The Shaykh thereupon began praising and glorifying Allah, whereupon he was told, “Respond; we did not bring you here to deliver a sermon!”

He asked, “Who is to judge my case?”

He was told(1), “The Maliki judge.”

He replied, “How can he judge me when he is my adversary?” He grew intensely angry and disturbed.

He was then placed under guard and imprisoned in a tower for several days. On the night of Eid al-Fitr he and his two brothers—Sharaf al-Din ʿAbd Allah and Zayn al-Din ʿAbd al-Rahman—were transferred to the prison known as al-Jubb (“the Pit”).

More than a year later, on the night of Eid al-Fitr in 706 AH, the Deputy of the Sultanate, Sayf al-Din Salar(2), summoned the three chief judges—the Shafiʿi, the Maliki, and the Hanafi—along with the jurists al-Baji, al-Jazari, and al-Nimrawi, and conferred with them about securing his release(3) from prison.

They agreed that certain conditions(4) should be imposed on him and that he must retract some points of doctrine.

They sent someone to bring him so they could speak with him about this, but he did not comply