Al-Zaʿfarānī reported: “I heard al-Shāfiʿī say, ‘I have never disputed with anyone in kalām (speculative theology) except once, and I ask Allah’s forgiveness for that.’

Saʿīd ibn Aḥmad al-Lakhmī said: ‘Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā narrated to us: I heard al-Shāfiʿī remark, “If you ever hear a man say, ‘The name is other than the named, and the thing is other than the thing-itself,’ then testify that he is a heretic (zindīq).”’

(The author adds:) Saʿīd was an Egyptian; I do not know him.

It is also transmitted from al-Rabīʿ: ‘I heard al-Shāfiʿī state in his book al-Waṣāyā (Bequests): “If a man were to bequeath his books of knowledge to someone else, and among them were books of kalām, those works would not fall under the bequest, because they do not constitute knowledge.”’

Abū Thawr related: ‘I said to al-Shāfiʿī, “Write a book on irjāʾ.” He answered, “Leave that,” thereby censuring kalām.

Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Khuzaymah said: ‘I heard al-Rabīʿ narrate: When Hafṣ al-Fard spoke with al-Shāfiʿī and maintained, “The Qur’an is created,” al-Shāfiʿī replied, “You have disbelieved in Allah the Magnificent.” (1)

Al-Muzanī said: ‘Al-Shāfiʿī used to forbid engaging in kalām.’

Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī reported: ‘Yūnus narrated to us: I heard al-Shāfiʿī say, “Umm al-Marīsī asked me to speak to Bishr so that he would refrain from kalām. I spoke to him, but he invited me to it instead.” (2)