He said, “I heard my father say:
‘By Allah, I have put forth every effort I could, and I would be happy if I could come out of this life with an even balance.’
Al-Ḥākim narrated: Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥāfiẓ told us; I heard Muḥammad ibn al-Musayyab; I heard Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā al-Ḍarīr say:
“I asked Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, ‘How many hadiths must a person know before he may give fatwas? Would one hundred thousand be enough?’ He replied, ‘No.’ … until I said, ‘Then would five hundred thousand hadiths suffice?’ He said, ‘I hope so.’
The Ordeal (1):
ʿAmr ibn Ḥakkām said: Shuʿbah narrated to us, from Qatādah, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Let not any one of you—out of fear of people—refrain from speaking the truth he knows.”
ʿAmr alone transmits this report, and he is not a reliable authority (2).
Sulaymān, the grandson of Shuraḥbīl, said: ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus narrated to us, from Sulaymān
(1) Imam Ahmad has become a proverbial model of steadfastness during trials and perseverance upon the truth. He feared no reproach for the sake of Allah, to the extent that the very notion of religious leadership is now linked to his name: people routinely say, “Imam Ahmad said…,” or “This is the school of Imam Ahmad….” Thus is realised the divine word: “We made them leaders guiding by Our command because they were patient and were certain of Our signs” (Q 32:24). Endowed with exceptional patience and certitude, he attained true leadership in religion. Three successive caliphs put him to the test, unleashing against him—from the east of the empire to its west—innumerable theologians, judges, viziers, commanders and governors. Some imprisoned him, others issued harsh threats; some promised to kill him or terrorised him by other means; others tried to entice him with office and wealth, or exiled him from his homeland. All people—scholars and righteous companions included—abandoned him, yet he did not yield a single word to their demands. He never departed from the teachings of the Quran and the sunnah, never concealed knowledge, never practised taqiyya (dissimulation). On the contrary, he openly propagated the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and his reports, thereby repelling opposing innovations in a manner unmatched by any scholar of his generation.
(2) The compiler of al-Mizan cites Ibn Adi’s verdict on Amr ibn Hakam: “Most of what he reports lacks corroboration, yet, despite his weakness, his hadith are recorded.” In other words, his weakness is slight and his narrations may be employed as supporting evidence; that is the case here.