Abu Bakr ibn al-Naqqūr said, “Whenever al-Kiyā al-Harrāsī saw Abū al-Khaṭṭāb approaching he would exclaim, ‘Jurisprudence has arrived.’”

al-Salafī remarked, “He is reliable and acceptable, one of the foremost authorities among the followers of Aḥmad.”

Another scholar said, “He was a righteous muftī—devout, scrupulous, and gracious in company. His poetry is elegant, and among his writings are al-Hidāyah, Ruʾūs al-Masāʾil, a work on uṣūl al-fiqh, and a doctrinal ode in which he declares:
‘They said, “Do you claim that He rose over the Throne?”
I replied, “That is the truth; so my master has conveyed.”
They said, “Then explain the meaning of His rising to us.”
I answered, “Such a question is posed only by one who transgresses.”’

Abū al-Khaṭṭāb died on the twenty-third of Jumādā al-Ākhirah in 510 AH.

Ahmad ibn Isḥāq narrated to us; Nasr ibn ʿAbd al-Razzāq the judge narrated to us; ʿUmar ibn Hadiyyah the jurist narrated to us; Abū al-Khaṭṭāb Maḥfūẓ ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Kalwadhānī narrated to us; Abū Yaʿlā Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn the judge narrated to us; Abū al-Qāsim Mūsā ibn ʿĪsā narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Baghandī narrated to us; ʿĪsā ibn Zughbah narrated to us; al-Layth narrated, from Abū al-Zubayr, from Jābir, who said:

Muʿādh led his companions in the night prayer and made it very long. One of us left the congregation, prayed on his own, and departed. When Muʿādh was informed of what he had done, he said, “He is a hypocrite.”

When the man heard that, he went to the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—and informed him of Muʿādh’s words. The Prophet said, “Muʿādh, do you want to be a cause of hardship? When you lead the people in prayer, recite ‘By the Sun and its Brightness,’ ‘Glorify the Name of your Lord the Most High,’ and ‘By the Night when it Enshrouds.’”