performed the pilgrimage, and when he returned we went to pay him our respects. He said,

“Rejoice, people of Kufah! I have just come from the Hijaz, where I met ʿAtaʾ, Tawus, and Mujahid. Your youngsters—indeed, the youngsters of your youngsters—are more versed in jurisprudence than they are.”

Mughira commented, “We regarded that as sheer arrogance on his part.”

Khalaf ibn Khalifah, reporting from Abu Hashim, said:
“I came to Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman and asked, ‘What is this opinion you have newly introduced? It was unknown in the time of Ibrahim al-Nakhaʿi!’
“He replied, ‘Had he been alive, he would have agreed with me on it’—meaning the doctrine of postponement (irjaʾ).”

Al-Firyabi and ʿUbayd Allah narrated from Sufyan: “We would only visit Hammad secretly, hiding it from our companions.”

ʿAbd al-Razzaq, from Maʿmar, related: “Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman used to suffer seizures; when he regained consciousness he would perform ablution.”

I say: Yes, for that is a form of fainting—kin to sleep—and thus it nullifies ablution.

Jarir ibn ʿAbd al-Hamid transmitted from Mughira, who said: “Hammad was struck by fits; when an episode passed, he would return to the very spot where he had been.”

Hajjaj ibn Muhammad reported: Shuʿbah narrated to us from Mansur, who said, “Hammad transmitted hadith to us before he introduced the innovations he later introduced.”

Al-ʿUqayli, in his lengthy biographical entry on Hammad the jurist, said: Ahmad ibn Asram narrated to us, al-Qawariri narrated to us, Hammad ibn Zayd said:
“Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman came to us in Basra wearing a red mantle, and the boys of Basra began to make fun of him.
“A man asked him, ‘What do you say about a man who copulates with a dead chicken and an egg then comes out of its belly?’
“Another asked, ‘What is your ruling on a man who divorces his wife by filling a saucer?’”

He (al-ʿUqayli) also said: Ahmad al-Abbar narrated to us, ʿUbayd ibn Hisham narrated to us, Abu al-Malih said:
“Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman came to us in al-Raqqah, so I went out hoping to hear hadith from him, and behold he was…"