Sharh Usul Itiqad Ahl al-Sunnah wa-al-Jamaah - Al-Lalakai - (2/304)

As for the people of Kufa, among the early Successors were Sulayman ibn Mihran al-A'mash and Hammad ibn ⦗305⦘ Abi Sulayman.

481 - Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hatim mentioned him and said: Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Amr ibn Isa narrated to us: I heard my father say, “I have never seen an assembly of shaykhs more eminent than those who gathered in the congregational mosque of Kufa during the Inquisition. The document containing the inquisition was read to them, whereupon Abu Nu'aym said: ‘I met more than eight hundred and seventy shaykhs, including al-A'mash and those who came after him, yet I never saw anyone espouse this doctrine’—meaning the createdness of the Quran—‘and no one spoke of this doctrine without being branded a heretic.’” Ahmad ibn Yunus then rose, kissed Abu Nu'aym on the head, and said, “May Allah reward you greatly on behalf of Islam.”

وَأَمَّا أَهْلُ الْكُوفَةِ فَمَنْ تَقَدَّمَ مِنَ التَّابِعِينَ سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ مِهْرَانَ الْأَعْمَشُ , وَحَمَّادُ بْنُ ⦗٣٠٥⦘ أَبِي سُلَيْمَانَ. ٤٨١ - ذَكَرَهُ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ أَبِي حَاتِمٍ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ عَمْرِو بْنِ عِيسَى قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ أَبِي يَقُولُ: مَا رَأَيْتُ مَجْلِسًا يَجْتَمِعُ فِيهِ مِنَ الْمَشَايِخِ أَنْبَلُ مِنْ مَشَايِخَ اجْتَمَعُوا فِي مَسْجِدِ جَامِعِ الْكُوفَةِ فِي وَقْتِ الِامْتِحَانِ , فَقُرِئَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْكِتَابُ الَّذِي فِيهِ الْمِحْنَةُ فَقَالَ أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ: أَدْرَكْتُ ثَمَانِمِائَةِ شَيْخٍ وَنَيِّفًا وَسَبْعِينَ شَيْخًا مِنْهُمُ الْأَعْمَشُ فَمَنْ دُونَهُ , فَمَا رَأَيْتُ خَلْقًا يَقُولُ بِهَذِهِ الْمَقَالَةِ - يَعْنِي بِخَلْقِ الْقُرْآنِ - وَلَا تَكَلَّمَ أَحَدٌ بِهَذِهِ الْمَقَالَةِ إِلَّا رُمِيَ بِالزَّنْدَقَةِ. فَقَامَ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ يُونُسَ فَقَبَّلَ رَأَسَ أَبِي نُعَيْمٍ وَقَالَ: جَزَاكَ اللَّهُ عَنِ الْإِسْلَامِ خَيْرًا.