Shuʿayb transmitted from al-Zuhri, who said:

“Sulaymān informed me—on the authority of someone whose reliability is beyond question—that he heard Abū Masʿūd al-Anṣārī, who had been present at Badr.”

Habīb reported, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn:

ʿUmar said to Abū Masʿūd, “I have been told that you are issuing legal verdicts to the people while you are not an amir! So hand its heat over to the one who has assumed its cool. (1)”

This shows that ʿUmar’s view was that the imam should stop anyone who gives fatwas without authorization.

Khalīfah stated, “When ʿAlī fought Muʿāwiyah he appointed Abū Masʿūd over Kūfah. (2)”

Mujālid likewise related from al-Shaʿbī, who said:

“He (Abū Masʿūd) used to say, ‘I do not wish either of the two factions to triumph over the other.’

“Someone asked, ‘Then what do you wish?’ He replied, ‘That there be a reconciliation between them.’

“When ʿAlī arrived and was informed of what he had said, he declared, ‘Step away from the post we have assigned to you.’

“He asked, ‘And for what reason?’ ʿAlī answered, ‘We have found that you do not reason as he reasons.’

“He replied, ‘For my part, I still have enough sense left to know that the other side is evil.’”

Ḥammād ibn Zayd narrated from Ayyūb, from Muḥammad, that Abū Masʿūd said:

“I was a man of strong self-respect and fiery temper; no one—ruler or otherwise—could take anything from me. Then my governors reduced me to choosing between remaining in a position that grinds my nose into the dust and disfigures my face, or taking up my sword to strike and thereby enter the Fire. (3)”

Bashīr ibn ʿAmr said: “We said to Abū Masʿūd, ‘Give us some advice.’

“He said: ‘It is incumbent upon you…’”} !*** +#+ end anciers#pragma remove any markup tokens. Our output is above. Replies.;}