Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (19/200)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

the rationale of conditional stipulations. He also took part in other commendable fields of knowledge, while being devout, upright, and meritorious, known for prolonged prayer. He voiced the truth even when harmed for it, and no reproach in matters concerning Allah deterred him. Both elite and common folk venerated him and acknowledged his due. He served as the prayer-leader in Córdoba, excelled in reciting the Book of Allah, issued fatwas, taught hadith, lived to an advanced age, and students undertook journeys to study with him. He composed a work entitled Aḥkām al-Nabī (The Prophet’s Legal Rulings) (1), which I read to my father on his authority (2).

Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ said: “He was righteous, outspoken in the truth, and stern toward innovators. After the death of Ibn al-Qaṭṭān he was the one consulted for legal opinion until the Almoravids arrived, whereupon they dismissed him from issuing fatwas because of his hostility toward them.”

Many scholars heard from him and travelled to him to study the Muwaṭṭaʾ, the Mudawwana (3)—in which his chain was exceptionally high—and Sunan al-Nasāʾī. Of those still living he possessed the soundest and most elevated sanad. He nevertheless displayed a certain simple-mindedness (4) regarding worldly matters, and amusing anecdotes are related about this. He was severe with the people of innovation and kept away from anyone who delved into subjects other than hadith.

Al-Yasaʿ ibn Ḥazm reported from his father: “We were with Ibn al-Ṭallāʿ in his orchard when al-Muʿtamid ibn ʿAbbād passed by from his palace. On seeing Ibn al-Ṭallāʿ he dismounted, asked him to pray for him, humbled himself, offered apologies, made vows and gifts, whereupon the shaykh said to him, ‘O…’”

(1) Ibn Khayr, Faharis, p. 246: Kitab Ahkam Rasul Allah (The Legal Rulings of the Messenger of Allah) by the jurist Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Faraj. I was informed of it by the shaykh-jurist Abu al-Qasim Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Baqi—may Allah have mercy on him—when I recited it to him in his home; he said, “Its author, Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Faraj—may Allah have mercy on him—read it aloud to me.” (2) Al-Sila, vol. 2, pp. 564–565. (3) See Ibn Khayr, Faharis, p. 241. (4) Meaning: because he devoted himself entirely to learning and to rectifying his own soul and that of his community, he neglected worldly affairs and therefore lacked practical savvy. Such guileless simplicity (balaha) is praiseworthy; the hadith, “Most of the inhabitants of Paradise are the guileless,” was transmitted by al-Bazzar, but several leading scholars have graded it weak.

عِلل الشُّروط، مُشَارِكاً فِي أَشيَاء مِنَ العِلْمِ حَسَنَة، مَعَ دينٍ، وَخيرٍ، وَفضلٍ، وَطُولِ صَلاَة، قَوَّالاً لِلْحقِّ وَإِنْ أُوذِي، لاَ تَأْخُذُه فِي اللهِ لَوْمَةُ لاَئِمٍ، مُعَظَّماً عِنْد الخَاصَّةِ وَالعَامَّةِ، يَعرِفُوْنَ لَهُ حقَّهُ، وَلِيَ الصَّلاَةَ بقُرْطُبَة، وَكَانَ مُجَوِّداً لِكِتَابِ اللهِ، أَفْتَى وَحَدَّثَ وَعُمِّرَ، وَصَارَت الرِّحلَةُ إِلَيْهِ، أَلَّف كِتَاباً فِي أَحكَام النَّبِيّ (١) ﷺ قرَأْتُهُ عَلَى أَبِي عَنْهُ (٢) . وَقَالَ القَاضِي عِيَاض: كَانَ صَالِحاً، قَوَّالاً لِلْحقِّ، شدِيداً عَلَى المُبْتَدِعَة، شُووِر عِنْدَ مَوْتِ ابْن القَطَّان إِلَى أَنْ دَخَلَ المرَابطون، فَأَسقطُوهُ مِنَ الفُتْيَا لِتعصُّبه عَلَيْهِم. سَمِعَ مِنْهُ عَالَمٌ كَثِيْر، وَرحلُوا إِلَيْهِ لِسمَاعِ (المُوَطَّأ) ، وَلِسمَاع (المدوَّنَة (٣)) لِعلوه فِي ذَلِكَ، وَلـ (سُنَن النَّسَائِيّ) وَكَانَ أَسندَ مَنْ بَقِيَ صَحِيْحاً فَاضِلاً، عِنْدَهُ بَلَهٌ (٤) بِأَمرِ دُنْيَاهُ وَغفلَةٌ، وَيُؤْثَرُ عَنْهُ فِي ذَلِكَ طَرَائِفُ، وَكَانَ شدِيداً عَلَى أَهْلِ البِدَع، مُجَانِباً لِمَنْ يَخوضُ فِي غَيْرِ الحَدِيْث. وَنَقَلَ اليَسعُ بن حَزْم عَنْ أَبِيْهِ، قَالَ: كُنَّا مَعَ ابْنِ الطَّلاَّع فِي بُستَانِه، فَإِذَا بِالمُعْتَمِدِ بن عَبَّادٍ مُجتَازٌ مِنْ قَصْرِه، فَرَأَى ابْنَ الطَّلاَّع، فَنَزَلَ عَنْ مَرْكُوبه، وَسَأَل دُعَاءَهُ، وَتَضَرَّع، وَتذمَّم، وَنَذَرَ، وَتَبَرَّع، فَقَالَ لَهُ الشَّيْخ: يَا

(١) وفي فهرست ابن خير ص ٢٤٦: كتاب أحكام رسول الله ﷺ تأليف الفقيه أبي عبد الله محمد بن فرج، حدثني به الشيخ الفقيه أبو القاسم أحمد بن محمد بن بقي ﵀ قراءة مني عليه في منزله، قال: حدثني به أبو عبد الله محمد بن فرج مؤلفه ﵀ قراءة عليه. (٢) الصلة: ٢ / ٥٦٤، ٥٦٥. (٣) انظر فهرست ابن خير ص: ٢٤١. (٤) أي: انه لانصرافه إلى العلم، وانشغاله بإصلاح نفسه، وبني جنسه، أغفل أمور دنياه، فجهل حذق التصرف فيها، وهذا النوع من البله محمود، وحديث " أكثر أهل الجنة البله " أخرجه البزار وقد ضعفه غير واحد من الأئمة.