213 - 'Ismah ibn 'Isam al-'Ukbari reported to me, saying: Hanbal ibn Ishaq narrated to us, saying: I said to Abu 'Abd Allah [Ahmad ibn Hanbal]: Who claims that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was upon the religion of his people before he was sent [as a messenger]? He replied: "This is an evil statement. It is necessary to warn against the speech of the person who holds this view, and he should not be sat with." I said to him: "Our neighbor, the critic Abu al-'Abbas, says this statement." He replied: "May Allah fight him! What [dignity] is left if he claims that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was upon the religion of his people while they worshipped idols? Yet Allah the Almighty and Majestic said, and 'Isa [Jesus] gave tidings of him, saying: 'His name is Ahmad.'" I said to him: "And he claims that Khadijah was in that state when the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, married her during the Jahiliyyah [pre-Islamic period]." He replied: "As for Khadijah, I will not say anything [against her]; she was the first of the women to believe in him. Then, what is this talk that people are spreading? These are the people of speculative theology [Ahl al-Kalam]. Whoever loves speculative theology will not succeed. Subhan Allah, Subhan Allah to this statement!" He regarded this as a grave matter and argued against it with words I did not memorize, and he mentioned his mother, [saying] that when she gave birth to him, she saw a light. "Is it not that when she gave birth, she saw this, and before he was sent, he was pure and cleansed from idols? Did he not refuse to eat what was slaughtered for the stone altars?" Then he said: "Beware of the people of speculative theology; their affair will not lead to any good."