411—Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Mahdi al-Anbari informed us: ‘Uthman ibn Muhammad ibn Harun narrated to us: Abu Umayyah—that is, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Tarsusi—narrated to us: Yahya ibn Khalaf al-Muqri’ narrated to us: “I was with Malik ibn Anas.”
412—And Ahmad ibn ‘Abdullah ibn al-Khidr al-Muqri’ informed us: Ahmad ibn Sulayman narrated to us: Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Suhayb narrated to us: ‘Abbas ibn al-Azhar narrated to us: Abu Muhammad Yahya ibn Khalaf al-Muqri’ narrated to us: “I was with Malik ibn Anas in the year 168 AH when a man came to him and said, ‘O Abu ‘Abdullah, what do you say about one who claims that the Quran is created?’ He replied, ‘He is a disbelieving heretic; kill him.’ ⦗276⦘ The man said, ‘I am only relating words that I heard.’ Malik replied, ‘I have not heard it from anyone; I have only heard it from you.’”
Abu Muhammad said: “This weighed heavily upon me, so I went to Egypt and met al-Layth ibn Sa‘d. I said, ‘O Abu al-Harith, what do you say about one who claims that the Quran is created?’ I related to him the exchange that had taken place with Malik, and he said, ‘He is a disbeliever.’ Then I met Ibn Lahi‘ah and said to him what I had said to al-Layth ibn Sa‘d, and related the exchange to him. He said, ‘He is a disbeliever.’”
Up to this point is the narration of Abu Umayyah. From here begins the wording of ‘Abbas al-Azhar: “Then I went to Mecca and met Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah. I related to him the man’s words, and he said, ‘He is a disbeliever.’ Then I came to Kufa and met Abu Bakr ibn ‘Ayyash. I said to him, ‘What do you say about one who claims that the Quran is created?’ and I related to him the man’s words. He said, ‘He is a disbeliever; and whoever does not say that he is a disbeliever is himself a disbeliever.’
“Then I met ‘Ali ibn ‘Asim and Hushaym, and I spoke to them and related the man’s words to them. They said, ‘He is a disbeliever.’ Then I met ‘Abdullah ibn Idris, Abu Usamah, ‘Abdah ibn Sulayman al-Kilabi, Yahya ibn Zakariyya, and Waki‘. I related it to them, and they said, ‘He is a disbeliever.’ Then I met Ibn al-Mubarak, Abu Ishaq al-Fazari, and al-Walid ibn Muslim ⦗277⦘, and I related the matter to them. All of them said, ‘He is a disbeliever.’”
413—‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hatim mentioned it, saying: Al-Hasan ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Quhi al-Ghazi narrated to us: Yahya ibn Khalaf ibn al-Rabi‘ ibn Marzuq narrated to us in Tarsus. Al-Hasan said that he was reliable: “I was with Malik when he mentioned it.”
I say: This Yahya ibn Khalaf was a Kufan who settled in Tarsus.