أحمد بن محمد (report 416; identity unresolved)

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad related to us: Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf ibn Yaʿqūb al-Juʿfī related to us: Muḥammad ibn Yazīd al-Nakhaʿī related to us: al-Ḥakam ibn Miskīn related to us, from Hishām ibn Sāsān al-Ṣayrafī, who said: Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him—asked Abū ʿAbd Allāh about God’s words, Mighty and Majestic: ‘By God, our Lord, we were not associators.’ He said, ‘What do you say about it, Abū Ḥanīfa?’ He said, ‘They were not associators.’ He said, ‘Do you not hear His words, “See how they have lied against themselves”?’ He said, ‘Then what do you say about it, Abū ʿAbd Allāh?’ He said, ‘They are people of the qibla who associated partners without knowing it. God, Mighty and Majestic, said, “See how they have lied against themselves.”’

The quotations are Qurʾān 6:23–24. ‘People of the qibla’ denotes those facing the Muslim prayer direction; the theological interpretation remains attributed to the speakers.