al-Razzaq, for he is a trustworthy and truthful custodian of the Messenger of Allah’s hadith.

Al-ʿUqaylī said: “Ahmad ibn Muhammad narrated to us; I heard Abū Ṣāliḥ Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Ṣirrārī say:

‘While we were in Ṣanʿāʾ with ʿAbd al-Razzaq, news reached us that our companions Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal and others had abandoned ʿAbd al-Razzaq’s narrations and had come to dislike them. That cast us into great distress. We said, “We have spent our money, undertaken the journey and exhausted ourselves!” I remained troubled until the season of ḥajj. I then travelled to Mecca, where I met Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn. I said, ‘Abū Zakariyyā, what is this report that has reached us from you concerning ʿAbd al-Razzaq?’

He asked, ‘And what is it?’

We replied, ‘We have been told that you have stopped narrating his hadith and have turned away from him.’

He said, ‘Abū Ṣāliḥ, even if ʿAbd al-Razzaq were to renounce Islam, we would still not abandon his hadith.’ (1)’”

Ahmad ibn Zuhayr said: “I heard Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn—when word reached him that Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal had criticized ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā because of his tendency toward Shiʿism—say:

‘By Almighty Allah, I have heard from ʿAbd al-Razzaq on this very issue more than ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā says; but Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal feared that his journey to ʿAbd al-Razzaq would be for naught,’ or words to that effect. (2) Two reliable transmitters reported this from him.”

Ahmad ibn Zuhayr also said: “Barakāt al-Khushūʿī related to us; Abū Ṭālib al-Yūsufī informed us; Abū Isḥāq al-Barmakī told us; al-Qaṭīʿī narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ahmad narrated to us; I heard Salama ibn Shabīb say: I heard ʿAbd al-Razzaq declare,

‘My heart has never been comfortable preferring ʿAlī over Abū Bakr and ʿUmar—may Allah have mercy on them both.’”