Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥākim said, “He was one of the abdāl, men devoted to tracing every transmitted report.”

Muḥammad ibn Rāfiʿ remarked about him, “I once visited Muḥammad ibn Aslam, and I could liken him to none but the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.”

Al-Ḥākim relates: “I heard Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Bālūwayh say, ‘I heard Ibn Khuzaymah state, “We were taught by a man the like of whom my eyes have never seen: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aslam.”’ (1)”

Qabīṣah said, “Ibn Masʿūd most closely resembled the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in conduct and bearing. ʿAlqamah resembled Ibn Masʿūd in that, Ibrāhīm resembled ʿAlqamah, Manṣūr resembled Ibrāhīm, Sufyān resembled Manṣūr, and Wakīʿ resembled Sufyān.”

Al-Ḥākim added, “Muḥammad ibn Aslam occupied the very station of Wakīʿ—indeed, surpassed him—through his asceticism, scrupulous piety, and tireless pursuit of the transmitted tradition.”

Isḥāq ibn Ṭāriq informed us; Ibn Khalīl informed us; al-Labbān informed us; al-Ḥaddād, by licence, informed us; Abū Nuʿaym informed us; my father related to us; my maternal uncle Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf related to us; my father related to us, saying:

“I read before Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Ṭūsī—the servant of Muḥammad ibn Aslam—and he said, ‘I heard Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh say in a ḥadīth: “Allah will never gather the Ummah of Muḥammad, peace and blessings be upon him, upon misguidance. When you see discord, hold fast to the great majority.” (2)’”

Thereupon a man said, “Abū Yaʿqūb…"