Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh

Concerning ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ: Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ mentioned this in the book he composed on Abū Ḥanīfa’s merits. That book was read to the jurist and hadith master Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Manṣūr al-Bukhārī, God have mercy upon them, in the year four hundred and fifty-one. He said: Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad al-Sarakhsī informed us: the imam Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Saʿd related to us: Abū Sahl Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sahl ibn Ḥafṣ al-ʿIjlī informed us: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥafṣ al-ʿIjlī informed us: my father, the teacher Abū Ḥafṣ al-Kabīr, informed us: ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ḥimmānī informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa related to us, from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī: He prayed in one thick shirt, without a waistcloth or mantle, although he had garments beside him that he could have taken if he wished.

He said: Through this same chain, from Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ: Asad ibn ʿAmr al-Bajalī informed us, from Abū Ḥanīfa, from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār, who said: Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh led us in prayer in a thick shirt, wearing nothing else. He said: I think he meant to show us that there is no harm in praying in a single garment.

He said: Through this same chain, from the teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥafṣ: my father informed us: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa informed us: Yazīd ibn Ṣuhayb informed us, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, who said: I asked him about intercession. He said: God punishes some believers, then brings them out through Muḥammad’s intercession, God bless him and grant him peace. I asked: What then of God’s words, “They will not emerge from it, and theirs is an enduring punishment” [Qurʾan 5:37]? He answered: This concerns those who disbelieved. Read what precedes it.

He said: Through this same chain, from the teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ: my father informed us: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa said: Abū al-Zubayr Muḥammad ibn Muslim related to us, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī, from the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace. Surāqa ibn Mālik ibn Juʿshum asked him: “Messenger of God, tell us about this religion of ours: in what setting do we act? In something over which the pens have already passed and the decrees have been fixed, or in something whose actions we begin anew?” He said: “In something over which the pens have passed and the decrees have been fixed.” He asked: “Then why act, Messenger of God?” He answered: “Act, for every person who acts is enabled. Whoever belongs to Paradise is enabled to do the deeds of its people; whoever belongs to the Fire is enabled to do the deeds of its people.” Then he recited: “As for one who gives and is mindful, and affirms the best, We shall ease him toward ease. But as for one who is miserly and considers himself self-sufficient, and denies the best, We shall ease him toward hardship” [Qurʾan 92:5–10].

Know that Abū Ḥanīfa was more knowledgeable about sound hadith and the interpretation of hadith, while others took the outward wording. It is related that ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn Saʿīd said: “I performed the pilgrimage with the people of Basra in the year when the people of Kufa also performed it. On the second day of the sacrifice—the day called the Day of Rest, because people remain at Minā and do not leave—I saw Abū Ḥanīfa sitting with his companions at Minā. I also saw Ibn Abī Laylā sitting elsewhere with his companions, and Ibn Shubruma elsewhere with his companions. I asked Abū Ḥanīfa about a sale subject to a condition. He answered, ‘The sale is defective.’ I asked Ibn Abī Laylā, who answered, ‘The sale is valid, but the condition is void.’ I asked Ibn Shubruma, who answered, ‘The sale is valid and the condition is effective.’ I wondered to myself how these scholars differed over this question.”

“I asked Ibn Shubruma for his evidence. He said: ‘Abū al-Zubayr informed me, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī, that Jābir was travelling with the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, riding a camel and falling behind his companions. The Prophet saw him and asked, “Jābir, why have you fallen behind?” I said, “My mount is slow.” The Prophet took a whip and struck the animal gently, and it began moving ahead of his companions. The Prophet asked, “Will you sell this animal?” Jābir said yes. He asked, “For how much?” I replied, “Messenger of God, how much will you pay?” The Prophet asked, “Will you sell it for ten dirhams?” I said no. “For a hundred?” I said no. He kept increasing the offer until it reached two hundred, and I said no; then three hundred, and I said no; then four hundred, and I said, “Yes, but on condition that I do not hand it over to you now: I shall ride it to Medina and then send it to you.” I sold it on that condition. When we reached Medina, I unloaded my baggage at home and brought the animal to the Prophet. He gave me four hundred dirhams.’”

“Then I went to Ibn Abī Laylā and asked for his evidence. He said: ‘Hishām informed me, from ʿUrwa, from ʿĀʾisha—God be pleased with them—that she wanted to buy Barīra. The seller said, “I will sell her on condition that if you free her, the patronage belongs to us.” ʿĀʾisha told the Prophet, who said: “Buy her and stipulate the patronage for them: patronage belongs to the one who frees.”’”

“Then I went to Abū Ḥanīfa and asked for his evidence. He said: ‘Ḥammād informed me, from Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī, from ʿAlqama, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, that the Prophet prohibited a sale combined with a condition.’ He then explained the interpretation of ʿĀʾisha's hadith: ‘Stipulate the patronage for them’ means ‘against them,’ as in God's words, ‘For them is the curse, and for them is the evil abode’ (Qurʾān 40:52), meaning ‘against them.’”

He also explained the other hadith: the transaction between the Prophet and Jābir. When the Prophet paid the four hundred, he said, “Jābir, the price is yours and the animal is yours.” This demonstrates that Abū Ḥanīfa was more knowledgeable about interpreting hadith.