1 . أَخْبَرَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ الطَّالَقَانِيُّ، قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِلْمَنْصُورِ: إِنَّ النَّاسَ يَقُولُونَ مَا بَالُ الْمَنْصُورِ يُكْثِرُ التَّمَسُّكَ بِالْقُرْآنِ وَلَا يُكْثِرُ التَّمَسُّكَ بِالْحَدِيثِ؟! قَالَ: مَا بَالُهُمْ يُكْثِرُونَ التَّمَسُّكَ بِالْحَدِيثِ وَلَا يُكْثِرُونَ التَّمَسُّكَ بِالْقُرْآنِ؟! أَمَا بَلَغَهُمْ قَوْلُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «أَحَدُهُمَا أَكْبَرُ مِنَ الْآخَرِ»؟! أَلَا إِنَّ أَحْسَنَ الْحَدِيثِ الْقُرْآنُ وَكُلَّ حَدِيثٍ لَا يُوَافِقُ الْقُرْآنَ فَهُوَ زُخْرُفٌ ﴿وَلِتَصْغَى إِلَيْهِ أَفْئِدَةُ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ وَلِيَرْضَوْهُ وَلِيَقْتَرِفُوا مَا هُمْ مُّقْتَرِفُونَ﴾[3]! ثُمَّ أَخَذَ بِيَدِهِ مُصْحَفًا وَقَالَ: إِنَّ هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ يَنْطِقُ عَلَيْكُمْ بِالْحَقِّ فَاسْتَنْطِقُوهُ! قُلْتُ: أَفَيَنْطِقُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ؟! قَالَ: نَعَمْ، يُنْطِقُهُ اللَّهُ الَّذِي يُنْطِقُ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ! قُلْتُ: وَكَيْفَ يُنْطِقُهُ؟! قَالَ: يُنْطِقُهُ عَلَى لِسَانِ خَلِيفَتِهِ! أَمَا بَلَغَكُمْ قَوْلُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «إِنَّهُمَا لَنْ يَفْتَرِقَا حَتَّى يَرِدَا عَلَيَّ الْحَوْضَ»؟! قُلْتُ: فَأَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ خَلِيفَتِهِ مَتَى يَنْطِقُ بِالْقُرْآنِ؟! قَالَ: إِذَا أَعْطَيْتُمُوهُ صَفْقَةَ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَثَمَرَةَ قُلُوبِكُمْ!
Translation of the saying:
Ahmad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Talaqani informed us, he said: I said to Mansoor: “People say, ‘What is the matter with Mansoor that he holds on to the Quran too much and does not hold on to hadith too much?!’” He said: “What is the matter with them that they hold on to hadith too much and do not hold on to the Quran too much?! Has the word of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family, not reached them that he said: ‘One of them (i.e., the Quran) is greater than the other’?! Know that the best Hadith is the Quran, and any hadith that does not conform to the Quran is an embellishment ‘so that the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter may incline toward it and that they may be pleased with it and commit whatever they are committing!’” Then he took a copy of the Quran and said: “Indeed, this Quran speaks to you truthfully, so ask it to speak!” I said: “Does it really speak, may I be sacrificed for you?!” He said: “Yes. Allah, Who makes everything speak, makes it speak!” I said: “How does He make it speak?!” He said: “He makes it speak through the tongue of His Caliph! Has the word of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family, not reached you that he said: ‘Indeed, those two will never be separated until they come to me by the Pond’?!” I said: “Then inform me of His Caliph, when will he speak by the Quran?!” He said: “When you give him the palm of your hands and the fruit of your hearts!”
Explanation of the saying:
The intended meaning of “the palm of the hand” in the saying of this scholar is “the pledge of allegiance (i.e., bay‘ah)” that is made with the palm of the hand, and it signifies the covenant of obedience, and the intended meaning of “the fruit of the heart” in it is the most beloved thing to the human being that is considered a delight to his eyes (i.e., the most pleasing thing to him) in the life of the world. Therefore, in the opinion of Mansoor, may Allah Almighty protect him, the advent of the Mahdi, peace be upon him, occurs when a sufficient number of people pledge allegiance to him and are willing to sacrifice the most beloved things to them in his way. At that time, he will speak and then make the Quran speak through his speech.
2 . أَخْبَرَنَا وَلِيدُ بْنُ مَحْمُودٍ السِّجِسْتَانِيُّ، قَالَ: قَالَ لِلْمَنْصُورِ رَجُلٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْحَدِيثِ وَهُوَ يُخَاصِمُهُ: صَدَقَةُ الْفِطْرَةِ فَرِيضَةٌ عَلَى كُلِّ نَفْسٍ وَإِنْ كَانَتْ فَقِيرَةً تَحْتَاجُ إِلَيْهَا لِحَدِيثٍ رَوَاهُ أَبُو دَاوُدَ! قَالَ: كَذَبْتَ وَكَذَبَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ! إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى يَقُولُ: ﴿لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا مَا آتَاهَا﴾![4] قَالَ الرَّجُلُ: أَتَدَعُ الْحَدِيثَ الصَّحِيحَ؟! قَالَ: أَدَعُهُ إِلَى مَا هُوَ أَصَحُّ مِنْهُ، أَدَعُهُ إِلَى كِتَابِ اللَّهِ! قَالَ: لَكِنَّا لَا نَدَعُ الْحَدِيثَ الصَّحِيحَ! قَالَ وَأَقْبَلَ عَلَى أَصْحَابِهِ وَهُمْ بَيْنَ سَاخِطٍ وَمُتَعَجِّبٍ: إِذَا رَأَيْتُمُ النَّاسَ يَتَقَلْقَلُونَ فِي الضَّلَالَةِ تَقَلْقُلًا فَكَبِّرُوا اللَّهَ عَلَى مَا هَدَاكُمْ! فَقَالَ أَصْحَابُهُ: اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ عَلَى مَا هَدَانَا! ثُمَّ أَقْبَلَ عَلَى الرَّجُلِ وَقَالَ: اعْلَمْ أَيُّهَا الرَّجُلُ أَنَّ أَحْسَنَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ وَكُلَّ حَدِيثٍ خَالَفَ كِتَابَ اللَّهِ فَهُوَ زُخْرُفٌ!
Translation of the saying:
Walid ibn Mahmud al-Sajistani informed us, he said: A man from the people of Hadith said to Mansoor while quarreling with him: “Zakat al-Fitr is obligatory for everyone, even if he is poor and in need of it, because of a hadith that Abu Dawud has narrated!” He said: “You lied, and Abu Dawud lied! Indeed, Allah Almighty says: ‘Allah does not impose upon anyone an obligation but to the extent of his ability!’” The man said: “Do you abandon an authentic hadith?!” He said: “I abandon it toward what is more authentic than it; I abandon it toward the Book of Allah!” The man said: “But we never abandon an authentic hadith! Then he turned toward his companions, some of whom were angry and some surprised, and said: “Whenever you see people wobbling in misguidance, proclaim the Greatness of Allah for guiding you!” So his companions said: “We proclaim the Greatness of Allah for guiding us!” Then he turned toward the man and said: “Know, O man, that the best Hadith is the Book of Allah, and any hadith that contradicts the Book of Allah is an embellishment!”
Explanation of the saying:
The intended meaning of the hadith narrated by Abu Dawud and used by the man as evidence for the obligation of Zakat al-Fitr on the poor in need of it is the hadith of Tha‘labah ibn Abi Su‘ayr, in which it has been said that Allah has made Zakat al-Fitr obligatory for both the rich and the poor. Undoubtedly, this hadith, with the meaning that the man has perceived from it, contradicts the Quran; because the Quran says: ﴿لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا مَا آتَاهَا﴾; “Allah does not impose upon anyone an obligation but to the extent of his ability.” Based on this, the man’s lie is that he has attributed a ruling contrary to the Quran to Allah; as his claim about the authenticity of the hadith may also be a lie; because this hadith is highly mudtarib (i.e., shaky), and some hadith scholars have considered it non-authentic; as Ahmad ibn Hanbal has said: “‘It is not authentic; it is merely mursal, narrated by Ma‘mar and ibn Jurayj from al-Zuhri as mursal hadith.’ It was said: ‘Who is this from?’ He said: ‘It is from Nu‘man ibn Rashid. He is not reliable in hadith,’ and he considered the hadith of ibn Abi Su‘ayr weak. He was asked about ibn Abi Su‘ayr, ‘Is he well-known?’ He said: ‘Who knows ibn Abi Su‘ayr?! He is not well-known.’”[5] He also said once: “Nu‘man ibn Rashid has narrated it and attributed it to Tha‘labah ibn Abi Su‘ayr from his father, but others do not raise it to this level, nor do they attribute it to his father, and the majority of hadith scholars do not consider it to be from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family.”[6] As for the lie of Abu Dawud, the author of Sunan, it is that he has narrated a hadith from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family, that contradicts the Quran and remained silent about it, and this is equivalent to lying, and the intended meaning of the term «الزخرف»; “an embellishment” is any false statement that appears beautiful on the surface.