Yahya ibn Maʿin recounted: “Jarir narrated to us from Mughirah, who said, ‘We used to think that, after Ibrahim, the mantle would pass to al-Aʿmash—until Ḥammād appeared with the learning he brought.’

Shuʿbah remarked, ‘Ḥammād and Mughīrah had better retention than al-Ḥakam,’ while Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd said, ‘I prefer Ḥammād to Mughīrah.’

Maʿmar related: “We would visit Abū Isḥāq and he would ask, ‘From where have you come?’ We would answer, ‘From Ḥammād.’ He would respond, ‘What did that brother of the Murjiʾah tell you?’ When we visited Ḥammād he in turn would ask, ‘From where have you come?’ and we would say, ‘From Abū Isḥāq.’ He would then advise, ‘Stay close to the shaykh; his light is about to be extinguished.’ Yet Ḥammād died before him.

“I once said to Ḥammād, ‘You were the leading authority and an imam among your peers, but you opposed them and have ended up a follower!’ He replied, ‘For me to be a follower upon the truth is better than to be a leader upon falsehood.’”

I say: Maʿmar was hinting that he had taken on the Murjiʾite view held by the jurists, namely that they do not count prayer and zakat as part of faith. They maintain that faith is verbal affirmation accompanied by certainty in the heart, and—God willing—the disagreement on this point is only semantic. The extreme form of irjāʾ is the claim of those who say, “Neglecting the obligatory duties does not harm so long as one upholds monotheism”—we ask Allah for well-being.

Ḥammād ibn Zayd narrated that Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān said, “Whoever feels safe from being regarded as burdensome will inevitably become burdensome.”

Shuʿbah said: “I asked Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān about a sacrificial animal whose eye has a white blemish; he saw no problem with it. I also asked him about a man who swears an oath falsely while thinking he is truthful, and he said, ‘No expiation is due.’ I asked him about sitting cross-legged in the prayer; he replied, ‘There is no harm in it.’ Finally, I asked Ḥammād about a man who steals from the public treasury, and he ruled, ‘His hand is to be amputated.’”