I once asked Aḥmad whether, if I see a man I know to be an adherent of the sunnah in the company of a reprehensible innovator, I should stop speaking to him. 23.2
“No,” he replied. “First tell him that the man you saw him with is an innovator. If he stops talking with him, fine. If not, consider him an innovator too. As Ibn Masʿūd said, ‘Judge a man by his friends.’”
[Al-Ḥasan ibn Thawwāb:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal once told me, “People have never needed Hadith more than they need it now.” 23.3
“Why?”
“Reprehensible innovations have appeared,” he answered. “Without Hadith, you’ll be caught up in them.”
[Abū Muzāḥim:] My uncle, Abū ʿAlī ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yaḥyā ibn Khāqān, told me that al-Mutawakkil ordered him to ask Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal who was qualified to serve as a judge. I asked my uncle to show me Ibn Ḥanbal’s response and he sent me a copy of it. I made my own copy and then went back to him to check that what I had written was correct. The text ran as follows: 23.4
In the name of God, full of compassion, ever compassionate 23.5
This is a copy of the document I presented to Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal after requesting that he confirm its contents, which he did. I asked him to sign it, and he asked his son ʿAbd Allāh to sign for him at the bottom.
I asked Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal about Aḥmad ibn Rabāḥ. He replied that he was a well-known follower of Jahm who had held a position of authority where he had brought harm to Muslims because of his sectarian beliefs.
I asked him about Ibn Khalanjī. He replied as he had in the case of Ibn Abī Rabāḥ, saying that he was a well-known follower of Jahm—in fact, an especially bad and dangerous one.
I asked him about Shuʿayb ibn Sahl, and he replied that he was a well-known follower of Jahm.
I asked him about ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Aḥmad, and he replied that he was a well-known follower of Jahm.
I asked him about the man called Abū Shuʿayb, and he replied that he was a well-known follower of Jahm.
I asked him about Muḥammad ibn Manṣūr, judge in al-Ahwāz. “He was involved with Ibn Abī Duʾād and worked for him, though he was one of the better ones, and I don’t know where he stands.”
I asked him about Ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Jaʿd and he said, “He was well-known for being a follower of Jahm, but then I heard that he’s recanted.”
I asked him about al-Fatḥ ibn Sahl, who had run Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh’s grievance court in Baghdad. He replied that he was a well-known follower of Jahm and an associate of Bishr al-Marīsī, and that it was dangerous to allow anyone like him to hold authority over Muslims.
I asked him about Ibn al-Thaljī and he said, “A reprehensible innovator and a sectarian.”
I asked him about Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAttāb and he said, “I don’t know him, but he was an associate of Bishr al-Marīsī, so I would steer clear of him, and keep him out of any position of authority. In general, heretics and sectarians should not be employed in positions of authority, since giving them power is extremely dangerous to Islam, as the Commander of Believers—God grant him long life—well knows, given his insistence on upholding the sunnah and combating heresy.”
I, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, declare that ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yaḥyā ibn Khāqān has asked me about everything on this document and what I said is what he wrote down. As I am too ill to move or see clearly, I could not write anything myself. At my request and in my presence, my son ʿAbd Allāh has signed at the bottom of this document. I pray to God to give the Commander of Believers long life and good health and bless him with help and guidance, by His grace and power.
[Aḥmad:] Any grave where lies a follower of the sunnah, even one who has sinned, is a flowerbed in the Garden. Any grave where lies a follower of innovation, even one who renounced the world, is a pit inside the Fire. 23.6
ADDENDUM
Our exemplar Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal was so fervent in his attachment to the sunnah and his rejection of innovation that he would criticize many virtuous persons for actions that went against the sunnah. Such criticisms are to be understood as good counsel in a matter of religion. 23.7
[Al-Sarrāj:] One day Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said to me, “I hear that you see a lot of al-Ḥārith,” meaning al-Muḥāsibī. “Next time he comes to your house, could you hide me somewhere so I can hear what he has to say?” 23.8
I was glad that he had come to me, and I told him that I would be happy to do as he asked. Then I went to see al-Ḥārith and asked him to come over that night and to bring his associates as well.
“Ismāʿīl,” he told me, “they’re a large group. Give them all the dregs of oil and dates as you can, but nothing more.”