605 - Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Atrush informed me, saying: Muhammad ibn al-Fadl Abu Bakr al-Qastani al-Razi narrated to us, saying: I heard Abu Hatim al-Razi, [409], say: I heard Ahmad ibn Abi al-Hawari say: Ahmad ibn Hanbal came to us, so I went to him and asked him about the order of precedence (al-tafdil). His companions shouted at me, but he said: "Leave him, for he is one of the people of the Sunnah. What do you want?" I said: "What do you say regarding the order of precedence?" He replied: "According to the Hadith of Safinah regarding the order of precedence and the caliphate."