Hammad ibn Zayd said: “If ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi lives on, we shall surely bring forth the finest man of Basra.” (1)

Abu Bakr ibn Abi al-Aswad related: “I heard Ibn Mahdi, in the presence of Yahya al-Qattan, mention the Jahmiyyah and declare, ‘I would neither marry into their families nor pray behind them.’” (2)

ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn ʿUmar Rustah said: I heard ʿAbd al-Rahman remark, “The Jahmiyyah want to deny that Allah speaks, to deny that the Qur’an is the speech of Allah, and to deny that He spoke to Moses. Yet Allah—exalted is He—has emphatically affirmed it, saying, ‘And Allah spoke to Moses with direct speech’ (3) [Q 4:164].”

Rustah also reported: “I asked Ibn Mahdi about a man who has just consummated his marriage—may he stay away from the congregational prayer for a few days? He replied, ‘No, not even for a single prayer.’

“I was with him the morning after his daughter’s wedding. He went out, gave the call to prayer, then walked to the couple’s door and said to the servant girl, ‘Tell them both to come out for the prayer.’ The women and maidservants came out exclaiming, ‘Glory be to Allah! What is this?’ He answered, ‘I will not move from here until they come out for the prayer.’ They eventually emerged after he had already prayed, so he sent them to a mosque at the end of the alley.” (4)

I say: Such was the diligence of the early generations in pursuing every good.

Rustah continued: “ʿAbd al-Rahman used to perform the Hajj every year. When his brother died, he appointed him guardian of his children, so Ibn Mahdi stayed to look after the orphans. I heard him say, ‘I have been tested with these orphans…’”