Bishr ibn al-Haarith said:
“(Ahmed) bin Hanbal was entered into a stove, and he came out gold”
[Taareekh Dimashq: 5/307, Chain Hasan]
Imaam Ibraaheem bin Ishaaq bin Ibraaheem bin Basheer al-Harbi rahimahullah (D. 285H) said:
“Sa’eed ibn al-Musayyab in his era (was an Imaam), Sufyaan ath-Thawree in his era (was an Imaam), and Ahmed bin Hanbal in his era (was an Imaam)”
[Hilyat al-Awliyaa: 9/167, Chain Saheeh; Taareekh Baghdaad: 4/417, Chain Saheeh]
Ibraaheem al-Harbi also said:
“I have seen men of the world, but I did not see anyone similar to three men. I have seen Ahmed bin Hanbal; the women are deprived of giving birth to someone similar to him”
[Taareekh Baghdaad: 7/73, Chain Saheeh; Abul Hasan bin Daleel is Ali bin al-Hasan bin Daleel]
Famous Imaam and Faqeeh, Abu Muhammad Ishaaq bin Ibraaheem bin Makhlad al-Handhali al-Marwazi, famous as: Ishaaq bin Rahwayh (D. 238H) said:
“If Ahmed bin Hanbal was not there, and had he not sacrificed his life then (I think) Islaam would have vanished”
[Hilyat al-Awliyaa: 9/171, Chain Hasan]
Abu Ali al-Hasan bin ar-Rabee’ al-Bajali al-Koofi al-Bawraani rahimahullah (D. 220H) said:
“I used to compare Ahmed bin Hanbal to (Imaam) Ibn alMubaarak in shape and character”
[Taareekh Dimashq by Ibn al-Asaakir: 5/299, Chain Hasan]
A narrator of Hadeeth, Muhanna bin Yahya ash-Shaami rahimahullah said:
“I have not seen anyone possessing good qualities altogether than Ahmed bin Hanbal; and I have seen Sufyaan ibn Uyaynah, Wakee’, Abdur Razzaaq, Baqiyyah bin al-Waleed, Damrah bin Rabee’ah, and many other Scholars; but I have not seen anyone similar to Ahmed bin Hanbal in his knowledge, his Fiqh, his Zuhd, and his piousness”
[Hilyat al-Awliyaa: 9/165, 174, Chain Saheeh; Taareekh Dimashq: 5/305, Chain Saheeh]
Note: Muhanna bin Yahya is a Thiqah narrator according to the Jamhoor; therefore he is Hasan ul-Hadeeth. The Jarh of Muhammad bin al-Husayn al-Azdi (who himself is Da’eef) on him is Mardood. For more details, see: Lisaan al-Meezaan (6/108, 109)
Taken from the works of Shaykh Zybayr Ali Zai, translated by Raza Hassan, the book can be downloaded from here
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