[Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl:] Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Tirmidhī and I were once at Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s and al-Tirmidhī said, “Someone mentioned Hadith scholars to Ibn Abī Qutaybah in Mecca and he called them a bad lot.” 22.1

“Heretic!” exclaimed Aḥmad, rising and shaking out his garment. “Heretic! Heretic!” Then he disappeared into his house.

[Ṣāliḥ:] I heard my father say: “Anyone who reveres Hadith scholars will acquire standing in the eyes of the Prophet, God bless and keep him, and anyone who treats them with contempt will lose his favor, since Hadith scholars are the Prophet’s own rabbis.” 22.2

[Al-Marrūdhī:] I said to Aḥmad: “Whoever dies a Muslim and a follower of the sunnah dies well.” 22.3

“I should say so!” he retorted. “Whoever dies a Muslim and a follower of the sunnah dies as well as anyone could.” [Al-Bazzāz:] Someone asked Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal where to find the Substitutes. He remained silent so long we thought he wasn’t going to respond. Then he said, “If not among the Hadith scholars, I don’t know where.” 22.4

[Al-Zabīdī:] Once, seeing the Hadith scholars approaching, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal pointed at the inkpots in their hands and said, “Those are the lamps of Islam.” 22.5

[Al-Makkī:] Once, seeing the Hadith scholars emerging from a session with their teacher, inkpots in their hands, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said, “If these people aren’t the best we have, I don’t know who would be.” 22.6

[Al-Qāflānī:] I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say, “If the Hadith scholars are not the Substitutes, I don’t know who would be.” 22.7

[Abū l-Thalj:] I asked Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal whether it was better to write down Hadith or to pray and fast. 22.8

“It’s better to write down Hadith,” he said.

“Why?” “Because with praying and fasting, someone can always say, ‘I saw others doing it so I did it too.’” [Al-Faḍl ibn Ziyād:] I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say: “Anyone who rejects a Hadith of the Prophet, God bless and keep him, stands on the brink of ruin.” 22.9