18 – Abū Ḥanīfah retorted, “Ḥammād narrated to us—through Ibrāhīm, from ʿAlqama and al-Aswad, from Ibn Masʿūd—that ‘the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would not raise his hands except when opening the prayer, and he did not do so again thereafter.’”

Al-Awzāʿī objected, “I am relating to you a report from al-Zuhrī, from Sālim, from his father, and you answer me with, ‘Ḥammād narrated to me from Ibrāhīm’?”

Abū Ḥanīfah replied, “Ḥammād was more proficient in jurisprudence than al-Zuhrī; Ibrāhīm was more learned than Sālim; ʿAlqama is in no way inferior to Ibn ʿUmar in fiqh—though Ibn ʿUmar enjoys the distinction of Companionship—while al-Aswad possesses abundant merit; and as for ʿAbdullāh, well, ʿAbdullāh is ʿAbdullāh.”

At this, al-Awzāʿī fell silent.