Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (19/452)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

ʿImāmah al-Baghdādī, the Ḥanbalī.
He was born in 429 AH.
He learned and took ḥadīth from Ibn Ghaylān, Abū Muḥammad ibn al-Muqtadir, al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad al-Khallāl, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAlī al-Azajī, and Abū al-Qāsim al-Tanūkhī, though only a small number of narrations are preserved from him.
Those who transmitted from him include Ibn Nāṣir and Abū al-Muʿammar al-Anṣārī.
Ibn al-Najjār said: He studied jurisprudence under the leading scholars of his time, issued legal opinions, engaged in scholarly debate, and memorized more works of literature, poetry, and rare anecdotes—both serious and light-hearted—than anyone else. He alone excelled in preaching (1), and people benefited greatly from his gatherings: he could move them to tears and then make them laugh. He enjoyed immense acceptance among both the elite and the common folk. His quick wit and lively spirit were so famous that consensus formed around them. During the nights of Ramadan he led the caliph al-Imām al-Muqtadī bi-Amri Llāh in the tarāwīḥ prayers and was counted among his close companions.
He died in Rabīʿ al-Awwal of 506 AH. A vast crowd attended his funeral, and Ibn al-Najjār has recorded many of his witty remarks and pleasant jokes.

(1) Ibn al-Jawzi records this incident in al-Muntazam, 9/173–174, and the hadith master Ibn Rajab quotes it in Dhayl Tabaqat al-Hanabila, 1/107, 109: it concerns a preaching session held in the Mahdi Mosque during which he addressed the vizier Nizam al-Mulk with advice that combined solid learning, the dignity of a believer, purity of intention, and genuine solicitude for the addressee. May Allah grant the Muslim community in our own time more men of this stature, for our age is dominated either by flatterers who turn their counsel into a means of worldly gain and ingratiation with the powerful, or by extremists inclined to excess, rigidity, suspicion, and recklessness—both groups being far removed from the straight and wise path of Allah.

عِمَامَة البَغْدَادِيّ، الحَنْبَلِيّ. وُلِدَ: سَنَةَ تِسْعٍ وَعِشْرِيْنَ وَأَرْبَعِ مائَةٍ. وَسَمِعَ مِنِ: ابْنِ غَيْلاَنَ، وَأَبِي مُحَمَّدٍ بنِ المقتدِر، وَالحَسَن بنِ مُحَمَّدٍ الخَلاَّل، وَعَبْدِ العَزِيْزِ بن عَلِيٍّ الأَزَجِي، وَأَبِي القَاسِمِ التَّنُوخِي، وَرَوَى اليَسِيْرَ. حَدَّثَ عَنْهُ: ابْنُ نَاصر، وَأَبُو المُعَمَّر الأَنْصَارِيّ. قَالَ ابْنُ النَّجَّار: درسَ الفِقْهَ عَلَى شُيُوْخِ زَمَانه، وَأَفتَى وَنَاظر، وَحَفِظَ مِنَ الآدَاب وَالشِّعر وَالنوَادِرِ فِي الجدِّ وَالهَزْلِ مَا لَمْ يَحفظْه غَيْرُه، وَانْفَرَدَ بِالوعظِ (١) ، وَانتفعُوا بِمَجَالِسه، فَكَانَ يُبْكِي النَّاسَ وَيُضْحِكهُم، وَلَهُ قبولٌ عَظِيْم عِنْد الخَاصِّ وَالعَامِّ، وَكَانَ لَهُ مِنْ حِدَّة الخَاطر، وَخِفَّةِ الرُّوح مَا شَاع وَذَاع وَاتَّفَقَ عَلَيْهِ الإِجْمَاعُ، وَكَانَ يَؤُمُّ بِالإِمَامِ الْمُقْتَدِي بِأَمرِ الله فِي التَّرَاويح وَيُنَادِمُهُ. مَاتَ: فِي رَبِيْعٍ الأَوَّلِ، سَنَةَ سِتٍّ وَخَمْس مائَة، وَشيَّعه خلق كَثِيْر، وَسَاقَ ابْنُ النَّجَّار نَوَادِرَ وَطِيبَ مُزَاحٍ لَهُ.

(١) ذكر له ابن الجوزي في " المنتظم ": ٩ / ١٧٣، ١٧٤، والحافظ ابن رجب في " ذيل طبقات الحنابلة ": ١ / ١٠٧، ١٠٩، مجلس وعظ بجامع المهدي نصح به نظام الملك الوزير نصيحة تلمح فيها العلم الأصيل، وعزة المؤمن، ونزاهة القصد، وكمال الشفقة للمنصوح. أكثر الله في المسلمين من أمثاله في عصرنا هذا ... الذي شاع فيه المداهنون الذين يبتغون بنصحهم حطام الدنيا، والتزلف لأصحاب النفوذ، والمتطرفون الذين ينزعون إلى الغلو والتنطع، وسوء الظن والتهور، وكلاهما بمنأى عن صراط الله السوي، ونهجه الحكيم.