Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the Qurʾan reciter informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥimmānī narrated to us: I heard ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī say: We were with Yūsuf ibn Khālid al-Samtī when Abū Bakr Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā arrived. As he entered, the people gathered around him. Yūsuf asked them, “What is the matter?” I said, “Abū Bakr Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā.” He said, “Abū Bakr, I shall ask you a question. Consider it carefully, then answer me.” Hilāl said, “Ask.” He asked, “What do you say about exchanging ten raṭls of dates for ten raṭls of dates?” Hilāl answered, “It is permitted.” He said, “Did I not tell you to consider it carefully?” Hilāl replied, “What is there about ten raṭls of dates for ten raṭls of dates that requires deliberation?” Yūsuf asked, “Is their original standard not volume?” He answered, “Yes; I was mistaken. It is permitted if the two measures are equal.” He asked, “What do you say about a man captured in Byzantine territory who fasted Shaʿbān thinking it was Ramadan?” He answered, “It does not suffice.” He asked, “And if he fasted Shawwāl thinking it was Ramadan?” He answered, “It suffices.” He asked, “Then what of the Prophet’s prohibition, God bless him and grant him peace, against fasting on the day of Fiṭr?” He answered, “I was mistaken: provided he fasts a day of Dhū al-Qaʿda.” He asked, “What do you say about a man who tells his wife: You are divorced once on the first day of the latter part of the month, and on the last day of the first part of the month?” He said: We dispersed from the gathering. Yūsuf died, and I met Hilāl years later. He told me, “Your companion’s question exhausted me; it became clear to me only last night. I said: The month has thirty days. On the fifteenth day one divorce takes effect, for that is the last day of the first part of the month. On the sixteenth another takes effect, for that is the first day of the latter part of the month.”

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the Qurʾan reciter informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥimmānī narrated to us: I heard ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī say: We were with Yūsuf ibn Khālid al-Samtī when Abū Bakr Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā arrived. As he entered, the people gathered around him. Yūsuf asked them, “What is the matter?” I said, “Abū Bakr Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā.” He said, “Abū Bakr, I shall ask you a question. Consider it carefully, then answer me.” Hilāl said, “Ask.” He asked, “What do you say about exchanging ten raṭls of dates for ten raṭls of dates?” Hilāl answered, “It is permitted.” He said, “Did I not tell you to consider it carefully?” Hilāl replied, “What is there about ten raṭls of dates for ten raṭls of dates that requires deliberation?” Yūsuf asked, “Is their original standard not volume?” He answered, “Yes; I was mistaken. It is permitted if the two measures are equal.” He asked, “What do you say about a man captured in Byzantine territory who fasted Shaʿbān thinking it was Ramadan?” He answered, “It does not suffice.” He asked, “And if he fasted Shawwāl thinking it was Ramadan?” He answered, “It suffices.” He asked, “Then what of the Prophet’s prohibition, God bless him and grant him peace, against fasting on the day of Fiṭr?” He answered, “I was mistaken: provided he fasts a day of Dhū al-Qaʿda.” He asked, “What do you say about a man who tells his wife: You are divorced once on the first day of the latter part of the month, and on the last day of the first part of the month?” He said: We dispersed from the gathering. Yūsuf died, and I met Hilāl years later. He told me, “Your companion’s question exhausted me; it became clear to me only last night. I said: The month has thirty days. On the fifteenth day one divorce takes effect, for that is the last day of the first part of the month. On the sixteenth another takes effect, for that is the first day of the latter part of the month.”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad the judge informed us, saying: Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī informed us, saying: al-Ṭaḥāwī informed us, saying: I heard Abū Khāzim say: I heard ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Nāʾil the judge say: I used to ask Hilāl and Abū ʿĀṣim about Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan’s legal questions in al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr. Abū ʿĀṣim remembered them better than Hilāl. He said: They would sit beside the same pillar in the congregational mosque of Basra. Abū ʿĀṣim attached himself to Zufar ibn al-Hudhayl after Abū Ḥanīfa and studied jurisprudence under him. He was the one who gave him the epithet “al-Nabīl”.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad the judge informed us, saying: Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī informed us, saying: al-Ṭaḥāwī informed us, saying: I heard Abū Khāzim say: I heard ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Nāʾil the judge say: I used to ask Hilāl and Abū ʿĀṣim about Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan’s legal questions in al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr. Abū ʿĀṣim remembered them better than Hilāl. He said: They would sit beside the same pillar in the congregational mosque of Basra. Abū ʿĀṣim attached himself to Zufar ibn al-Hudhayl after Abū Ḥanīfa and studied jurisprudence under him. He was the one who gave him the epithet “al-Nabīl”.

Among the companions of Abū Yūsuf and Zufar was Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā, known as Hilāl al-Raʾy. We have already mentioned his story with Abū Yūsuf when the latter entered Basra, in the accounts of Abū Yūsuf.

Among the companions of Abū Yūsuf and Zufar was Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā, known as Hilāl al-Raʾy. We have already mentioned his story with Abū Yūsuf when the latter entered Basra, in the accounts of Abū Yūsuf.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī informed us: Al-Ṭaḥāwī informed us: I heard Abū Bakra Bakkār ibn Qutayba say: I heard Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā say: I performed the pilgrimage during Hārūn's reign, after Abū Yūsuf's death. Asad ibn ʿAmr, who held judicial office, performed the pilgrimage with Hārūn that year. I saw Hārūn performing the arrival circumambulation. He had omitted the brisk gait, and people were standing away from him. A servant behind him tugged his garment, telling him to go back and perform the brisk gait. I was at the back of the crowd and called out, “Commander of the Faithful, if you continue, it is valid.” He heard me and continued, abandoning what the servant wanted. I mentioned this to Abū Khāzim, who said: ʿUmar ibn Yaḥyā, Hilāl's brother, related to me: I witnessed all of this. When Hilāl intended to call out, I gathered my garment, put it in his mouth, and said, “By God, we left our mother only against her will. Do you want to deprive her of one of us?” By God, he could not restrain himself from calling it out. Abū Bakr continued in his report: When Hārūn finished the circumambulation and the running between the hills, he entered the Kaʿba with Asad ibn ʿAmr, his other commanders, and his cousins. It was closed behind them. I peered through a crack in the door and saw Hārūn seated and Asad ibn ʿAmr seated opposite him, while the others, Hāshimites and everyone else, stood on their feet. I realized that no one was nobler than a jurist, and a sense of Asad ibn ʿAmr's greatness entered my heart that only God knows. Then Hārūn departed with his procession. Asad mounted in the manner of judges and jurists. I followed him as he rode and asked, “Why did Abū Ḥanīfa distinguish between a breach of trust in tawliya and in murābaḥa?” By God, he did not know this statement of Abū Ḥanīfa, and he diminished in my eyes. I went to Yūsuf ibn Khālid, who was on pilgrimage that year, and told him the entire story. He said, “How would Asad know what this is? Abū Ḥanīfa distinguished between them because he treated tawliya as a transfer of a sale, since it is at the original price. It is as though the seller transfers to the new purchaser what he acquired by ownership of the item, for the original price by which he acquired it. He treated murābaḥa as a second sale, since it is at a price different from the original price.” Hilāl had a book on legal instruments and the rules of endowments, and was foremost in the science of legal instruments.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī informed us: Al-Ṭaḥāwī informed us: I heard Abū Bakra Bakkār ibn Qutayba say: I heard Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā say: I performed the pilgrimage during Hārūn's reign, after Abū Yūsuf's death. Asad ibn ʿAmr, who held judicial office, performed the pilgrimage with Hārūn that year. I saw Hārūn performing the arrival circumambulation. He had omitted the brisk gait, and people were standing away from him. A servant behind him tugged his garment, telling him to go back and perform the brisk gait. I was at the back of the crowd and called out, “Commander of the Faithful, if you continue, it is valid.” He heard me and continued, abandoning what the servant wanted. I mentioned this to Abū Khāzim, who said: ʿUmar ibn Yaḥyā, Hilāl's brother, related to me: I witnessed all of this. When Hilāl intended to call out, I gathered my garment, put it in his mouth, and said, “By God, we left our mother only against her will. Do you want to deprive her of one of us?” By God, he could not restrain himself from calling it out. Abū Bakr continued in his report: When Hārūn finished the circumambulation and the running between the hills, he entered the Kaʿba with Asad ibn ʿAmr, his other commanders, and his cousins. It was closed behind them. I peered through a crack in the door and saw Hārūn seated and Asad ibn ʿAmr seated opposite him, while the others, Hāshimites and everyone else, stood on their feet. I realized that no one was nobler than a jurist, and a sense of Asad ibn ʿAmr's greatness entered my heart that only God knows. Then Hārūn departed with his procession. Asad mounted in the manner of judges and jurists. I followed him as he rode and asked, “Why did Abū Ḥanīfa distinguish between a breach of trust in tawliya and in murābaḥa?” By God, he did not know this statement of Abū Ḥanīfa, and he diminished in my eyes. I went to Yūsuf ibn Khālid, who was on pilgrimage that year, and told him the entire story. He said, “How would Asad know what this is? Abū Ḥanīfa distinguished between them because he treated tawliya as a transfer of a sale, since it is at the original price. It is as though the seller transfers to the new purchaser what he acquired by ownership of the item, for the original price by which he acquired it. He treated murābaḥa as a second sale, since it is at a price different from the original price.” Hilāl had a book on legal instruments and the rules of endowments, and was foremost in the science of legal instruments.

Hilāl narrated to us: My father Abū ʿUbayd Allāh narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Ḥamdān narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn al-Ṣalt narrated to us, from Bishr ibn al-Walīd, from Abū Yūsuf, from Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: I heard Anas ibn Mālik, may God be pleased with him, say: I heard the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, say: “One who directs others to good is like its doer, and God loves helping the distressed.” Abū Bakr Hilāl said to us: Abū Ḥanīfa also lived in the time of the Companions ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Awfā and Abū al-Ṭufayl ʿĀmir ibn Wāthila; both were Companions.

Hilāl narrated to us: My father Abū ʿUbayd Allāh narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Ḥamdān narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn al-Ṣalt narrated to us, from Bishr ibn al-Walīd, from Abū Yūsuf, from Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: I heard Anas ibn Mālik, may God be pleased with him, say: I heard the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, say: “One who directs others to good is like its doer, and God loves helping the distressed.” Abū Bakr Hilāl said to us: Abū Ḥanīfa also lived in the time of the Companions ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Awfā and Abū al-Ṭufayl ʿĀmir ibn Wāthila; both were Companions.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: The jurist Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī related to us: Al-Ṭaḥāwī related to us: Abū Bakra ibn Qutayba related to us: I heard Hilāl say: When Abū Yūsuf came to us, both hadith scholars and scholars of legal reasoning gathered at his door. Each group claimed him and asserted greater entitlement to him and admission to his presence than the other. He looked out upon the people and said, “By God, I belong to both groups. I do not give one precedence over the other except on grounds demonstrating its precedence. I shall ask a question: whichever group answers correctly may enter.” He took off a ring he was wearing and said, “A man took my ring and chewed it until he crushed it.” Hadith scholars rose from every direction and disagreed: some said he must restore it fashioned as it was; others said he must pay for the loss in its value. Seeing this, I rose from among my companions and said, “God set you right: it belongs to the person who crushed it, who owes its owner its value as fashioned gold, unless the owner chooses to retain it, in which case the person who crushed it owes nothing.” Abū Yūsuf approved, brought me near, and admitted me and my companions. He asked my name; I said, “Hilāl [crescent].” He said, “You will become a full moon.” He dictated a question about a slave contracted to purchase his freedom, contrary to a previous opinion of his in the Book of Currency Exchange. When he finished, I approached him and said, “God set you right: this contradicts your opinion in the Book of Currency Exchange. Should we erase that and record this, or erase this and record that?” He said, “Leave both: someone will come who distinguishes between them.” Hilāl said: My witness to all this is Qutayba al-Bakrāwī, meaning Abū Bakra; he was present for it all.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: The jurist Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī related to us: Al-Ṭaḥāwī related to us: Abū Bakra ibn Qutayba related to us: I heard Hilāl say: When Abū Yūsuf came to us, both hadith scholars and scholars of legal reasoning gathered at his door. Each group claimed him and asserted greater entitlement to him and admission to his presence than the other. He looked out upon the people and said, “By God, I belong to both groups. I do not give one precedence over the other except on grounds evident from it. I shall ask a question: whichever group answers correctly may enter.” He took off a ring he was wearing and said, “A man took my ring and chewed it until he crushed it.” Hadith scholars rose from every direction and disagreed: some said he must restore it fashioned as it was; others said he must pay for the loss in its value. Seeing this, I rose from among my companions and said, “God set you right: it belongs to the person who crushed it, who owes its owner its value as fashioned gold, unless the owner chooses to retain it, in which case the person who crushed it owes nothing.” Abū Yūsuf approved, brought me near, and admitted me and my companions. He asked my name; I said, “Hilāl [crescent].” He said, “You will become a full moon.” He dictated a question about a slave contracted to purchase his freedom, contrary to a previous opinion of his in the Book of Currency Exchange. When he finished, I approached him and said, “God set you right: this contradicts your opinion in the Book of Currency Exchange. Should we erase that and record this, or erase this and record that?” He said, “Leave both: someone will come who distinguishes between them.” Hilāl said: My witness to all this is Qutayba al-Bakrāwī, meaning Abū Bakra; he was present for it all.

The judge ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: the learned jurist Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī narrated to us: al-Ṭaḥāwī informed us: I heard Bakkār ibn Qutayba say: A man appeared in a lawsuit before ʿĪsā ibn Abān, who was serving as our judge in Basra. He ordered that the man be struck on the back of his neck, and this was done. The man claimed he had lost his sight and went to al-Muʿtaṣim to complain against him. Al-Muʿtaṣim asked, “To whom in Basra would you like us to write for you?” He replied, “To ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿĀʾisha al-Taymī.” He ordered a letter to him to investigate between the man and ʿĪsā. Upon returning, the man delivered it to Ibn ʿĀʾisha, who sent to inform ʿĪsā. ʿĪsā promised to attend the great mosque for the investigation. Ibn ʿĀʾisha arrived first and sat by a column. Then ʿĪsā came; I was with him that day, along with his officers and companions. Because of the crowd, he could not enter through any of the mosque’s doors, so he entered, and we with him, by the way the callers to prayer used on Fridays. ʿĪsā went to the judicial column where he, and judges before him, sat to judge, and sat there. Ibn ʿĀʾisha expected him to come over. When Ibn ʿĀʾisha had informed him of the letter, ʿĪsā had replied that he would attend only after the governor and the postal official were present. Both came. After a long wait, Ibn ʿĀʾisha sent to ʿĪsā: “The man”—meaning the litigant—“has arrived, and we are waiting for you.” ʿĪsā sent back: “I have not been dismissed from office; the office remains mine as before. The column where I am is the column known as the place where judges sit. If any of the judges’ duties has been entrusted to you, your seat should be there.” When Ibn ʿĀʾisha heard this, he realized he had erred, but was too proud to rise from where he sat and go to ʿĪsā’s place. I saw him inching along, keeping himself hidden from us, until he reached the place where ʿĪsā sat. The litigant presented his claim before them all. Ibn ʿĀʾisha asked ʿĪsā, “What do you say about what this man has mentioned?” ʿĪsā replied, “I will not say a word unless the governor’s scribe, the postal official’s scribe, and my scribe write it down.” Then ʿĪsā gave his statement, they all recorded it, and the letter was sent. The outcome was nothing like what Ibn ʿĀʾisha or the litigant had anticipated; the affair turned out as ʿĪsā wished. I mentioned this to the judge Abū Khāzim. He knew of it, affirmed Bakkār’s entire account, and also told me: A physician in Basra, whose judgment was relied upon and whose account was not suspected, told me he was at Ibn ʿĀʾisha’s house after the dispatch of his letter concerning this affair. He said, “While I was in its courtyard, I saw a sheet and picked it up. It contained a copy of what Ibn ʿĀʾisha had prepared and written to al-Muʿtaṣim. I found many additions to it that had not occurred between him and ʿĪsā.” Returning to Bakkār’s account: Afterward, some Hāshimīs sued Ibn ʿĀʾisha concerning income he took from their endowment. His mother was one of them, and he took it through her, since the endowment was for them, their children, and their children’s children. They said, “You are a man of Banū Taym. You have no right to take from our endowment, which is for us and our children, for we are of Banū Hāshim.” They sued him before ʿĪsā ibn Abān. ʿĪsā asked him for his grounds for taking what he did from their endowment. He said, “I take through my mother. The founder is the ancestor to whom they trace themselves through their fathers, and he is my maternal ancestor; I trace myself to him through her, as they do through their fathers.” ʿĪsā said, “I do not see a right for you in this. It is for the founder’s descendants who trace themselves to him through their fathers, not their mothers.” Ibn ʿĀʾisha said, “I have been receiving it under several judges,” naming Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥammād, Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī, and Yaḥyā ibn Aktham. ʿĪsā said, “If any of the judges you named actually ruled to that effect, and you have documentary evidence of one of their judgments, I shall enforce it for you and count you among the beneficiaries. If you do not, their officers merely exceeded their authority by paying you what they did from its income. Were they sued before me over that, I would make them liable for it.” He excluded him from the endowment and restored it to the Hāshimīs alone; this became a cause of his poverty. Bakkār said: Our companions, Hilāl and others, said that in giving this judgment ʿĪsā had departed from his companions’ position, for they regarded daughters’ children in this matter like sons’ children. They said he was driven to it by what Ibn ʿĀʾisha had done in the story we began with. This was mentioned to ʿĪsā, who said, “I have not departed from our companions’ position. The position on which I judged is Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan’s.” Bakkār said: Neither we, Hilāl, nor those jurists who objected knew this to be Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan’s position. I mentioned it to Abū Khāzim, who knew it and said, “They have achieved nothing. ʿĪsā has transmitted this truthfully from Muḥammad. It is in his large Book of International Law: when a person from an enemy territory is granted safe-conduct for himself, his children, and his children’s children, his daughters’ children are not included.” I returned to the Book of International Law and found it as Abū Khāzim had said. Al-Ṭaḥāwī said: Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Baṣrī al-Sājī, one of the prominent Basrans who came to us and an accomplished specialist in inheritance shares, told me: After his affair with ʿĪsā, Ibn ʿĀʾisha went to the court and stayed there for some time. There the Baghdadis heard from him what they heard. Then he returned to Basra. Abū Khāzim said: When Ibn ʿĀʾisha wanted to return to Basra, Ibn Abī Duʾād asked him at their farewell, “Is there any need, Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, that we can fulfill?” He replied, “Yes: appointment to the judgeship of Basra.” Ibn Abī Duʾād replied, “By God, there is no way to dismiss Abū Mūsā, but ask for something else.” He asked for nothing.

The judge ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: the learned jurist Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī narrated to us: al-Ṭaḥāwī informed us: I heard Bakkār ibn Qutayba say: A man appeared in a lawsuit before ʿĪsā ibn Abān, who was serving as our judge in Basra. He ordered that the man be struck on the back of his neck, and this was done. The man claimed he had lost his sight and went to al-Muʿtaṣim to complain against him. Al-Muʿtaṣim asked, “To whom in Basra would you like us to write for you?” He replied, “To ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿĀʾisha al-Taymī.” He ordered a letter to him to investigate between the man and ʿĪsā. Upon returning, the man delivered it to Ibn ʿĀʾisha, who sent to inform ʿĪsā. ʿĪsā promised to attend the great mosque for the investigation. Ibn ʿĀʾisha arrived first and sat by a column. Then ʿĪsā came; I was with him that day, along with his officers and companions. Because of the crowd, he could not enter through any of the mosque’s doors, so he entered, and we with him, by the way the callers to prayer used on Fridays. ʿĪsā went to the judicial column where he, and judges before him, sat to judge, and sat there. Ibn ʿĀʾisha expected him to come over. When Ibn ʿĀʾisha had informed him of the letter, ʿĪsā had replied that he would attend only after the governor and the postal official were present. Both came. After a long wait, Ibn ʿĀʾisha sent to ʿĪsā: “The man”—meaning the litigant—“has arrived, and we are waiting for you.” ʿĪsā sent back: “I have not been dismissed from office; the office remains mine as before. The column where I am is the column known as the place where judges sit. If any of the judges’ duties has been entrusted to you, your seat should be there.” When Ibn ʿĀʾisha heard this, he realized he had erred, but was too proud to rise from where he sat and go to ʿĪsā’s place. I saw him inching past several columns, until he reached the place where ʿĪsā sat. The governor and the postal official were with ʿĪsā where he sat. The claimant presented his claim before them all. Ibn ʿĀʾisha asked ʿĪsā, “What do you say about what this man has mentioned?” ʿĪsā replied, “I will not say a word unless the governor’s scribe, the postal official’s scribe, and my scribe write it down.” Then ʿĪsā gave his statement, they all recorded it, and the letter was sent. The outcome was nothing like what Ibn ʿĀʾisha or the litigant had anticipated; the affair turned out as ʿĪsā wished. I mentioned this to the judge Abū Khāzim. He knew of it, affirmed Bakkār’s entire account, and also told me: A physician in Basra, whose judgment was relied upon and whose account was not suspected, told me he was at Ibn ʿĀʾisha’s house after the dispatch of his letter concerning this affair. He said, “While I was in its courtyard, I saw a sheet and picked it up. It contained a copy of what Ibn ʿĀʾisha had prepared and written to al-Muʿtaṣim. I found many additions to it that had not occurred between him and ʿĪsā.” Returning to Bakkār’s account: Afterward, some Hāshimīs sued Ibn ʿĀʾisha concerning income he took from their endowment. His mother was one of them, and he took it through her, since the endowment was for them, their children, and their children’s children. They said, “You are a man of Banū Taym. You have no right to take from our endowment, which is for us and our children, for we are of Banū Hāshim.” They sued him before ʿĪsā ibn Abān. ʿĪsā asked him for his grounds for taking what he did from their endowment. He said, “I take through my mother. The founder is the ancestor to whom they trace themselves through their fathers, and he is my maternal ancestor; I trace myself to him through her, as they do through their fathers.” ʿĪsā said, “I do not see a right for you in this. It is for the founder’s descendants who trace themselves to him through their fathers, not their mothers.” Ibn ʿĀʾisha said, “I have been receiving it under several judges,” naming Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥammād, Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī, and Yaḥyā ibn Aktham. ʿĪsā said, “If any of the judges you named actually ruled to that effect, and you have documentary evidence of one of their judgments, I shall enforce it for you and count you among the beneficiaries. If you do not, their officers merely exceeded their authority by paying you what they did from its income. Were they sued before me over that, I would make them liable for it.” He excluded him from the endowment and restored it to the Hāshimīs alone; this became a cause of his poverty. Bakkār said: Our companions, Hilāl and others, said that in giving this judgment ʿĪsā had departed from his companions’ position, for they regarded daughters’ children in this matter like sons’ children on an equal basis. They said he was driven to it by what Ibn ʿĀʾisha had done in the story we began with. This was mentioned to ʿĪsā, who said, “I have not departed from our companions’ position. The position on which I judged is Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan’s.” Bakkār said: Neither we, Hilāl, nor those jurists who objected knew this to be Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan’s position. I mentioned it to Abū Khāzim, who knew it and said, “They have achieved nothing. ʿĪsā has transmitted this truthfully from Muḥammad. It is in his large Book of International Law: when a person from an enemy territory is granted safe-conduct for himself, his children, and his children’s children, his daughters’ children are not included.” I returned to the Book of International Law and found it as Abū Khāzim had said. Al-Ṭaḥāwī said: Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Baṣrī al-Sājī, one of the prominent Basrans who came to us and an accomplished specialist in inheritance shares, told me: After his affair with ʿĪsā, Ibn ʿĀʾisha went to the court and stayed there for some time. There the Baghdadis heard from him what they heard. Then he returned to Basra. Abū Khāzim said: When Ibn ʿĀʾisha wanted to return to Basra, Ibn Abī Duʾād asked him at their farewell, “Is there any need, Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, that we can fulfill?” He replied, “Yes: appointment to the judgeship of Basra.” Ibn Abī Duʾād replied, “By God, there is no way to dismiss Abū Mūsā, but ask for something else.” He asked for nothing.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī the jurist narrated to us: al-Ṭaḥāwī informed us: Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Yūnus al-Baṣrī narrated to us, saying: I heard ʿĪsā ibn Abān, while he stood at the door of his mosque intending to enter for prayer, addressed by a woman: “Judge, fear God regarding my affair! Ask the jurists about my case before ruling against me. Ask Hilāl about it.” I heard him tell her, “Woman, we have no need of Hilāl.”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī the jurist narrated to us: al-Ṭaḥāwī informed us: Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Yūnus al-Baṣrī narrated to us, saying: I heard ʿĪsā ibn Abān, while he stood at the door of his mosque intending to enter for prayer, addressed by a woman: “Judge, fear God regarding my affair! Ask the jurists about my case before ruling against me. Ask Hilāl about it.” I heard him tell her, “Woman, we have no need of Hilāl.”

Abū Bakr Hilāl ibn Muḥammad, nephew of Hilāl al-Raʾy, narrated to us: My father Abū ʿUbayd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Ḥamdān al-Ṭayālisī narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn al-Ṣalt narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Samāʿa narrated to us, from Abū Yūsuf, from Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: I made the pilgrimage with my father in the year 96, when I was sixteen. There was an old man around whom people had gathered. I asked my father, “Who is this man?” He said, “A man who accompanied Muḥammad, God bless him and grant him peace, called ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Juzʾ.” I asked my father, “What does he have?” He said, “Reports he heard from the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace.” I said, “Take me forward to him so I can hear from him.” My father went ahead and parted the people for me until I came close. I heard him say: I heard God’s Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace, say: “Whoever gains understanding of God’s religion, God will suffice him against his cares and provide for him from where he does not expect.”

Abū Bakr Hilāl ibn Muḥammad, nephew of Hilāl al-Rāzī, narrated to us: My father Abū ʿUbayd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Ḥamdān al-Ṭayālisī narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn al-Ṣalt narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Samāʿa narrated to us, from Abū Yūsuf, from Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: I made the pilgrimage with my father in the year 96, when I was sixteen. There was an old man around whom people had gathered. I asked my father, “Who is this man?” He said, “A man who accompanied Muḥammad, God bless him and grant him peace, called ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Juzʾ.” I asked my father, “What does he have?” He said, “Reports he heard from the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace.” I said, “Take me forward to him so I can hear from him.” My father went ahead and parted the people for me until I came close. I heard him say: I heard God’s Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace, say: “Whoever gains understanding of God’s religion, God will suffice him against his cares and provide for him from where he does not expect.”

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā narrated to us: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: Abū Ḥanīfa often quoted this verse: It is sorrow enough to have neither a pleasant life nor a righteous deed with which God is pleased.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā narrated to us: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: Abū Ḥanīfa often quoted this verse: It is sorrow enough to have neither a pleasant life nor a righteous deed with which God is pleased.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī related to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī related to us: Abū Khāzim ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, from Bakr al-ʿAmmī, from Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā: Abū Yūsuf retained Qurʾanic interpretation, accounts of military campaigns, and the historical battles of the Arabs; jurisprudence was the least of his branches of knowledge.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī related to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī related to us: Abū Khāzim ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, from Bakr al-ʿAmmī, from Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā: Abū Yūsuf retained Qurʾanic interpretation, accounts of military campaigns, and the historical battles of the Arabs; jurisprudence was the least of his branches of knowledge.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī related to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī related to us: Judge Abū Khāzim related to us: Bakr al-ʿAmmī related to us, from Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā: Zufar followed Dāwūd al-Ṭāʾī, such that if Dāwūd sat on a rubbish heap, Zufar came and sat with him on it. Zufar came to Basra only to visit Dāwūd al-Ṭāʾī; God have mercy on both.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī related to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī related to us: Judge Abū Khāzim related to us: Bakr al-ʿAmmī related to us, from Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā: Zufar followed Dāwūd al-Ṭāʾī, such that if Dāwūd sat on a rubbish heap, Zufar came and sat with him on it. Zufar came to Basra only to visit Dāwūd al-Ṭāʾī; God have mercy on both.

Abū al-Ḥasan al-ʿAbbās ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Faḍl al-Hāshimī related to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Miskī related to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī related to us: Judge Abū Khāzim related to us, from Bakr, from Hilāl ibn Abī Yaḥyā: Yūsuf ibn Khālid al-Samtī travelled from Basra to Kufa and studied jurisprudence with Abū Ḥanīfa. When he wanted to return to Basra, Abū Ḥanīfa told him, “When you arrive in Basra, you will come to people with established leadership. Do not hasten to sit at a pillar, form a study circle, and say, ‘Abū Ḥanīfa said, Abū Ḥanīfa said.’ If you do, you will soon be made to leave.” Yūsuf departed, became pleased with himself, sat at a pillar, and said, “Abū Ḥanīfa said.” They expelled him from the mosque. No one mentioned Abū Ḥanīfa until Zufar came to Basra. He sat with the elders whose leadership was established, supporting their opinions with arguments they did not possess, which impressed them. Then he said, “There is another opinion here, better than this,” and stated it and argued for it without its being known that it was Abū Ḥanīfa’s. Once they approved of it, he said, “It is Abū Ḥanīfa’s opinion.” They replied, “It is a good opinion; we do not care who held it.” He continued until he brought them to Abū Ḥanīfa’s opinion.

Abū al-Ḥasan al-ʿAbbās ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Faḍl al-Hāshimī related to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Miskī related to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī related to us: Judge Abū Khāzim related to us, from Bakr, from Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā: Yūsuf ibn Khālid al-Samtī travelled from Basra to Kufa and studied jurisprudence with Abū Ḥanīfa. When he wanted to return to Basra, Abū Ḥanīfa told him, “When you arrive in Basra, you will come to people with established leadership. Do not hasten to sit at a pillar, form a study circle, and say, ‘Abū Ḥanīfa said, Abū Ḥanīfa said.’ If you do, you will soon be made to leave.” Yūsuf departed, became pleased with himself, sat at a pillar, and said, “Abū Ḥanīfa said.” They expelled him from the mosque. No one mentioned Abū Ḥanīfa until Zufar came to Basra. He sat with the elders whose leadership was established, supporting their opinions with arguments they did not possess, which impressed them. Then he said, “There is another opinion here, better than this,” and stated it and argued for it without its being known that it was Abū Ḥanīfa’s. Once they approved of it, he said, “It is Abū Ḥanīfa’s opinion.” They replied, “It is a good opinion; we do not care who held it.” He continued until he brought them to Abū Ḥanīfa’s opinion.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Makram related to us: Aḥmad related to us: I heard Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā say: When Dāwūd al-Ṭāʾī came to Basra, they said, “Abū Ḥanīfa’s companion,” and gathered around him. Among the questions they asked about Abū Ḥanīfa’s opinions was, “Tell us about Abū Ḥanīfa’s statement concerning the measure of a dirham.” He said, “Praise be to God: Abū Ḥanīfa did not say anything without my seeing it spread through the cities. He intended the size of the buttocks, using a euphemism and representing its measure.”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Makram related to us: Aḥmad related to us: I heard Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā say: When Dāwūd al-Ṭāʾī came to Basra, they said, “Abū Ḥanīfa’s companion,” and gathered around him. Among the questions they asked about Abū Ḥanīfa’s opinions was, “Tell us about Abū Ḥanīfa’s statement concerning the measure of a dirham.” He said, “Praise be to God: Abū Ḥanīfa did not say anything without my seeing it spread through the cities. He intended the size of the buttocks, using a euphemism and representing its measure.”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī narrated to us: al-Ṭaḥāwī narrated to us: Abū Bakra Bakkār ibn Qutayba narrated to us: I heard Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā say, “No judge more learned in jurisprudence than ʿĪsā ibn Abān has governed Basra since the beginning ofIslam down to our own time.”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī narrated to us: al-Ṭaḥāwī narrated to us: Abū Bakra Bakkār ibn Qutayba narrated to us: I heard Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā say, “No judge more learned in jurisprudence than ʿĪsā ibn Abān has governed Basra since the beginning ofIslam down to our own time.”