and when he had finished urinating, he would let his garment fall back into place and sit down without performing istinjāʾ (ritual cleansing) with either water or stones.
I said: “Perhaps he considered permissible the opinion of those who do not regard istinjāʾ as obligatory.”
He went on: “We would sit with him the whole day listening to his narrations; when the time for prayer came, we prayed but he did not, nor would he rise for the prayer. He used to demand payment for transmitting hadith, in addition to other reprehensible practices. The pile of worldly wealth he had accumulated he left behind, without discharging from it Allah’s due.
“I heard the judge Abū al-Qāsim Ibn al-ʿAdīm say: I heard ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Hilālah say—and I am fairly certain I heard it from Ibn Hilālah in Khurasan—
‘After his death I saw ʿUmar ibn Tabrazad in a dream wearing a blue robe. I said to him, ‘By Allah, tell me: what have you encountered after death?’ He replied, ‘I am in a house of fire within a house of fire.’ I asked, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘Because I took gold in exchange for the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).’”
I say: The apparent reason is that he took the gold, hoarded it, and paid no zakat; that is worse than merely accepting it. Whoever receives something from rulers or notables without asking and is truly in need is excused. If he asks for it and then takes, he is permitted only the amount necessary for subsistence; anything beyond that is impermissible. Whoever begs and takes more than what suffices is blameworthy, and whoever begs while already affluent and self-sufficient, it is unlawful for him to accept. Should such a person take the money, hoard it, and fail to discharge Allah’s right, he is among the sinful wrongdoers. So consult your heart, and be the prosecutor against your own self before your Lord.
As for his neglect of prayer, you have heard what has been reported about him, and I heard Abū al-ʿAbbās Ibn al-Ẓāhirī say: “Ibn Tabrazad did not pray.” (1)