Abū al-Zubayr Muḥammad ibn Muslim

He said: Through this same chain, from the teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ: my father informed us: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa said: Abū al-Zubayr Muḥammad ibn Muslim related to us, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī, from the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace. Surāqa ibn Mālik ibn Juʿshum asked him: “Messenger of God, tell us about this religion of ours: in what setting do we act? In something over which the pens have already passed and the decrees have been fixed, or in something whose actions we begin anew?” He said: “In something over which the pens have passed and the decrees have been fixed.” He asked: “Then why act, Messenger of God?” He answered: “Act, for every person who acts is enabled. Whoever belongs to Paradise is enabled to do the deeds of its people; whoever belongs to the Fire is enabled to do the deeds of its people.” Then he recited: “As for one who gives and is mindful, and affirms the best, We shall ease him toward ease. But as for one who is miserly and considers himself self-sufficient, and denies the best, We shall ease him toward hardship” [Qurʾan 92:5–10].