997 - Abu al-Muthanna Mu'adh ibn al-Muthanna al-'Anbari informed me that Harun ibn 'Abd Allah al-Bazzar narrated to them, saying: Abu 'Abd Allah [Ahmad ibn Hanbal] was asked about the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Whoever cheats us is not of us." He remained silent. It was then said to him: "Does 'not of us' mean 'not like us'?" He disapproved of this and said: "This was narrated by Mis'ar, from 'Abd al-Karim Abu Umayyah." Then he said: "Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah used to err regarding it, saying: 'From Mis'ar, from Habib, from al-Hasan ibn Muhammad.'" Then Abu 'Abd Allah said: "If a man were to fast and pray, would he be like the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)?" Then he added: "These are the Murji'ah," meaning that this interpretation is from their doctrines regarding the phrase: "not of us."