—indeed, a great Imām. Mālik’s sole reason for not acting on the literal wording of the ḥadīth was that he considered it abrogated. Others have said that he did act on it, interpreting the phrase “until they separate” as the verbal articulation of offer and acceptance. In this ḥadīth—and in every ḥadīth—Mālik is guaranteed a reward; if he is correct he gains a further reward besides. To declare the sword against one who errs in his ijtihād is a view held only by the Ḥarūriyya (1).

In any event, the criticisms that peers level at one another are not to be relied on much. Mālik’s stature is not diminished by Ibn Abī Dhiʿb’s remark, nor did the scholars consider Ibn Abī Dhiʿb unreliable because of it; each of the two was the leading scholar of Madinah in his own time. Moreover, Imām Aḥmad did not provide a chain of transmission for the story, so perhaps it is not sound.

Muʾammal al-Bālisi wrote to me—along with others—that Abū al-Yumn al-Kindī informed them; al-Qazzāz (2) related to us; Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb related to us; Abū Saʿīd al-Ṣayrafī narrated; al-Aṣamm narrated; ʿAbbās al-Dūrī narrated, saying:

“I heard Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn say, ‘Ibn Abī Dhiʿb heard from ʿIkrima.’ ”

Through this same chain al-Khaṭīb said: al-Jawharī narrated to us; al-Marzubānī narrated to us; Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā narrated to us; Abū al-ʿAynaʾ narrated:

“When the caliph al-Mahdī performed the ḥajj, he entered the Mosque of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and no one remained seated except Ibn Abī Dhiʿb.

Al-Musayyib ibn Zuhayr said to him, ‘Stand up—this is the Commander of the Believers!’

He replied, ‘People stand only for the Lord of all worlds.’

Al-Mahdī said, ‘Leave him be; every hair on my head has just stood on end.’ ”

Through the same chain Abū al-ʿAynaʾ also reported that Ibn Abī Dhiʿb said to al-Manṣūr, “People are perishing; if only you would aid them from the fay.”

He retorted, “Woe to you! Were it not for the frontier garrisons I have fortified, someone would reach you in your own house and slaughter you.”

Ibn Abī Dhiʿb replied, “The frontiers have been secured, and he has given the people one who is …”