left behind a debt without my settling it for him; never have I struck a single slave of mine, nor have I ever loosened my sitting-wrap for anything that people covet.
Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh narrated, on the authority of Abū Ḥuṣayn: “I have never seen anyone more knowledgeable in jurisprudence than al-Shaʿbī.”
I asked, “Not even Shurayḥ?”
He became upset and replied, “I have never even considered Shurayḥ’s standing.” (1)
Zāʾidah related, from Mujālid: “I was with Ibrāhīm in the gathering of scholars when al-Shaʿbī approached. Ibrāhīm rose to greet him and said, ‘You one-eyed man—if only my companions could see you!’ Al-Shaʿbī then came forward and sat down in Ibrāhīm’s very seat.”
Sulaymān al-Taymī reported, from Abū Mijlaẓ: “I have not seen anyone more versed in fiqh than al-Shaʿbī—except Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib. As for Ṭāwūs, ʿAṭāʾ, al-Ḥasan, and Ibn Sīrīn, I have met them all.”
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rajāʾ told us: Jarīr ibn Ayyūb related: “A man asked al-Shaʿbī about a child born of fornication: ‘Is he the worst of the three?’ (2) He replied, ‘If that were so, his mother would have been stoned while he was still in her womb, and she would not have been allowed to carry him to term.’”
(1) Ibn Asakir, entry on Asim Ayidh, p. 170; wording: “I was not privy to his affair.”
(2) He is referring to the hadith recorded by Ahmad (2:311), Abu Dawud (no. 3963) and al-Hakim (2:214) through the chain Jarir – Suhayl – Abu Salih – his father – Abu Hurayrah, in which the Messenger of Allah said: “The child born of adultery is the worst of the three.” Suhayl b. Abi Salih is reliable, though his memory deteriorated in his later years. Al-Hakim also transmits it via Abu Awana – Umar b. Abi Salama – his father – Abu Hurayrah; and again via Salama b. al-Fadl – Muhammad b. Ishaq – al-Zuhri – Urwah. Urwah relates that when this wording reached Aisha she said: “May Allah have mercy on Abu Hurayrah; he misheard and therefore misreported. The statement was not like that. A certain hypocrite used to harm the Messenger of Allah, so he said: ‘Who will rid me of so-and-so?’ People replied, ‘O Messenger of Allah, apart from everything else, he is a child of adultery.’ The Prophet then said: ‘He is the worst of the three.’ Allah, Exalted is He, says: ‘No bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another’ (Q 6:164).” Salama b. al-Fadl is a disputed narrator, while the rest are trustworthy. Abd al-Razzaq likewise cites the report in his Musannaf.