187 – al-Khawlani, Abu ʿAbd Allah Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah
The shaykh, the eminent, the long-lived, the truthful, and the hadith authority of al-Andalus: Abu ʿAbd Allah Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Ghalbun al-Khawlani, of Cordoba.
Birth: 418 AH.
His father took special care of him, sought authorizations for him from the senior scholars, and enabled him to audition hadith while still a youth.
He heard extensively from his own father, the hafiz Abu ʿAbd Allah. He also received the Muwaṭṭaʾ from Abu ʿAmr ʿUthman ibn Ahmad al-Qijitali (1), the disciple of Abu ʿIsa ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Laythi, and in the whole world he alone enjoyed so lofty a chain for it. He further heard from Abu ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Ahdab, Abu Muhammad al-Shintajali (2), ʿAli ibn Hammuyah al-Shirazi, and several others.
Those who granted him ijazah included: Yunus ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Mughith al-Qadi; Abu ʿAmr al-Marshani (3) — uniquely authorized by Abu Bakr al-Ajurri, the Meccan resident; Abu ʿUmar Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Talamanki; the hafiz Abu Dharr al-Harawi, also resident in Mecca; Makki ibn Abi Talib al-Qaysi; and the hafiz Abu ʿAmr al-Dani.
Ibn Bashkuwal said: “He was a virtuous shaykh, chaste and reserved, from a household… (4)"