Jaʿfar said, “Place the booklet before the shaykh.”

When I opened it, it contained the ḥadīth of Ghadīr Khumm (1).

I said, “It is authentic; we ourselves have transmitted it.”

ʿUbayd Allāh remarked, “Then why do people not become our slaves?”

I replied, “May Allah honor the master. The Prophet did not intend servitude of bondage, but authority in matters of religion.”

He asked, “Do you have any proof for that?”

I answered, “The Exalted says: ‘It is not for any human being to whom Allah has given the Book, judgment, and prophethood to then say to the people, “Be servants to me instead of to Allah.”’ (Āl ʿImrān 3:79). What was impermissible for Allah’s Prophet is even more impermissible for anyone else.”

He said, “Leave, lest the heat reach you.”

Abū Jaʿfar al-Baghdādī followed me and whispered, “Keep this meeting to yourself.”

Mūsā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Qaṭṭān later said, “Had you heard Saʿīd ibn al-Ḥaddād in those assemblies—meaning his debate with the Shiʿite—you would have found in him powerful voice, majestic rhetoric, eloquent speech, and sound meanings, and you would have wished he would never fall silent.”

It was also said that Ibn al-Ḥaddād adopted the Shāfiʿī school without blind imitation; he accepted no question unless supported by evidence.

He dressed well, yet lived on little, never made the pilgrimage, and was often engaged in refuting the Kufans.