authoring works on jurisprudence, legal theory, and hadith; he maintained a circle for issuing fatwas and another for exhortation, and he was uncompromising toward dissenters. Among those who transmitted from him by ijāza was the ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad ibn Nāṣir.
Al-Qifṭī mentions him and says (1): “He was one of the leading Hanbalis.” It is related that Ibn al-Bannāʾ once asked, “Did al-Khaṭīb list me in the History of Baghdad among the trustworthy narrators or among the liars?” He was told, “He did not mention you at all.” He replied, “I wish he had mentioned me, even if among the liars.”
Al-Qifṭī also says (2): “He was regarded as an authority in Qurʾānic readings, language, and hadith, and it is said that he produced five hundred works, though he was Hanbali in creed.”
He died in Rajab 471 AH.
Ibn al-Najjār states: “Ibn al-Bannāʾ tutored the children of the Jarada family.” He had recited to al-Hammāmī according to the variant readings and wrote extensively, yet his writings betray a lack of understanding: he often mis-vocalized words and his learning was limited. Still, he taught recitation, transmitted hadith, lectured, issued fatwas, and produced a commentary on al-Idāḥ by Abū ʿAlī al-Fārisī. When one examines his prose, his poor handling becomes evident; I have seen his arrangement of Abū ʿUbayd’s al-Gharīb, and it is riddled with confusion and transcriptional errors.
Shujāʿ al-Dhuhlī said: “He was one of the skilled Qurʾān reciters; we heard a portion of his works from him.” Al-Muʾtaman al-Sājī remarked: “He had an impressive bearing and appearance, but I could not bring myself to listen to him.” Ismāʿīl al-Samarqandī said: “There was a hadith scholar named al-Ḥasan …”