He travelled to al-Manṣūr in Kūfah, exhorted him, and declared the truth to him openly.

It was said that he was the first child born to Muslim parents in Ifriqiyah, though this claim is questionable.

Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh related: “When al-Saffāḥ came to power, oppression appeared in Ifriqiyah, so Ibn Anʿum went to Abū Jaʿfar to lodge a complaint. He said to him, ‘I have come to inform you of the injustice in our land, only to find that it issues from your own household!’ Abū Jaʿfar became angered and was on the point of harming him.

“It is also reported that Abū Jaʿfar said to him, ‘But where am I to find assistants?’ Ibn Anʿum replied, ‘Did not ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz use to say: The governor is like a marketplace—whatever is in demand is what is brought to it?’ Abū Jaʿfar lowered his head for a long time, and al-Rabīʿ the chamberlain signalled to me to withdraw.”

Jarūd ibn Yazīd narrated: “ʿAbd al-Raḥmān the Ifriqiyan told us, ‘I used to seek knowledge together with al-Manṣūr.’”

Ibn Idrīs said: “He held the office of judge over Ifriqiyah under Marwān al-Ḥimār.”

Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn remarked: “He is weak, yet his ḥadith is not to be abandoned.”

I (the author) say: He died in 156 AH.

Sufyān al-Thawrī regarded him with great veneration.

It is reported that the Byzantines captured him and brought him forward for execution after they had slain a number of others. He said: “I moved my lips and declared, ‘Allah, Allah is my Lord; I ascribe to Him no partner and take no protector apart from Him.’ The tyrant noticed what I was doing and said, ‘Bring forward the deacon of the Arabs. Perhaps you have just said, “Allah, Allah is my Lord; I associate nothing with Him”?’ I replied, ‘Yes.’ He asked, ‘From where did you learn that?’ I said, ‘Our Prophet commanded us to say it.’ He answered, ‘And Jesus commanded us with it in the Gospel.’ He then released me and those who were with me.”

Another report states that he died in al-Qayrawān, in the month of Ramadan, in 161 AH.