805 - Abu Bakr al-Marwudhi informed us, saying: I asked Abu Abd Allah [Ahmad ibn Hanbal] about Khalaf al-Mukharrimi. He replied: 'He went out with me to Tarsus, with his books upon his neck. We went out on foot, and we had not yet reached Rahbat Tawq until he became a burden upon me.' He said: 'We went out [to seek knowledge] together, I mean in Tarsus, and I did not know him to be anything but chaste in belly and private parts.' Abu Abd Allah said: 'Later on, I went to my uncle's house in al-Mukharrim, and I saw him but turned away from him.' Then he said: 'And what did people find objectionable about Khalaf other than these despicable hadiths? Ghundar had a paper, or he said a scrap of parchment, and Khalaf and Yahya went away with it and heard them [the hadiths within it]. This reached Yahya al-Qattan, and he spoke very harsh words [against them].'
806 - Muhammad ibn Ali informed us, saying: Muhanna narrated to us, saying: I asked Ahmad about Khalaf ibn Salim, and he did not praise him, nor did he see fit that one should narrate from him.
807 - Muhammad ibn Ali informed me, saying: Muhanna narrated to us, saying: I asked Ahmad about Ubayd Allah ibn Musa al-Absi. He replied: 'He is a Kufan.' I asked: 'So what is he like?' He said: 'As God wills.' I asked: 'What is he like, O Abu Abd Allah?' He said: 'It does not please me to narrate from him.' I asked: 'Why?' He said: 'He narrates hadiths that contain disparagement of the Companions of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace.'
808 - I heard Muhammad ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Yazid al-Munadi saying: We were in Mecca in the year [two hundred and] nine, and Ubayd Allah ibn Musa was with us. He narrated [hadiths] on the way, and a hadith concerning Mu'awiya came up, so he cursed Mu'awiya and cursed those who do not curse him. Ibn al-Munadi said: I informed Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and he said: 'He is an aggressor, O Abu Ja'far.' Then Muhammad ibn Abi Harun informed me that Hubaysh ibn Sindiy narrated to them that Abu Abd Allah mentioned to him the hadith of Ubayd Allah ibn Musa and said: 'I do not consider him fit to be narrated from; he has leveled insults at the Companions of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. A man from among our companions, whom I hope to be truthful, told me just a few days ago that he was with him on the road to Mecca, and he narrated a hadith in which he cursed Mu'awiya. He said: "Yes, may God curse him, and may He curse those who do not curse him." Is this man fit to be narrated from?'—this was said in disapproval by Abu Abd Allah, meaning that he is not fit to be narrated from.
