Among those who transmitted from him were Abu al-Barakat Ismaʿil ibn Ahmad al-Sufi and al-Silafi; yet his lying and fabrication soon became evident. Shujaʿ judged him, “Weak.” Al-Muʾtaman said, “It should be proclaimed at his grave: ‘Here lies a liar.’” ʿAbd al-Wahhab al-Anmati remarked, “He ruined the household of Ibn Zahra al-Turaythithi.” Ibn Nasir stated, “He used to lie.” Al-Silafi added, “I wrote nothing from him except what came from his own original copies.” Al-Samʿani noted, “He wrote an uncountable amount that yields no benefit, made extravagant claims, and staged audition sessions for himself (1).”
He died in Shaʿban 495 AH, at the age of eighty-seven.
111 – Ibn al-Khattab, Abu al-ʿAbbas Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Ahmad *
The imam, hadith scholar, and jurist Abu al-ʿAbbas Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Ahmad ibn al-Khattab al-Razi, a Shafiʿi who took up residence in Egypt.
(1) Lisan al-Mizan cites Ibn al-Samani: “He nevertheless claimed to have heard reports he had not in fact heard, and he ruined the audition records of several shaykhs by inducing them to transmit what they had not received—among them Abu Bakr al-Tarithithi. I myself noticed his certificates of audition in several fascicles of al-Khatib’s works, either appended later or corrected. In spite of that, he was known for piety, upright conduct, asceticism, devotion, and close association with the elders.
Ibn Nasir commented: ‘Outwardly he seemed righteous, yet the report is objectionable. Had he been content with what God granted him of genuine audition, it would have been better, for a man benefits from even a little when it is accompanied by truthfulness.’”
* Sources: al-Dhahabi, Tadhkirat al-huffaz, 4/1228 (misprinted there as al-Khattab with dotted kha); Ibn Hajar, Tawdih al-mushtabih, 1/209/1; al-Taj: Hatab.