649 - Al-Hasan ibn Salih informed me, saying: Muhammad ibn Habib narrated to us, saying: I took it from Fawzan, who authenticated it, from Abu Bakr al-Ahwal al-Mishkani, from Abu ‘Abd Allah Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Warraq wrote to me from Mosul, saying: Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hakam narrated to us, from his father, from Abu ‘Abd Allah, that he said to him: "Do you not affirm the Caliphate of ‘Ali? Glory be to Allah, he was an Imam from among the Rightly-Guided Caliphs." Abu ‘Abd Allah said: "Sa‘id ibn Jumhan, a number of people narrated from him." And I asked him about those who weakened the hadith of Safinah due to Sa‘id ibn Jumhan, and he said: "This is a terrible statement. Sa‘id ibn Jumhan is a well-known man; Hammad ibn Salamah, Hammad ibn Zayd, al-‘Awwam, ‘Abd al-Warith, and Hashraj ibn Nubatah narrated from him; these are five that I remember who narrated from him." I said: "What do you say about someone who does not affirm the Caliphate of ‘Ali?" He said: "This is a terrible statement." Ahmad ibn al-Hasan added, from Bakr, from his father: I said: "Is he from the Ahl al-Sunnah?" He said: "I would not dare to exclude him from the Sunnah; he interpreted it and erred." I said: "What about someone who says regarding the hadith of Ibn Mas‘ud: 'The millstone of Islam will turn at thirty-five'—and Ahmad ibn al-Hasan said: 'at thirty-six'—that it is from the emigration (hijrah) of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)?" He said: "This person has indeed been daring without knowledge. Would the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) describe Islam by years while he was still alive? He only describes what would happen after him in terms of years."