He heard from Ḍamrah ibn Rabīʿah, Yazīd ibn Hārūn, Ayyūb ibn Suwayd, Sayyār ibn Ḥātim the ascetic, Mālik ibn Suʿayr, Yaḥyā ibn Ādam, ʿAbd al-Razzāq ibn Hammām, and others of their generation.
He was counted among the learned ḥadīth scholars.
Those who narrated from him include Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, Saʿīd ibn Hāshim al-Ṭabarānī, Ibn Jawṣā, Muḥammad ibn Tammām al-Bahrānī, Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hilāl, and many others besides.
He undertook lengthy journeys in pursuit of knowledge during his youth and again in old age, teaching in Baghdad, Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, and Ramla.
ʿAlī ibn Abī Sulaymān relates: When Muʾammal arrived in Ramla the people flocked to him, yet he was rough and unapproachable. (1) They pressed him, but he refused, so they went to the governor. They chose two men from among themselves (2) who said, “We have a slave who enjoys the right of companionship and upbringing with us. Circumstances have brought us to sell him, but he refuses.”
The governor asked, “How can I know this is true?”
They replied, “We have with us a group of ḥadīth scholars who can testify to it.”
The governor accepted their word and summoned Muʾammal with the police. Muʾammal tried to stand his ground (3), but they dragged him off, saying, “We have been told that you have eaten at the tables of many lands.” (4)
When he was brought in, the governor said, “Is it not enough that you have absconded—do you now show pride before your master as well? To prison!” So they jailed him.
He was tall, sallow-complexioned, and lightly bearded, resembling the servants of the people of the Ḥijāz. He remained in prison for some days until his companions heard of it. They went to the governor and said, “This is Muʾammal ibn Yahāb, unjustly confined in your prison.”
The governor said, “I do not know this man—who is Muʾammal?”
They answered, “The one around whom the crowd had gathered.”
He asked, “Is he the runaway slave?”