Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh say: ‘ʿAbd Allāh ibn Tāhir asked me, “Abū Yaʿqūb, what are these hadiths that you narrate—or, he may have said, accept—concerning the descent?” I replied, “O governor, these hadiths have reached us just as the rulings concerning the lawful and unlawful have. The scholars transmitted them, and they may not be rejected. They are accepted as they have come, without asking how.” ʿAbd Allāh ibn Tāhir said, “You have spoken the truth. Until now, I did not understand their meaning.”’”

In another version, he said, “They were narrated by those who narrated the reports concerning purification, ritual bathing, prayer, and legal rulings”—and he mentioned other matters—“If they are trustworthy in transmitting these reports too, [these must be accepted]; otherwise, the rulings fall away and the revealed law is invalidated.” He replied, “May Allah heal you as you have healed me,” or words to that effect.

Shaykh al-Islām also narrated what Abū Muhammad ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn Abī Hātim mentioned in his refutation of