that he had said (1): “The Qur’an is muḥdath (created).”
Abu ʿAbd Allah then said to me, “Which Dawud ibn ʿAli (2) is this—may Allah never grant him relief?” I replied (3), “He is one of Abu Thawr’s (4) attendants.”
He continued, “A letter has reached me from Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Naysaburi reporting that, in our town, Dawud al-Asbahani declared: ‘The Qur’an is muḥdath (created).’ [Later Dawud came here and recounted something similar to ʿAbd Allah’s story] (5).”
Al-Marwazi (6) said: “Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Naysaburi related to me that when Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn Rahawayh (7) heard Dawud’s words in his own house, Ishaq leapt upon him, struck him (8), and censured him. That is the story.”
Al-Khallal (9) said: “Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar al-Rashidi (10) informed me, saying:”
(1) In al-Siyar: “They testified against him.”
(2) In S. and T.: “... ibn Ali al-Asbahani …”
(3) In al-Siyar: “I said.”
(4) He is Abu Thawr Ibrahim ibn Khalid al-Kalbi al-Baghdadi, the reliable jurist-imam and mufti of Iraq. Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah and others narrated from him. According to Ibn Khallikan, he was one of the foremost imams of his age in jurisprudence, knowledge, piety and virtue; he authored works and wrote commentaries on the Sunan. He was born in 170 AH and died in 240 AH. See Tarikh Baghdad by al-Baghdadi, 6:65–69; Tadhkirat al-Huffaz by al-Dhahabi, 2:512–513; Tahdhib al-Tahdhib by Ibn Hajar, 1:118–119.
(5) The text within brackets is omitted in al-Siyar.
(6) In T.: al-Marwazi.
(7) “Ibn Ibrahim” is omitted in al-Siyar.
(8) In al-Siyar: “… he leapt upon Dawud and struck him …”
(9) I was unable to locate it in al-Sunnah of al-Khallal due to some illegible pages.
(10) He is Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn Ja‘far ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Jabir al-Rashidi—nisba to al-Rashidiyya, a village near Baghdad. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi described him as reliable; he died in 301 AH. See Tarikh Baghdad by al-Baghdadi, 2:131–132; al-Ansab by al-Misma‘ani, 6:39–40; al-Lubab fi Tahdhib al-Ansab by Ibn al-Athir, 2:7.