“When he has spoken, he has already acted.” (1)

Abū Zurʿah said, “Shabābah later recanted from irjāʾ.” (2)

Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said: “Shuʿbah used to look after the students of ḥadith. One day he asked, ‘What became of that handsome youth?’—meaning Shabābah.” (3)

Ibn Qutaybah said, “Shabābah travelled to Mecca and died there.” (4)

Aḥmad also said, “He was an active propagator of irjāʾ.”

Abū Ḥātim said, “Trustworthy, yet not relied upon as definitive proof.” (5)

Abū Aḥmad ibn ʿAdī said, “It is said that his given name was Marwān and that Shabābah was a sobriquet.” (6)

Aḥmad ibn Abī Yaḥyā transmitted from Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal that he said, “I abandoned him because of his irjāʾ.” (7)

ʿUthmān al-Dārimī said: I asked Yaḥyā, “And what do you say about Shabābah with regard to Shuʿbah?” He replied, “Reliable.” (8)

ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī said, “He is truthful, though he holds to irjāʾ, and it is not surprising that someone who has heard thousands of reports should relate a singular narration.” (9)