Abū al-Hasan ibn Bashshār, transmitted by his son Abū Hafs from his father Ahmad ibn Ibrāhīm, who said: ‘I asked the shaykh—meaning Abū al-Hasan ibn Bashshār—about the hadith of Umm al-Tufayl and the hadith of Ibn ‘Abbās concerning seeing Allah. He replied, “Authentic.” A man objected, saying, “These hadiths should not be mentioned at a time like this.” The shaykh replied, “Then Islam would fall into oblivion!” The man fell silent.’ Thus he declared the hadith authentic.”

He said, “It is also possible that Ahmad had not yet learned about Marwān ibn ‘Uthmān when Muhannā questioned him, but later came