ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the Qurʾān reciter informed us: the judge Abū Bakr Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Thaqafī narrated to us: Abū Khāzim ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz narrated to us: Bakr ibn Khalaf al-ʿAmmī narrated to me: Muḥammad ibn Samāʿa narrated to me: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan the jurist narrated to me. Abū Khāzim said: He was a client of Banū Shaybān; they originally came from a village between Palestine and Ramla, which I know, and I know some of its inhabitants. They then moved to Kufa. He said: When al-Rashīd summoned me to appoint me judge in Syria, I arrived in the City of Peace and met Abū Yūsuf. He was the one who had named and recommended me. I told him, “Because of my claim upon you, my constant attendance on you, and my taking you as teacher and imam, you should obtain my exemption from this office.” He said, “I will ride with you to Yaḥyā ibn Khālid and speak to him.” He rode with me to Yaḥyā ibn Khālid. When we entered, Yaḥyā moved aside on his prayer mat for him, and he sat with him on it; I sat at the doorway. I heard him say, “This is Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan; his circumstances are such and such,” describing me and mentioning my refusal. Yaḥyā asked him, “What is your opinion of him?” He said, “I say that if you exempt him, you will not find his equal.” When Yaḥyā heard this, he paid no attention to what I said and confirmed my appointment. When al-Rashīd arrived at Raqqa, I was summoned. I entered his presence with al-Ḥasan ibn Ziyād al-Luʾluʾī and Abū al-Bukhtarī Wahb ibn Wahb. He brought out the safe-conduct written for Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥasan and handed it to me. I read it, knowing why we had been summoned. I weighed whether to reveal anything he could use to obtain a means of killing the man, or refrain from challenging it despite knowing the anger of al-Rashīd I would incur. I preferred God’s command and the Hereafter, and said, “This is an emphatic safe-conduct; there is no way to invalidate it.” He snatched the document from my hand and passed it to al-Luʾluʾī. He read it and said faintly—I do not know whether he was heard—“This is a safe-conduct.” It was snatched from his hand and passed to Abū al-Bukhtarī, who read it and then said, “I place no hope in it and do not approve it. This is an evil man who has broken communal unity, shed Muslim blood, and done such and such; he has no safe-conduct.” He then reached into his leather boot while I watched, drew out a knife, cut the document in two, and handed it to the servant. Turning to al-Rashīd, he said, “Kill him; responsibility for his blood rests on my neck.” We rose from the gathering. Al-Rashīd’s messenger came to prohibit me from giving anyone a legal opinion or judging. I remained in that condition until Umm Jaʿfar wanted to establish an endowment and sent to me about it. I explained that I had been forbidden to give legal opinions. She spoke to al-Rashīd, and he permitted me. Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan said: Everyone in al-Rashīd’s household and I were astonished at Abū al-Bukhtarī: he was a judge, yet issued this ruling and took responsibility for a Muslim’s blood; and then there was his carrying a knife in his boot. He said: Al-Rashīd did not kill Yaḥyā then; rather, he died in prison after some time. Muḥammad ibn Samāʿa said in his account: Al-Rashīd later brought Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan close, advanced him, appointed him chief judge, and took him to Rayy. He and al-Kisāʾī died there on the same day. Al-Rashīd said, “I have buried jurisprudence and grammar in Rayy.” Bakr al-ʿAmmī said in his account: When Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ruled that the safe-conduct was valid, while Abū al-Bukhtarī ruled it void and permitted his blood to be shed, Yaḥyā said, “Commander of the Faithful, Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan, with his standing in jurisprudence, rules my safe-conduct valid, while this man rules it void. What does this man have to do with giving legal opinions? His father was only a drummer in Medina.”
ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the Qurʾān reciter informed us: the judge Abū Bakr Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Thaqafī narrated to us: Abū Khāzim ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz narrated to us: Bakr ibn Khalaf al-ʿAmmī narrated to me: Muḥammad ibn Samāʿa narrated to me: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan the jurist narrated to me. Abū Khāzim said: He was a client of Banū Shaybān; they originally came from a village between Palestine and Ramla, which I know, and I know some of its inhabitants. They then moved to Kufa. He said: When al-Rashīd summoned me to appoint me judge in Syria, I arrived in the City of Peace and met Abū Yūsuf. He was the one who had named and recommended me. I told him, “Because of my claim upon you, my constant attendance on you, and my taking you as teacher and imam, you should guide me in this affair.” He said, “I will ride with you to Yaḥyā ibn Khālid and speak to him.” He rode with me to Yaḥyā ibn Khālid. When we entered, Yaḥyā moved aside on his prayer mat for him, and he sat with him on it; I sat at the doorway. I heard him say, “This is Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan; his circumstances are such and such,” describing me and mentioning my refusal. Yaḥyā asked him, “What is your opinion of him?” He said, “I say that if you exempt him, you will not find his equal.” When Yaḥyā heard this, he paid no attention to what I said and confirmed my appointment. When al-Rashīd arrived at Raqqa, I was summoned. I entered his presence with al-Ḥasan ibn Ziyād al-Luʾluʾī and Abū al-Bukhtarī Wahb ibn Wahb. He brought out the safe-conduct written for Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥasan and handed it to me. I read it, knowing why we had been summoned. I weighed whether to reveal anything he could use to obtain a means of killing the man, or refrain from challenging it despite knowing the anger of al-Rashīd I would incur. I preferred God’s command and the Hereafter, and said, “This is an emphatic safe-conduct; there is no way to invalidate it.” He snatched the document from my hand and passed it to al-Luʾluʾī. He read it and said faintly—I do not know whether he was heard—“This is a safe-conduct.” It was snatched from his hand and passed to Abū al-Bukhtarī, who read it and then said, “I do not uphold it and do not approve it. This is an evil man who has broken communal unity, shed Muslim blood, and done such and such; he has no safe-conduct.” He then reached into his leather boot while I watched, drew out a knife, cut the document in two, and handed it to the servant. Turning to al-Rashīd, he said, “Kill him; responsibility for his blood rests on my neck.” We rose from the gathering. Al-Rashīd’s messenger came to prohibit me from giving anyone a legal opinion or judging. I remained in that condition until Umm Jaʿfar wanted to establish an endowment and sent to me about it. I explained that I had been forbidden to give legal opinions. She spoke to al-Rashīd, and he permitted me. Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan said: Everyone in al-Rashīd’s household and I were astonished at Abū al-Bukhtarī: he was a judge, yet issued this ruling and took responsibility for a Muslim’s blood; and then there was his carrying a knife in his boot. He said: Al-Rashīd did not kill Yaḥyā then; rather, he died in prison after some time. Muḥammad ibn Samāʿa said in his account: Al-Rashīd later brought Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan close, advanced him, appointed him chief judge, and took him to Rayy. He and al-Kisāʾī died there on the same day. Al-Rashīd said, “I have buried jurisprudence and grammar in Rayy.” Bakr al-ʿAmmī said in his account: When Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ruled that the safe-conduct was valid, while Abū al-Bukhtarī ruled it void and permitted his blood to be shed, Yaḥyā said, “Commander of the Faithful, Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan, with his standing in jurisprudence, rules my safe-conduct valid, while this man rules it void. What does this man have to do with giving legal opinions? His father was only a drummer in Medina.”