The Life of Ibn Ḥanbal. Ibn al-Jawzi

I heard ʿĪsā ibn ʿAffān say: “Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn and Abū Khaythamah”—and others he mentioned—“all used to come and hear Hadith from my father. Then Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal came and heard Hadith from him. After he left, my father said to me, ‘He was worth the lot of them,’ referring to how much Aḥmad knew.” 10.44

      AL-HAYTHAM IBN JAMĪL, ABŪ SAHL AL-BAGHDĀDĪ

      [Abū ʿUthmān:] I heard al-Haytham ibn Jamīl say: “If that young man”—meaning Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal—“lives long enough, he’ll be God’s proof of Islam for a whole generation.” 10.45

      [Ibn Abī l-Ḥawārī:] I heard al-Haytham ibn Jamīl say, “Every age has a man who serves as a proof of Islam to his generation. Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ is the proof for his time, and I think that if that young man”—meaning Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal—“lives long enough, he’ll be the proof for his.” 10.46

      [Yūsuf ibn Muslim:] Haytham ibn Jamīl once made an error while reciting a Hadith citing Hushaym. 10.47

      “Some people recite that report differently,” he was told.

      “Like who?”

      “Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.”

      “I wish my life could be shorter,” said al-Haytham, “and his longer.”

      [Asad al-Khashshāb:] I heard al-Haytham ibn Jamīl say, “I wish God would make Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s life longer and mine shorter.” 10.48

      Then he turned to a man who was present and said, “Tell me: Why did you say that I had anything useful to impart to Muslims?”

      ABŪ NUʿAYM AL-FAḌL IBN DUKAYN

      [Al-Ramādī:] I remember one occasion when we were at Abū Nuʿaym’s studying with Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn. In those days, when Abū Nuʿaym held Hadith sessions, Aḥmad used to sit on his right and Yaḥyā on his left. One day Yaḥyā came to me with a piece of paper on which he had written some of Abū Nuʿaym’s reports and then, in the spaces between them, copied out reports transmitted by others. “When it’s us there,” he said, “Give Abū Nuʿaym the paper and have him read it.” 10.49

      When the session ended and people were leaving, he handed him the paper.⁷⁰ Abū Nuʿaym read the whole thing, then stared at me for a while, and finally looked at Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn.

      “This fellow here,” he said, gesturing toward Aḥmad, “takes his religion too seriously to do something like this. As for you,” he said, looking at me, “you don’t do this sort of thing. The one who did it,” he continued, “must be this one,” and gave Yaḥyā a kick that knocked him off the stoop. “Who are you trying to fool?” he cried.

      Yaḥyā picked himself up and kissed Abū Nuʿaym. “May God reward you on behalf of Islam!” he said. “You are just the sort of man who should teach Hadith. I was only testing you.”

      [Ibn Manṣūr:] When Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn went to study with ʿAbd al-Razzāq, I went along with them as their servant. After we returned to Kufa, Yaḥyā said to Aḥmad, “I want to test Abū Nuʿaym.” 10.50

      “No you don’t,” said Aḥmad. “The man can be trusted.”

      “This is something I have to do,” said Yaḥyā. Taking a piece of paper, he wrote out thirty reports he had heard from Abū Nuʿaym. After every ten, he slipped in a report he had heard from someone else. Then they went to see Abū Nuʿaym.

      When they knocked, Abū Nuʿaym came out and sat down on an earthen stoop next to the door. Taking hold of Aḥmad, he seated him to his right, then took hold of Yaḥyā and seated him to his left. I sat down on the ground next to the stoop. Then Yaḥyā took out his sheaf of papers⁷¹ and began reading out the reports. Abū Nuʿaym said nothing about the first ten, but when Yaḥyā read the eleventh, he said, “That’s not one of mine. Cross it out!”

      Then Yaḥyā read the next ten. Abū Nuʿaym said nothing until Yaḥyā read the second of the reports he had slipped in. When he heard it he said, “That’s not one of mine. Cross it out!”

      Then Yaḥyā read the next set, including the third report he had slipped in. When he heard it, Abū Nuʿaym’s expression changed. Turning to Yaḥyā, he said, “This fellow here”—meaning Aḥmad, whose arm he was still holding—“has too many scruples to do what you’ve done. And this one”—meaning me—“doesn’t know enough. So that leaves you, smart-ass!” With that, he lifted his leg and kicked Yaḥyā off the stoop. Then he got up and went back inside his house.

      “Didn’t I tell you to leave the man be?” said Aḥmad to Yaḥyā. “Didn’t I tell you he was reliable?”

      “By God,” replied Yaḥyā, “that kick was worth the trip we took.”

      QUTAYBAH IBN SAʿĪD

      [Al-Marwazī:] I heard Qutaybah ibn Saʿīd say, “In our generation the best men are Ibn al-Mubārak and that young fellow.” 10.51

      “Which young fellow?” asked Abū Bakr al-Rāzī.

      “Ibn Ḥanbal.”

      “He’s the senior man of learning in Iraq, and you’re calling him a young fellow?”

      “He was young when I met him,” said Qutaybah.

      [Qutaybah:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh are the only two exemplars in the world. 10.52

      [Qutaybah:] If you find that someone admires Ibn Ḥanbal, you can be sure that he upholds the sunnah. 10.53

      [Qutaybah:] If you find that someone admires Ibn Ḥanbal, you can be sure that he upholds the sunnah and stands with the community.⁷² 10.54

      [Qutaybah:] If you find that someone admires Ibn Ḥanbal, you can be sure that he’s on the path. 10.55

      [Qutaybah:] If Aḥmad had lived in the time of al-Thawrī, Mālik, al-Awzāʿī, and al-Layth ibn Saʿd, he would have been the foremost among them. 10.56

      [Ibn Shabbuwayh:] I heard Qutaybah say, “If Aḥmad had lived in the time of al-Thawrī, Mālik, al-Awzāʿī, and al-Layth ibn Saʿd, he would have been the foremost among them.” 10.57

      “You’d rank Aḥmad with the Successors?” I asked.

      “With the greatest of them,” said Qutaybah.

      [Al-Naysābūrī:] I was once talking with Qutaybah ibn Saʿīd and mentioned Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā, Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh, and Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. 10.58

      “Of the ones you named,” he said, “Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal is the greatest.”

      [Ibn Shabbuwayh:] I heard Qutaybah say, “If not for al-Thawrī, being scrupulous would have died out, and if not for Ibn Ḥanbal, people would have added things to our religion.” 10.59

      “You’d rank Aḥmad with the Successors?” I asked.

      “With the greatest of them,” said Qutaybah.

      [Ibn Ṭarkhān:] I heard Qutaybah say, “If not for al-Thawrī, being scrupulous would have died out; and if not for Ibn Ḥanbal, people would have added whatever they wanted to our religion.” 10.60

      Somebody said, “Abū Rajāʾ, you’d count Aḥmad with the Successors?”

      “With the greatest of them,” said Qutaybah.

      [Al-Rāzī:] I heard Qutaybah say, “As soon as Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal