that was not found among the people of other cities. Hence the saying:
“Jurisprudence is Kufan, and worship is Basran.”
Abū al-Shaykh al-Asbahānī narrated through his chain of transmission that Muhammad ibn Sīrīn heard that some people preferred wearing wool. He said:
“Some people choose wool, saying that they are emulating the Messiah, son of Mary. Yet our Prophet’s way is dearer to us, and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, wore cotton and other fabrics”—or words to that effect.
Thus, most accounts of extremes in this regard concern devout worshippers from Basra, such as reports of people dying or fainting upon hearing the Quran and the like. One example is the account of Zurāra ibn Awfā, the judge of Basra, who recited during the dawn prayer:
“When the Trumpet is sounded,”
and fell down dead. Another is the account of the blind man Abū Juhayr, to whom Sālih al-Murrī recited, whereupon he died. Others, too, are reported to have died upon hearing his recitation. Among them were groups who would swoon upon hearing the Quran, whereas none of the Companions experienced such a state.
When this phenomenon appeared, a number of the Companions and their successors objected to it, including Asmāʾ bint Abī Bakr, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr, Muhammad ibn Sīrīn, and others like them.
Those who objected did so on two grounds. Some believed it to be affected and contrived. Muhammad ibn Sīrīn is reported to have said:
“The only way to settle the matter between us and those who swoon upon hearing the Quran is to have it recited to