Muhammad ibn al-Dahhak al-Hizami also narrated—on the authority of his father—who said:

ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz declared, “If it were up to me to appoint a successor, I would not go beyond the man of al-Aʿwās—meaning Ismaʿil ibn Ummayya—or (1) the bleary-eyed one of Banū Tamīm—meaning al-Qāsim.”

Al-Waqidi related, from Aflah ibn Humayd, that this remark reached al-Qāsim, whereupon he said:

“I can scarcely manage my own household; how, then, could I undertake the affairs of the ummah?!”

Ibn ʿAwn said, “Al-Qāsim was one of those who would transmit a hadith word for word.”

Yahya ibn Saʿid said, “Al-Qāsim was hardly ever heard criticizing anyone, yet one day Rabiʿa spoke at length. When al-Qāsim rose—leaning on me—he exclaimed, ‘May that befall someone other than you! Do you really think they were unaware of what our companion is saying?’—meaning Rabiʿa’s personal opinion.”

Humayd al-Tawil narrated, from Sulayman ibn Qatta (2):

ʿUmar ibn ʿUbayd Allah al-Taymi sent me to al-Qāsim with five hundred dinars, but he refused to accept them.

ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿUmar said, “Al-Qāsim would not venture to interpret the Quran.”

ʿIkrima ibn ʿAmmar said, “I heard al-Qāsim and Sālim pronouncing curses upon the Qadariyyah.”

Zayd ibn Yahya reported to us: ʿAbd Allah ibn al-ʿAlaʾ said, “I asked al-Qāsim to dictate some hadiths to me, but he refused and explained:

‘During the caliphate of ʿUmar, prophetic reports became numerous. He adjured the people to bring them to him; when they did, he ordered them burned and said, “A secondary scripture—just like the secondary scriptures (3) of the People of the Book.”’”