find his grandson, the Great King of Damascus, Issa al-Ayyubi (d. 624 AH / 1227 AD) - and he was a jurist of the Hanafi school of thought - repeating the same method in recruiting Crusaders women, and his intelligence agrees with them on security "codes" to inform news of the movements of the Crusader army, and even uses his intelligence to bring down an assistant The commander of this army is large, and then he is also used to direct the enemy in the direction desired by the Muslim leaders!

The tribe of Ibn al-Jawzi says in Mirat al-Zaman: “And [Al-Mu’azzam] in the days of the annulment (= the end of the armistice) with the Franks would arrange fires on the mountains from the Nablus Gate to Acre, and on Acre a mountain near it called Al-Karmel. Signs, and in Acre he had 'Akhbar Companions', and most of them were cavalry women [the Franks], and their energies (= their windows) were in front of the [Mountain] of Carmel. They were two hundred [lighted] two candles, and if they wanted to go to Hauran, and the district of Damascus, it referred to that district, as well as to Nablus, and [by doing so] he narrowed the roads for the Franks if they went to a destination he had preceded in his army, and he gave women and spies in every annulment a large sentence.”

Then the tribe of Ibn al-Jawzi - and he was a famous preacher - narrates a dialogue between him and al-Moazm that reveal to us the details of this intelligence penetration, its mechanisms and its benefits: The Germans) on leaving for the Levant wanted to come down from Acre suddenly and walk to the gate of Damascus, so he sent a great knight and said to him: Hide our coming to the country so that we can change suddenly. At the knight, he was astonished and said: Where is this from? She said: From a friend of ours from among the Muslims. He said: Who is he?Al-Kuraidi (= the greatest, and he is of Kurdish lineage), so he crucified (= the drawing of the cross) on his face and got up and left her. The Enlightenment came suddenly, and brought from the people of the Levant, their livestock, and their wealth an incalculable amount, so I ransom the Muslims with an easy thing!!

There are many stories of women being used in intelligence missions in Islamic history, whether by Muslims or their enemy. Perhaps the oldest of them is the story of the woman with whom the companion Hatib bin Abi Balta’ah (d. 30 AH / 652 AD) sent an information message to the leaders of Quraysh. Al-Bukhari narrated - in his Sahih - that when the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, found out about her, he sent a group following her under the leadership of Ali. The Prophet, then, from Hatib bin Abi Balta’ah to some of the polytheists who were in Makkah, telling them about some of the Prophet’s affair.” In this hadith we see that Ali - for his well-known piety - does not take the blame of a blamer in carrying out his security mission!


Multiple tasks


One of the most important functions of 'Saheb al-Khabar' was to monitor senior officials, including ministers, governors, judges, and military and security leaders.

The historian Ibn al-Atheer (d. 630 AH / 1232 AD) - in 'Al-Kamil' - states that the King of Tunisia Tamim bin Al-Muizz Al-Sinhaji (d. 374 AH / 984 AD) "had in the country 'news' owners, providing them with Sunni livelihoods, to inform him about the conditions of his companions so that they would not oppress people." .

Therefore, we find those with political and security experience advising princes to monitor their senior officials;

Taher bin al-Hussein (d. 822 AD), who was one of the senior leaders of the Caliph al-Ma’mun and the founder of the Tahirid state in Khorasan, recommended his son Abdullah bin Taher (d. 230 AH / 844 AD) when al-Ma’mun appointed him some country;

He said to him: “Make in every quarter (= region) of your work a trustee who will tell you the news of your workers, and write to you about their biography and deeds, so that you are with every worker in his work, an observer of all his affairs”;

According to Ibn Tayfur (d. 280 AH / 894 AD) in the 'Book of Baghdad'.

It is surprising that the rulers would arrange a security informant on the employee, then put another informant on this informant, and then a third informant on all of them, which is the most accurate thing that can be imagined in what is known today as “administrative intelligence” to combat corruption!

Al-Maqrizi mentions in the translation of Abdullah bin Dasuma (d. before 270 AH / 884 AD) that Ahmed bin Tulun (d. 270 AH / 884 AD) established him as “a trustee of Abu Ayyub Ahmed bin Muhammad bin Shuja’ when he approved it on the Kharaj (= Ministry of Finance) by him, and he made it a blessing Known as 'Amin al-Dhoib', an eye on them!!

The “people of the news” used to monitor the expenses of senior officials, especially judges among them, and compare them with their incomes to expose their corruption through bribery;

Ibn al-Jawzi reported - in al-Muntazim - that al-Ma'mun reprimanded Judge Bishr ibn al-Walid for the corruption of his fellow judges.

The “people of the news” monitored the expenses of senior officials, especially judges among them, and compared them with their incomes to expose their corruption through bribery. Ibn al-Jawzi reported - in al-Muntazam - that al-Ma’mun reprimanded Judge Bishr ibn al-Walid (d. 238 AH / 852 AD) for the corruption of his fellow judges; So he addressed him, saying: “We assigned a man - whom you indicated to us - the district of Al-Abla (= today the Al-Ashar area in Basra), and we paid him a thousand dirhams (= today approximately 1200 thousand US dollars), and he has no estate, property or money, so the 'owner of the news' came back to the side that His expenditure per month is four thousand dirhams, so where do these three thousand dirhams come from?!” This was repeated in the days of Al-Mutawakkil with “Sahib Al-Kharaj” in Ahwaz Omar bin Faraj Al-Rakhji (d. about 240 AH / 854 AD).

And no one was spared from this monitoring, even the Crown Prince of the Caliph! Al-Tabari tells - in his history - on the authority of the poet Al-Mu'amel Al-Muharibi (d. about 190 AH/806 AD) a story that happened to him with the Mahdi (d. 169 AH / 785 AD) and his father Al-Mansur; The poet says: "I offered him [i.e.: Al-Mahdi] Al-Rayy, and he is a crown prince, so he ordered me twenty thousand dirhams (= today approximately $25,000) for verses that praised him, so he wrote to Al-Mansour, the 'postal owner' (= intelligence employee), so he wrote to him. Al-Mansour... he blames him." Then he was arrested and sixteen thousand dirhams were recovered from him.

The 'people of the news' spent a great deal of effort in monitoring the public and the opponents, which almost approximated - while preserving the differences of time, place and possibility - to what the contemporary intelligence does; But it was included from praising wrath of power ,

even if after their death, Valzhba tells At 'history Alasalam'- that since the

core of

Jafar (Ben Yahya Barmaki T. 190 AH / 806 AD) stop Alrqashi poet and established says:


As for God ,

without fear snitch ** And an eye for the Caliph not to sleep. We


wrapped around your torso and received us ** as people receive with a stone!

Among the wonders of the security pursuit of opponents after their death is what Ibn al-Jawzi narrated - in “The Regular” - within the events of the year 237 AH/852 AD; He said that, “On Eid al-Fitr of this year, he ordered (the Caliph) al-Mutawakkil (d. 247 AH/861 AD) to lower the body of [the crucified revolutionary Imam] Ahmad bin Nasr al-Khuza’i (d. 231 AH/846 AD) and hand it over to his guardians.. So the common people gathered to anoint his funeral and the tree of his head; So 'the owner of the post' wrote that, so Al-Mutawakkil forbade the meeting of the public."


Careful monitoring and


who was known for the efficiency of his intelligence of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Nasir, so that historians mention from its strength that reports were submitted to him, including details of the tables served to the guests, and they tell stories about that!! They say that "he had 'news' owners who watched him about what was happening and what they saw of things in every place (= side), so people feared him greatly and feared him, and man in Iraq did not dare to run in his home and solitude what he feared denial of him, until he was delusional From the people of his house and the most special of people with him to pass on his news to the Caliph!” According to the expression of Ibn Wasil al-Hamawi (d. 697 AH / 1298 AD) in 'Mufarrej al-Kurub'.

Before him, the intelligence of the Fatimid ruler (d. 411 AH / 1021 AD) became famous, which entered every home and recorded even the details of the love stories between men and women;

Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597 AH/1200 AD) tells us - in 'The Regular' - that he "arranged in every trail (= street) 'news' owners, who would read it what they knew, and arranged for them old women to enter the houses and bring to them the news of women, and that so-and-so loves so-and-so and so-and-so loves so-and-so. And that she meets with her friend, and this is with his companion, so the 'people of the news' would raise that to him, and he would implement (= send) someone to arrest the woman he had heard about like that, and if a group of them met with him he ordered them to be drowned, so the people were exposed and upset about that!

Then the Fatimid ruler - in one of the fluctuations of his known decisions - did not soon turn against his intelligence in the year 399 AH, so he "killed the 'people of the news' from the last of them because they frequently harmed people by lying to them and taking money from people";

According to al-Maqrizi in 'Ita'az al-Hanafa'.

As for the stories of critics following up on the performance of the authority and persecuting the mere word of protest, they are abundant and abundant, no matter how marginal the critic’s position is. We find, for example, in Ibn Al-Amrani’s “Al-Anba’ fi Tarikh Al-Khalifa” (d. 580 AH / 1184 AD) that Al-Mu’tadid Al-Abbasid (d. 289 AH / 902 AD) “had 'news owners' who brought to him everything that was going on in the markets, so some of the 'people of news' raised to him that a cobbler. (= a shoemaker) said to Kattan (= a cotton seller) who demanded from him a debt that he owed and was slandering him with it: The Muslims have no one left to look into their conditions! Al-Mu'tadid became angry because of this and sent someone to terrorize him!

Because of the large number of whistleblowers who were spying on intellectuals and scholars in their teaching sessions;

Jurists - for themselves and their students - allowed lying during the security investigation sessions with them.

Al-Dhahabi quoted - in “Sir of the Nobles’ Flags” - on the authority of one of the students of the imam and the great minister, Rajaa bin Haywa (d. 112 AH / 730 AD) that he said: “We were with Rajaa bin Haywa, so we remembered the gratitude of the blessings, and he said: No one can thank a blessing! He had a cloak on his head, so he said: Not even the Commander of the Faithful? We said: What is the Commander of the Faithful mentioned here?!

He (= disciple of Raja’): So we neglected him, so Raja’ turned and did not see him, so he said: You came from the owner of the cloak!

If you are called and take an oath, then swear [a lie].

He said: We only learned of my guard had approached him. He said: Hey, please!

He mentions the Commander of the Faithful, so do you not need him?!” Raja denied the incident and swore a pious oath on it, so the guardsman went back to the informer and beat him for his “false” slander!!


كمائن ودوريات
كان من الترتيبات الأمنية للدول تسيير كمائن عسكرية تُسمّى "المسالح" لمراقبة الحدود بين الأقاليم، وكثيرا ما كانت مصحوبة بمكلفين بمهمات استخباراتية؛ فقد ذكر الأصفهاني (ت 356هـ/966م) -في ‘مقاتل الطالبيين‘- أنه حين قرر العباسيون ملاحقة إدريس العلوي (ت 177هـ وهو مؤسس دولة الأدارسة بالمغرب) وضعوا "على الطريق مسالح ومعهم ‘أصحاب أخبار‘ تفتش كل من يجوز الطريق".

وفي مواجهة تفتيش مُخبري هذه "المسالح"؛ كانت تجري مراسلات سريّة يتفنن أصحابها كثيرا في طرق إخفائها؛ فالطبريّ يقول -في تاريخه- إنه قـُبيل اندلاع صراع الأمين (ت 198هـ/814م) والمأمون العباسييْن على عرش الخلافة (193-198هـ/808م -813م) اهتمّ وزير الأمين "الفضل بن الربيع (ت 208هـ/823م).. بالمراصد لئلا تُجاوِزُ الكتبُ الحدَّ (= الحدود)، فكتب الرسولُ (= رسول المأمون ببغداد) مع امرأة، وجعل الكتاب وديعةً في عُودٍ منقور من أعواد الإكاف (= برذعة الحمار)، وكتب إلى ‘صاحب البريد‘ بتعجيل الخبر. وكانت المرأة تمضي على المسالح كالمُجتازة من القرية إلى القرية، لا تُهاج ولا تفتَّش! وجاء الخبر إلى المأمون موافقًا لسائر ما ورد عليه من الكُتب" بشأن تآمر الأمين عليه لخلعه من ولاية العهد.

تعددت فروع الاستخبارات الإسلامية؛ فكان منها الفرع المدني المعروف بـ‘صاحب الخبر‘ عند الإطلاق، ومنها الفرع العسكري الذي كان يُدعى ‘صاحب خبر العسكر‘، وفي العهد الأيوبي والمملوكي أصبح يسمى ‘اليَزَك‘. وبتعدد الفروع كثرت مصادر المعلومات من عيون وجواسيس، وأتقنوا سُبُل التخفّي والتمويه والتشفير حتى وضعوا فيه كتب "فنّ المُعمَّى" الخاص بتعليم كيفية تركيب "الشيفرة" وحلّها، كما تنوعت طُرُقهم في توصيل التقارير حتى باستخدام الحمام الزاجل الذي كانوا يسمونه "الحمام الرسائلي" أو "طير البطائق"، أي قصاصات الورق الصغيرة التي يحملها متضمنة الأخبار بكتابات مختصَرة ومشفَّرة يسمونها "المُلَطَّفات".

ويحدثنا القلقشندي عن كيفية استخدام هذا الحمام عبر أبراج تشغيل تعتبر "مطارات" لرحلاته الاستخباراتية؛ فيقول إنه "جرت العادة أن تُكتب بطاقتان وتؤرخان بساعة كتابتهما من النهار، ويعلّق منهما في جناح طائر من الحمام الرسائلي ويرسلان، ولا يُكتفَى بواحد لاحتمال أن يعرض له عارض يمنعه من الوصول إلى مقصده. فإذا وصل الطائر إلى البرج الذي وُجِّه به إليه، أمسكه البرّاج (= عامل البرج) وأخذ البطاقة من جناحه وعلّقها بجناح طائر من حمام البرج الذي يليه..، حتى ينتهي إلى برج القلعة [بالقاهرة]، فيأخذ البرّاجُ الطائرَ -والبطاقةُ في جناحه- ويحضره بين يديْ الدَّوادار الكبير (= سكرتير السلطان) فيُعرَض عليه، فيضع البطاقة عن جناحه بيده".

ومن العجب أن "واجهات عمل" أجهزة المخابرات القديمة لا تختلف كثيرا عما يدور اليوم في العمل الاستخباري بأنحاء العالم. ومن ذلك أنهم كانوا مثلا يتخفّون في صورة تجّار يجوبون البلدان ببضائعهم، فياقوت الحمويُّ (ت 626هـ/1229م) يحكي -في ‘معجم البُلدان‘- أن المنصور أمر -بناء على نصيحة أحد بطارقة الروم- بإنشاء الأسواق خارج سور بغداد، لأنه "يوافي الجاسوس من جميع الأطراف فيدخل [المدينة].. بعِلّة التجارة -والتجار هم بُرُدُ (= جمع بريد) الآفاق- فيتجسس الأخبارَ ويعرف ما يريد، وينصرف من غير أن يعلم به أحد"!

وتارةً يتخفّى هؤلاء الجواسيس في صورة متسوّل رثّ الثياب، حتى إنه صار يُتَّهم بالتخابر من تقشف جدا في ملبسه من العلماء والزهاد؛ ويذكر الذهبيّ -في ‘تاريخ الإسلام‘- أن الإمام الزاهد أبا الفضل العجلي (ت 454هـ/1062م) "دخل كرمان (= تقع اليوم بإيران) في هيئة رثّة..، فحُمل إلى الملك وقالوا: هو جاسوس"! ثم لما عَلِم الملك حقيقته أكرمه وعظّمه. ويخبرنا الدَّواداري (ت بعد 736هـ/1335م) -في ‘كنز الدرر‘- أنه "بسبب مَنْ تزيَّا مِن الجواسيس بِزيّ الفقراء (= الصوفية) قُتِلَ جماعةٌ من الفقراء الصلحاء رجمًا بالظن" أنهم جواسيس!!

وربما أثار الشكَّ الأمنيَّ في العلماء وطلبة العلم أن يظهروا بزي لافت غير مألوف لأمثالهم حتى ولو لم يكن متقشفا؛ وقد يؤدي ذلك إلى حرمانهم من المشاركة في حضور جلسات التحصيل العلمي لأساتذتهم؛ فقد أورد الإمام مجد الدين ابن الأثير (ت 606هـ/1209م) -في ‘جامع الأصول‘- في ترجمة الإمام المحدِّث النسائي (ت 303هـ/915م) -صاحب كتاب ‘السُّنن‘- أنه دخل مصر طلبا للحديث، فلما جاء إلى قاضيها المحدّث الحارث بن مسكين المالكي (ت 250هـ/864م) "لم يمكنه حضور مجلسه" العلمي!!

ويضيف ابن الأثير أن إحدى الروايات تعلل ذلك المنع بأن "الحارث كان خائضا في أمور تتعلق بالسلطان (= ينتقد السلطة)، فقدم أبو عبد الرحمن [النسائي] فدخل إليه في زيٍّ أنكره، قالوا: كان عليه قَباءٌ (= قفطان) طويل وقَلَنْسُوةٌ (= غطاء رأس) طويلة، فأنكر زيَّه وخاف أن يكون من بعض جواسيس السلطان، فمنعه من الدخول إليه". ولذلك كان النسائي حين يأتي حلقة الحارث العلمية "يستتر في موضع ويسمعـ[ـه] حيث لا يراه، فلذلك تورَّع وتحرَّى" في روايته عنه التزاما بالأمانة العلمية، فكان "يقول في كتابه: «[قال] الحارث بن مسكين قراءة عليه وأنا أسمع»، ولا يقول فيه: «حدثنا» ولا «أخبرنا» كما يقول عن باقي مشايخه"!!

تجنيد متعدد
أورد القاضي التنوخي (ت 384هـ/994م) -في ‘الفرَج بعد الشدة‘- قصة طويلة من غرائب الخيال الاستخباراتي، تتحدث عن تجسس المعتضد على وزيره القاسم الحارثي (ت 291هـ/904م)، عبر رجل من الهاشميين كان يعمل له مُخبرا في هيئة متسوّل كسيح، يأتي يوميا بيت الوزير فيظل ينتقل من غرفة إلى أخرى حتى المطبخ، فيرصد ما دار فيه ومن زاره، وفي المساء يرفع بذلك تقريرا إلى "مشغِّله الأمني"، ويأخذ مقابل ذلك "في كل شهر خمسين دينارا (= اليوم 8000 دولار تقريبا)"!! ولهذا النص دلالته الفريدة على ما قد تبلغه رواتب المخبرين الأمنيين في تلك العصور من ضخامة!

أما أعجبُ أساليب التستّر المخابراتي فهو -كما يحصل كثيرا اليوم للأسف- ذاك الذي جعل من إمامة المصلين بالمساجد واجهةً للنشاط الاستخباريّ! فقد ذكر ابن الجوزي -في ‘المنتظم‘- قصة الشاعر عليّ بن أفلح العبسي (ت 535هـ/1140م) الذي كان كاتبا مقرَّبا من الخليفة العباسيّ المسترشد (ت 529هـ/1134م)، ثم اتضح أن له علاقة بأمير بادية العراق دُبَيس بن صَدَقة الأسدي (ت 529هـ/1134م)، وأنه "كان في المسجد الذي يحاذي دار السماك رجلٌ يقال له ‘مكي‘ يصلي بالناس ويُقرئ القرآن، فكان إذا جاء رسولُ دُبَيس أقام عند ذلك الإمام بزِيّ الفقراء (= الصوفية)، فاطّلع على ذلك بوّاب ابن أفلح، واتفق أن ابن أفلح غضب على بوّابه فضربه فاستشفع بالناس عليه فلم يردَّه، فمضى [البوابُ] وأطْلع صاحبَ الشرطة على ذلك [انتقامًا من مولاه]، فمضى فكبس (= دَهَم) المسجدَ وأخذ الجاسوس، وهرب ابنُ أفلح وإمامُ المسجد"!

وفي سبيل استخدام كل طاقات المجتمع -مهما بدت منبوذة- لتحرير الأوطان؛ رأينا صلاح الدين يجنّد عصابات اللصوص في مخابراته الحربية، موظفا "شطارتهم" وجسارتهم لمحاربة الصليبيين. ولذلك يقول مؤرخ سيرته القاضي ابن شداد (ت 632هـ/1235م) -في ‘النوادر السلطانية‘- إنه "رتّب (= جنّد).. ثلاثمئة لص من شلوح العرب، [فكانوا] يدخلون [معسكرات الصليبيين] ويسرقون منهم أموالَهم وخيولهم، ويسرقون الرجال أحيانا" باختطافهم -وهم نائمون- تحت تهديد السلاح، فيأتون بهم أسرى إلى معسكر المسلمين!!

بل إن التجنيد الاستخباراتي وصل إلى إحدى أكثر فئات المجتمع حساسية، وهي فئة مدرسي كتاتيب الأطفال الذين كانوا -وهم ذوو طبيعة عفوية- بوابة لجمع كافة أخبار بيوت عوائلهم، ولا سيما منازل القادة العسكريين في الدولة؛ فمسكويه يحدثنا -في ‘تجارب الأمم‘- أنه "كان معلمو الصبيان مواقَفين (= مُلزَمين) على أن يَسألوا أولاد الجُند الذين في مكاتبهم عن أمور آبائهم، ومتصرفات أحوالهم في منازلهم، ويكتبون بذلك إلى ‘ديوان البريد‘، ولهم على ذلك رزق دارٌّ (= راتب كبير)"!!

ولم يقتصر التجنيد الاستخباري على الرجال والأطفال؛ بل شمل النساء أيضا خاصة أنهن قادرات -بخلاف الرجال- على الدخول إلى أعماق البيوت، فكانت المُخبراتُ يدخلن الدُّورَ مستأمَناتٍ ويَخرجهن بأدقّ أخبار أهلها. ومن أقدم قصص ذلك وأغربها في طرق التجنيد وتعدد الواجهات الاستخباراتية فيه؛ ما حكاه إبراهيم بن محمد البيهقي (ت نحو 320هـ/933م) -في ‘المحاسن والمساوئ‘- من أن المنصور أجرى بنفسه مرة تحقيقا أمنيا مصحوبا بتعذيب مع جارية للعلويين، طالبا منها معلومات عن قائد ثورتهم محمد بن عبد الله المعروف بـ‘النفس الزكية‘ (ت 145هـ/762م).

لكن الجارية صمدت في التحقيق و"أبت إلا الجحود، فقال لها [المنصور]: أتعرفين فلانة الحجامة؟ فاسودّ وجهُها وتغيرت، فقالت: نعم يا أمير المؤمنين..! قال: صدقتِ، هي والله أمتي ابتعتها بمالي ورزقي يجري عليها في كل شهر..، أمَرْتُها أن تدخل منازلكم وتحجمكم وتتعرف أخباركم. ثم قال: أوَتعرفين فلانا البقّال؟ قالت: نعم..، قال: هو والله مُضاربي (= مستثمِرٌ لي) بخمسة دنانير..، فأخبرني أن أمَةً (= خادمة) لكم يوم كذا وكذا من شهر كذا صلاة المغرب جاءت تسأله حنّاء ووَرَقاً، فقال لها: ما تصنيعن بهذا؟ فقالت: كان محمد بن عبد الله في بعض ضياعه بناحية البقيع وهو يدخل الليلة، فأردنا هذا لتتخذ منه النساءُ ما يحتجن إليه عند دخول أزواجهن من المَغيب، فأُسْقِط في يدها (= فُوجِئت) وأذعنت بكل ما أراد" المنصور من معلومات!!

ويخبرنا الذهبي -في السِّيَر‘- أن المنصور وظف في هذا الأمر مماليكه المتخفين في زي الرعاة من البدو، "فاشترى.. رقيقا من [عند] العرب، فكان يعطي الواحد منهم البعيرين، وفرّقهم في طلبه (= النفس الزكية) وهو مختفٍ"!!

هدايا تجسس
ومثله ما ورد عن ابنه المهديّ أنه أهدى لوزيره يعقوب بن داود (ت 187هـ/803م) جاريةً لتتجسس عليه وتراسله بخفايا أمور بيته. وقد أمر المهدي يوما وزيرَه بقتل أحد العلويّين كان يخشى ثورته عليه، فأطلقه الوزير خُفيةً قناعةً بأنه مظلوم وهرَّبه؛ قال يعقوب: "لم أشعر بأن الجارية قد أحاطت علمًا بما جرى وأنها كالجاسوس علي، فبعثتْ بخادمها إلى المهدي فأعلمتْه بما جرى، فبعث المهدي إلى تلك الطريق فردوا ذلك العلوي فحبسه عنده"، ثم قبض على يعقوب ونكّل به وحبسه؛ وفقا لابن كثير في ‘البداية والنهاية‘.

وإذا كان المهدي اتخذ من إهداء الجواري وسيلة للتجسس على موظفيه، في سلوك أشبه ما يكون بإهداء أجهزة المخابرات اليوم الشخصياتِ التي تستهدفها أجهزةَ الهواتف والساعات الملغمة برقاقات التنصت للتجسس عليهم عن بُعد؛ فإن أعجب منه ما كان يصنعه والي العباسيين على خراسان عمرو الصفّار (ت 289هـ/901م) من إهداء الغلمان لنفس الغرض؛ فقد "كان عمرو يشتري المماليك ويربّيهم ويَهَبُهُم لقُوّاده، فيكونون ‘أصحاب أخبار‘ عليهم، ويُجري عليهم الجرايات (= الرواتب) سِرًّا، فلا يخفى عنه خبرٌ" مما يفعله هؤلاء القادة؛ طبقا للدَّواداري في ‘كنز الدرر‘.

وعلى خُطى الرجلين؛ سار حفيدهما المأمون الذي يبدو أنه تجاوزهما بمراحل في تجنيد النساء، حتى صار له -إن صحت الرواية التاريخية- "جيش" من العجائز يوافيه بخفايا زوايا بيوت عاصمته بغداد. فقد ذكر العلامة السكتواري الحنفي (ت 1007هـ /1599م) -في ‘محاضرات الأوائل‘- أن "المأمون هو أول من اتخذ الجواسيس من العجائز، جعل ألف عجوز وسبعمئة عجوز يتفقد بهن أحوال الناس من الأشقياء، ومن يُحبه ويبغضه، ومن يُفسد حُرُم المسلمين"!

كان ‘صاحب الخبر‘ -بوصفه مديرا لاستخبارات الدولة بمنطقته- ذا صلاحيات واسعة، ويبدو أنه كان يملكُ "ضبطية قضائية" تسمح له بتفتيش البيوت، بل و"القلوب" باستحلاف المستجوَبين بأغلظ الأيمان! فالذهبيّ يروي -في ‘تاريخ الإسلام‘- أنه رُفع بلاغٌ في الإمام أحمد بن حنبل (ت 241هـ/855م) بأنه يُخفي بداره أحد المطلوبين للدولة، فدهمه ليلاً ‘صاحبُ الخبر‘ "فأحلفه بالطّلاق ثلاثًا أنّ ما عنده طُلْبةَ أميرِ المؤمنين..، وفتَّشوا [الـ]ـمنزل.. والسَّرَب والغُرَف والسُّطُوح، وفتَّشوا تابوت الكُتُب، وفتّشوا النّساء والمنازل، فلم يروا شيئًا..؛ فكُتب بذلك إلى المتوكّل..، وعلم أنّ.. [أحمد] مكذوبٌ عليه".

And if, throughout Islamic history, countries were keen - in building their intelligence services - on the efficiency of the work of the 'Diwan of Post and News', and I meant 'people of news', the most careful;

Some of its sultans hated those who volunteered to bring public news to them, above their hatred of the elites and the common people.

Imam Ahmad rejected slander with the sultan even with the immorality of the people. Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (d. 795 AH / 1393 AD) says in 'Jami al-Ulum and al-Hakam': "Imam Ahmad hated raising immorality to the sultan in any case."

A saying was spread among them that “seeking is ugly, even if it is true”!!