78 – Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī ( ? – d. 277 AH)

254 – Al-Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥātim al-Rāzī said in his book “Refutation of the Jahmiyyah”: “My father and Abū Zurʿah narrated to us:

‘We used to be told that a man of this description existed. Abū Zurʿah related to me: There was a man in Basrah while I was staying there in the year 230 AH. ʿUthmān ibn ʿAmr ibn al-Ḍaḥḥāk told me about him. The man said, “If the Qur’an is not created, may Allah erase from my breast whatever Qur’an I know.” He was one of the Qur’an reciters, yet he forgot the Qur’an completely, to the point that when he was told, “Say: Bismillāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm,” he would reply, “I know it, I know it,” but could not bring himself to utter it.’

227 – I could not identify him, unless “al-Ḍaḥḥāk” is a scribal error for “al-Kaḥḥāl.” In Ibn Abī Ḥātim’s al-Jarḥ wa-l-Taʿdīl (3/1/162) it reads:

“ʿUthmān ibn ʿAmr al-Baṣrī, known as al-Kaḥḥāl, resident of Kūfah; he narrated from Mubārak ibn Faḍālah and Muḥammad ibn Marwān al-ʿAjlī, and my father and Abū Zurʿah narrated from him.”

I say: This is the very man, and Abū Zurʿah transmits only from trustworthy narrators. Thus the story is sound.

255 – Abū Zurʿah said: They urged me strenuously to let me see him, but I never saw him. Muḥammad ibn Bashshār then said: I heard a neighbour of mine—he used to teach me the Qur’an—who maintained, “It is created.” Someone said to him, “If the Qur’an is not created, may Allah erase every verse from your breast.” He answered, “Yes.” The next morning he was reciting, “All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, the All-Merciful, the Bestower of mercy, Master of the Day of Judgement, You alone…”; but when he tried to say “we worship,” his tongue would not move.

228 – He is the one nicknamed “Bundār”; he is reliable and counts among the senior teachers of al-Bukhārī and Muslim.

256 – Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Qāsim al-Ṭabarī said: I found in the book of Abū Ḥātim Muḥammad ibn Idrīs ibn al-Mundhir al-Ḥanẓalī, in a passage he had heard directly from him, the following statement:

“Our doctrine and chosen way is to follow the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his Companions, and the Successors who followed them with excellence; to adhere to the schools of the people of hadith such as al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad, Isḥāq, and Abū ʿUbayd—may Allah have mercy on them all; and to hold fast to the Book and the Sunnah.”