Mālik ibn Anas

Abū Jaʿfar al-Manṣūr summoned Abū Ḥanīfa, Ibn Abī Dhiʾb and Mālik ibn Anas and asked: “Do you consider me fit for the caliphate?” They were silent. Ibn Abī Dhiʾb then said: “If you obey God, His enabling grace is near you; if you disobey, it is far from you. The caliphate rests on the agreement of the God-fearing. You and your helpers are outside that grace, overpowering what is right. If you ask God for safety and approach Him through pure deeds, that is better for you; otherwise you are the one who will be called to account.”

Abū Ḥanīfa said: “If you were honest with yourself, you would know that in seeking our agreement you did not intend God. You intended the public to know that we say what you desire through fear of your sword and prison. Not even two of the God-fearing have agreed to your caliphate. The caliphate comes through the believers' agreement and consultation. Do you not see that when Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq became caliph after the Prophet's death, he did not rule for six months until the pledge of the people of Yemen reached him?” He then asked Mālik, who said: “Had God not regarded you as fit, He would not have assigned you kingship and authority over this community. May God help you in what He has entrusted to you and inspire you concerning what He has granted you.” They departed.

Al-Manṣūr told his minister al-Rabīʿ ibn Yūnus: “Take three purses, each containing ten thousand silver dirhams, and follow them. If Mālik accepts, give him all of them. If Abū Ḥanīfa or Ibn Abī Dhiʾb accepts, cut off his head.” Al-Rabīʿ said: “I went to Ibn Abī Dhiʾb, who said, ‘I do not approve of this money for him; how could I approve of it for myself?’ Abū Ḥanīfa said, ‘Even if my neck were struck to make me touch one dirham, I would not touch it.’ He added: ‘He should have mercy on himself, seek pardon from those he wrongs, or return the property to the wronged.’ Mālik accepted all the money. Abū Jaʿfar said: ‘Abū Ḥanīfa and Ibn Abī Dhiʾb have preserved their blood through this restraint.’”