The imams of our time are al-Shafi‘i, al-Humaydi, and Abu ‘Ubayd. (1)
Ali ibn Khalaf said, “I heard al-Humaydi say, ‘So long as I am in the Hijaz, Ahmad ibn Hanbal is in Iraq, and Ishaq is in Khurasan, no one can defeat us.’ (2)
Abu al-‘Abbas al-Sarraj reported: I heard Muhammad ibn Isma‘il say, ‘Al-Humaydi is an imam in hadith.’ (3)
Al-Firabri said: Muhammad ibn al-Muhallab al-Bukhari narrated to us; al-Humaydi narrated to us; he declared, ‘By Allah, for me to fight those who reject the Messenger of Allah’s hadith is dearer to me than waging war against an equal number of Turks.’
I (the author) say: When al-Shafi‘i passed away, al-Humaydi sought to take his place at the head of the gathering. He and Ibn ʿAbd al-Hakam vied for that honor, and Ibn ʿAbd al-Hakam secured the imam’s seat. Thereafter al-Humaydi returned to Mecca, where he remained disseminating knowledge—may Allah have mercy on him.
Isma‘il ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman narrated to us; Abu Muhammad ʿAbd Allah ibn Ahmad the jurist narrated to us; Abu al-Makarem al-Mubarak ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Abu Ghalib Muhammad ibn al-Hasan narrated to us; ʿUthman ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Abu Bakr al-Shafi‘i narrated to us; Bishr ibn Musa narrated to us; al-Humaydi narrated to us; Sufyan informed us, from al-Zuhri, who said that he heard Anas ibn Malik say:
“The last time I looked upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he drew back the curtain on Monday while the people were standing in rows behind Abu Bakr. When they saw him they almost moved forward, but the Messenger of Allah signaled to them to continue. I gazed at his face, and it was as radiant as a page of the Qur’an. Then he let the curtain fall.”