Among those who narrated from him were al-Khatib, al-Kattani, the jurist Nasr al-Maqdisi, Abu Tahir al-Hinnaʾi, and Abu al-Qasim al-Nasib—who pronounced him reliable—and, by authorization, Abu Saʿd ibn al-Tuyuri (1).
He also compiled a lengthy book on the divine attributes (2) that contained blatant fabrications; among them the report about a horse’s sweat (3) and other such disgraces, so the scholastic theologians and others vilified him.
He used to attack Ibn Abi Bishr (4) and even penned notes reviling him—may Allah forgive them both.
Ibn ʿAsakir (5) said: “He followed the doctrine of the Salamiyya (6); he held to the literal sense and relied on weak hadith that bolstered his view.”
I heard Abu al-Hasan ibn Qubays relate from his father: “When Abu ʿAli was seen to be excessively prolific in his transmission of readings he fell under suspicion. Rashaʾ ibn Nazif (7) and Ibn al-Furat therefore travelled to Baghdad, recited to the very teachers from whom al-Ahwazi had reported, and returned. Abu ʿAli then went to them and asked them to show him …”
(1) His full name is Ahmad ibn Abd al-Jabbar al-Sayrafi; he died in 517 AH. His biography will appear in volume 19 of this work under no. 270.
(2) Ibn Asakir lists the work under the title al-Bayan fi Sharh Uqud Ahl al-Iman; see Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari, p. 369.
(3) See al-Lali al-Masnua, 1/3, and Tanzih al-Sharia, 1/134.
(4) The reference is to Abu al-Hasan al-Ashari. The author composed against him the book Mathalib Ibn Abi Bishr al-Ashari, to which Ibn Asakir replied comprehensively in Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari, pp. 364–420.
(5) See Tahdhib Tarikh Ibn Asakir, 4/197.
(6) Al-Allama al-Kawthari comments in his notes on Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari, p. 369: The Salimiyya are a branch of the mushabbiha (anthropomorphists). They claim that God can be seen in human form, that He recites on the tongue of every reciter, and that when they hear the Quran they believe they are hearing it directly from God. They also maintain that the dead eat, drink, and even marry in the grave. This sect is well known in Basra and its environs, and is named after the doctrine of al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Salim al-Salimi al-Basri and his son, the Sufi Abu Abd Allah.
(7) He is the qari Abu al-Hasan Rasha ibn Nazif ibn Ma Sha Allah al-Dimashqi (d. 444 AH); see Marifat al-Qurra al-Kibar, 1/321–322, and Ghayat al-Nihaya, 1/284.