Yazeed bin Haaroon said, "I said to Hammaad bin Zaid: O Abaa Ismaa'eel! Has Allaah the Mighty and Majestic mentioned the As.haab ul-Hadeeth in the Qur'aan?" He said, "Yes, have you not heard His saying, "Of every troop of them, a party only should go forth, that they (who are left behind) may get instructions in (Islâmic) religion, and that they may warn their people when they return to them" (Tawbah 9:122). So this is for everyone who travels in seeking hadeeth and fiqh (of the religion) and who returns with it to those who remain behind him, teaching them that which he has acquired."
Ahmad bin Hanbal said, "I heard Abdur-Razzaaq say concerning the saying of Allaah the Mighty and Majestic, "And it is not (proper) for the believers to go out to fight (Jihâd) all together. Of every troop of them, a party only should go forth, that they (who are left behind) may get instructions in (Islâmic) religion, and that they may warn their people when they return to them, so that they may beware (of evil)." (Tawbah 9:122), so he said, "They are the As.haab ul-Hadeeth."
Ibraaheem bin Adham said, "Verily Allaah the Most High repels calamities from this Ummah on account of the journeying of the As.haab ul-Hadeeth."
Nasr bin Marzooq said, "Ali bin Ma'bad, whenever he would see the As.haab ul-Hadeeth, would say, "Their hair is dishevelled, their clothes are dirty, their faces have dust on them, and if there was to be no reward alongside all this, then by Allaah, this is punishment indeed".
I [al-Khateeb] say: And we believe firmly, without any doubt, that the seeker of hadeeth is rewarded for his seeking, and the least benefit that is acquired by this is what has been said by Wakee' bin al-Jarraah:
Wakeel Ibn al-Jarraah said, "If a man was not to acquire anything from seeking hadeeth except that it prevents him (i.e. preoccupies him) from desire (hawa), then he has attained correctness in doing so".
Hammaad bin Zaid said, "News of the death of a youth from As.haab ul-Hadeeth would reach Ayyoob as-Sakhtiyaanee, and the effects of that would be observed in him, and the death of a man who would be mentioned with abundant worship would reach him and no effects of (being affected by that) would be observed in him".
