I say: he ranked among the leading scholars of the Maliki school. Qadi Iyad ⦗1⦘ mentions him as well.

21 – al-ʿUshārī, Abū Talib Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Fatḥ *

The eminent and trustworthy shaykh, Abū Talib Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Fatḥ al-Ḥarbī, known as al-ʿUshārī.

He heard hadith from: Abū al-Ḥasan al-Dāraquṭnī, Abū al-Fatḥ al-Qawwās, Abū Ḥafṣ ibn Shāhīn, Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Batta, Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-ʿAllāf, al-Kattānī, al-Mukhalliṣ, Abū Bakr ibn Shādhān, ʿĪsā ibn al-Wazīr, and al-Muʿāfā ⦗2⦘.

Al-Khaṭīb ⦗3⦘ said: “I wrote down traditions from him; he was reliable and upright. He was born at the beginning of 366 AH.”

He also told me, “My grandfather was tall, so people called him al-ʿUshārī ⦗4⦘.”

I add: Abū Talib was a jurist and scholar—ascetic, devout, and prolific. He kept the company of Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Batta and Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥāmid, and he pursued jurisprudence in the school of Ahmad.

Those who narrated from him include: Abū al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ṭuyūrī, Abū ʿAlī al-Barrādānī, Shujāʿ al-Dhuhlī, Abū al-ʿIzz ibn Kādash ⦗5⦘, Aḥmad ibn Quraysh, and Abū Bakr.