Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Muqri’ al-Balkhi informed us. He said: Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Musa ibn al-Husayn al-Tabrizi informed us in Balkh. He said: Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Abi Hamzah al-Dhahabi al-Balkhi narrated to us. He said: Ahmad ibn Sinan al-Qattan, Abu Ja‘far al-Wasiti, narrated to us. He said: My maternal uncle, Musa ibn ‘Imran, who had recorded narrations from Sharik, narrated to us. He said:

Sharik sought permission to enter upon al-Mahdi, and Abu Yusuf the judge was with him. The two were disputing, so al-Mahdi said, “Prayer is part of faith,” while Abu Yusuf said, “Prayer is not part of faith.” When Sharik sought permission to enter, al-Mahdi said, “The one who will settle the matter between us has arrived.”

When he entered, he greeted them, and they returned his greeting. Al-Mahdi then said, “O Abu ‘Abd Allah, what do you say about two men who disputed: one of them said, ‘Prayer is part of faith,’ while the other said, ‘Prayer is an act’?”

He replied, “The one who said that prayer is part of faith is correct, and the one who said that prayer is an act is mistaken.”

Abu Yusuf asked, “On what basis do you say this?” He replied, “Abu Ishaq narrated to me from al-Bara’ ibn ‘Azib regarding His saying: ‘And Allah would never cause your faith to be lost’ [al-Baqarah: 143].” ⦗899⦘ He said, “It means: ‘Your prayer toward Jerusalem.’” Thus he left him speechless.