when al-Manṣūr had him brought to al-Ḥīrah, he sent for me and said:
“Abū Ḥanīfah, the people have become infatuated with Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad; prepare for him some of your most challenging questions.”
So I drew up forty questions for him. I then went in to Abū Jaʿfar while Jaʿfar was seated at his right. The moment I caught sight of them, the awe I felt for Jaʿfar surpassed what I felt for Abū Jaʿfar. I offered the greeting of peace; permission was granted and I sat down.
Jaʿfar turned toward me and said, “Abū ʿAbdillāh, do you know who this is?” He answered, “Yes—this is Abū Ḥanīfah,” and added, “He has come to see us.”
Then he said, “Abū Ḥanīfah, present your questions so that we may ask Abū ʿAbdillāh.”
I began questioning him. On each issue he would say, “Your people (in Kūfah) hold such-and-such an opinion, the people of Medina hold such-and-such, and we hold such-and-such.” At times he agreed with us, at times with the people of Medina, and at times he differed with all of us. I went through all forty questions without omitting a single one.
Abū Ḥanīfah then remarked, “Have we not transmitted that the most learned of people is the one most knowledgeable of the various views of the people?”
ʿAlī ibn al-Jaʿd narrated—through Zuhayr ibn Muʿāwiyah—that his father said to Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, “I have a neighbour who claims that you repudiate Abū Bakr and ʿUmar.”
Jaʿfar replied, “May Allah repudiate your neighbour! By Allah, I hope Allah will benefit me through my kinship with Abū Bakr. I once fell seriously ill and appointed my maternal uncle ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Qāsim as my trustee.”
Ibn ʿUyaynah said: They told us on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad—though I did not hear it from him directly—that he said, “In the Prophet’s lifetime, the family of Abū Bakr used to be called ‘the family of the Messenger of Allah.’”
Ibn Abī ʿUmar al-ʿAdanī and others likewise transmitted from Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, from his father, words to that effect.
Muḥammad ibn Fuḍayl related—through Sālim ibn Abī Ḥafṣah—that he said: I asked Abū Jaʿfar and his son Jaʿfar about Abū Bakr and ʿUmar. They answered, “Sālim, show loyalty to both of them and repudiate their enemy, for they were two leaders of right guidance.”
Then Jaʿfar added, “Sālim, would a man curse his own grandfather? Abū Bakr is my grandfather; may it never reach me—”