154 – The Most Eminent Shaykh ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Baghdādī *

He was the refined dignitary and exemplary leader, Abū Manṣūr ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Muḥammad (1) ibn Yūsuf al-Baghdādī, the maternal grandson of the Imām Abū al-Ḥusayn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Sawsanjaridī (2).

He was popularly styled “al-Shaykh al-Ajall” (the Most Eminent Shaykh).

He studied under his grandfather, under Abū Muḥammad ibn al-Bayyiʿ, Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ṣalt al-Ahwāzī, and Abū ʿUmar ibn Mahdī.

Transmitters from him include his two sons, his relatives, and more than one other scholar.

Al-Khaṭīb (3) said: “In his time he had no equal in performing good deeds, in constant charity, in showing generosity to the scholars, in supporting the people of the Sunnah, and in suppressing the people of innovation. He died in his seventies.”

I say: He passed away in Muḥarram of the year 460 AH.

Ibn Khayrūn dated his death and wrote: “He was buried next to his maternal grandfather; all the dignitaries attended his funeral. He was righteous, lavish in almsgiving, fiercely devoted to the Sunnah, and he met the needs of most scholars and pious men.”

I add: He enjoyed broad standing and direct ties with the caliph (4).

Ubayy al-Narsī said: “I have never seen a gathering equal to the one that attended his funeral—may Allah have mercy on him.”