Ibn ʿAsakir related (1) from al-Shaʿbi, who said: “Al-Hajjaj is a believer in al-jibt (sorcery) and al-taghut (false deities), but an unbeliever in Allah the Majestic.” [So he spoke, and Allah knows best.]

Al-Thawri transmitted, through Maʿmar, from Tawus, from his father, who said: “How astonishing that our brethren in Iraq call al-Hajjaj a believer (2)!?”

Al-Thawri also reported, from Ibn ʿAwn: I heard Abu Waʾil being asked about al-Hajjaj: “Will you testify that he is among the people of the Fire?” He replied, “Do you want me to testify against Allah the All-Mighty?”

Al-Thawri further narrated, from Mansur: I asked Ibrahim about al-Hajjaj—or about one of the other tyrants—and he answered, “Does not Allah say: ‘Surely the curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers’ (Hud 11:18)?” That, said Ibrahim, is sufficient; and it is blindness enough for a man that he should be blind to the affair of al-Hajjaj (3).

Salam ibn Abi Mutiʿ remarked: “I have greater hope for al-Hajjaj than I do for ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd, for al-Hajjaj killed people over worldly matters, whereas ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd introduced a monstrous innovation that led people to slaughter one another (4).”

Al-Zibarqan said: I once reviled al-Hajjaj in the presence of Abu Waʾil, and he told me, “Do not curse him; perhaps one day he said, ‘O Allah, have mercy on me,’ and Allah may show him mercy. Beware of keeping company with those who keep saying, ‘Have you considered? Have you considered? Have you considered?’”

ʿAwf recounted: Al-Hajjaj was mentioned to Muhammad ibn Sirin, who said, “Poor Abu Muhammad! If Allah—Exalted is He—punishes him, it is for his sin; if He forgives him, then bliss upon him. Should he meet Allah with a sound heart, he will be better than we are; people better than he have committed sins.”

Someone asked him, “What is a sound heart?” He replied, “That Allah, Exalted be He, finds within it modesty and faith; that one knows Allah is true, that the Hour is surely coming, and that Allah will resurrect those in the graves (5).”

Abu al-Qasim al-Baghawi (6) said: Abu Saʿid narrated to us, Abu Usamah narrated to us, who said: A man asked Sufyan al-Thawri, “Do you testify that al-Hajjaj and Abu Muslim (7) are in the Fire?” He answered, “No—so long as they affirm tawḥid (the oneness of Allah).”

Al-Riyashi said: ʿAbbas (8) al-Azraq narrated to us, from al-Sari ibn Yahya, who said: “Al-Hajjaj once passed by on a Friday…"