Ahmad ibn Kathir al-Baghdadi relates—on the authority of Ibrahim ibn Saʿid al-Jawhari—who said:

“Ibn Thawban addressed the Commander of the Faithful, al-Mahdi, with harsh words. The caliph flared up and exclaimed, ‘By Allah, had al-Mansur been alive he would never have pardoned you!’ Ibn Thawban replied, ‘Do not say that. By Allah, if the veil were lifted for you and you were informed of what he has met with, you would not be sitting in your present seat.’

Al-Walid ibn Mazid said, “In the year when the stars scattered, we went out at night into the open desert with al-Awzaʿi and ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Thabit ibn Thawban. ʿAbd al-Rahman drew his sword and declared, ‘Allah has become serious, so you, too, become serious!’ The people began to curse and harass him. Al-Awzaʿi commented, ‘With ʿAbd al-Rahman the Pen has been lifted’—meaning that he had lost his mind. I said, ‘He had a Khārijite streak.’

Al-Walid ibn Mazid also reported that al-Awzaʿi wrote to him:

‘To proceed … You are well aware of the special position I held with your father. I therefore deemed it proper to maintain my connection with him and to advise you as soon as word reached me about your stance regarding Jumuʿah and the prescribed prayers. I passed by you and admonished you, yet you answered me with something for which you have neither proof nor excuse …’—in a long admonition that shows he regarded it impermissible to attend Jumuʿah behind unjust rulers, a view resembling that of the Khārijites.

Thus al-Awzaʿi’s counsel, together with the forthright tone in which Ibn Thawban rebuked al-Mahdi, testify to his strength and sharpness—may Allah have mercy on him.

He lived ninety years and died in 165 AH. He was of the same age bracket as Ibn Zabr.

Al-Tabarani traced his narrations and gathered them into a complete booklet. He was not a prolific transmitter, nor was he an unimpeachable authority; nonetheless, his hadith are acceptable.

104 – Ṣadaqah ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Dimashqi, nicknamed al-Samīn (T, S, Q)

The imam, scholar, and hadith specialist Abū Muʿāwiyah al-Dimashqi, known as al-Samīn.