51- And it was said to Imam Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal: Who should we ask after you?
He said: Ask ʿAbd al-Wahhāb.
And Imam Aḥmad said: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb is worthy of being followed, may God grant ʿAbd al-Wahhāb well-being, ʿAbd al-Wahhāb is an Imam, and he is a place for Legal opinion (Fatwa).
It was said to him: Do you accept everything ʿAbd al-Wahhāb answers regarding a matter?
He said: Glory be to God! People differ in Jurisprudence (Fiqh), he is a place [for it].
And he said: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb is an Imam, and he is a righteous man; someone like him is granted success to hit the truth (1).
Notes
- (1) Al-Sunna by al-Khallāl (1850), Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābila (1/211), and Al-Waraʿ by Aḥmad (4). I say: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Warrāq, may Allah have mercy on him, is not well-known for an abundance of Narration, Books, issuing fatwas, and transmitting hadith, but he is a "righteous man," as Imam Aḥmad, may Allah have mercy on him, described him. Here is a point of reflection that should be noted and remembered: the scale by which the Imams of the Sunna weigh people is action and conformity to the Sunna, not an abundance of authorship, Books, memorization, chains of transmission, and narrations. For ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Warrāq, may Allah have mercy on him, is not known to many scholars, nor is he famous for an abundance of narrations and compilation. Despite this, Imam Aḥmad, may Allah have mercy on him, praised him with this commendation and described him as an "Imam." This description is one that Imam Aḥmad, may Allah have mercy on him, hardly ever applied except to a few scholars in his time, despite their large numbers. Imam Mālik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "Knowledge is a light that God places wherever He wills; it is not by an abundance of Narration." [Al-Ḥilya (6/319)]. And al-Barbahārī, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "Know that knowledge is not by an abundance of Narration and Books; rather, the scholar is the one who follows the Book and the Sunna, even if he has little knowledge and few Books. And whoever opposes the Book and the Sunna is a person of Innovation, even if he has an abundance of Narration and Books." End quote.
