1062 - Hamid ibn Ahmad informed me that he heard al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Harith ask Abu Abd Allah: "Is the statement of al-Harith ibn 'Amira correct, that Ibn Mas'ud retracted [his position on] the exception (al-istithna')?" He replied: "It is not correct. His companions remain upon [adhering to] the exception." Then he said: I heard Hajjaj, from Sharik, from al-A'mash and Mughira, from Abu Wa'il: A weaver heard of the statement of 'Abd Allah [Ibn Mas'ud] and said: "This is the error of a scholar," meaning when he [Ibn Mas'ud] said to him—if they said 'We are believers'—: "Why did you not ask them: Are they in Paradise?" Ahmad severely rejected my statement that he had retracted the exception, and he said: "His companions are likewise; they uphold the exception."
١٠٦٢ - وَأَخْبَرَنِي حَامِدُ بْنُ أَحْمَدَ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ الْحَسَنَ بْنَ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْحَارِثِ، أَنَّهُ سَأَلَ أَبَا عَبْدِ اللَّهِ: يَصِحُّ قَوْلَ الْحَارِثِ بْنِ عَمِيرَةَ أَنَّ ابْنَ مَسْعُودٍ رَجَعَ عَنِ الِاسْتِثْنَاءِ،؟ فَقَالَ: «لَا يَصِحُّ، أَصْحَابُهُ يَعْنِي عَلَى الِاسْتِثْنَاءِ» ، ثُمَّ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ حَجَّاجًا، عَنْ شَرِيكٍ، عَنِ الْأَعْمَشِ وَمُغِيرَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي وَائِلٍ: أَنَّ حَائِكًا بَلَغَهُ قَوْلُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، قَالَ: زَلَّةُ عَالِمٍ، يَعْنِي حَيْثُ قَالَ لَهُ: إِنْ قَالُوا: إِنَّا مُؤْمِنُونَ، فَقَالَ: «أَلَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُمْ أَفِي الْجَنَّةِ هُمْ؟» وَأَنْكَرَ أَحْمَدُ قَوْلِي: رَجَعَ عَنِ الِاسْتِثْنَاءِ إِنْكَارًا شَدِيدًا، وَقَالَ: «كَذَلِكَ أَصْحَابُهُ، يَقُولُونَ بِالِاسْتِثْنَاءِ»
