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He went on to add, “He was ugly of face and shabby in dress.”
Al-Samʿānī said: “He was an outstanding ḥāfiẓ, well-versed in the craft of ḥadīth. He listened to a vast amount, copied books in his own hand until the very end of his life, and would write while the dictation was in progress.”
Ibn Nāṣir remarked: “He was lax during audition sessions: he would talk instead of listening and would say, ‘My mere presence in the gathering is enough for me.’ His doctrine concerning the Quran was reprehensible.”
He died in Rabīʿ al-Ākhir, 524 AH.
I (the author) say: Nothing of the anthropomorphism alleged against him has been firmly established; but if it is in fact authentic, then may he be cast far away and doomed.
- Al-Rāzī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm*
The shaykh, the scholar, the long-lived, the reliable transmitter, the chief narrator of Alexandria and Egypt: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad al-Rāzī, later al-Miṣrī, al-Shurūṭī, al-Muʿaddal, known as Ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. Abū Ṭāhir al-Silafī said about him—according to what I copied from his own handwriting—“In his day there was no one on earth who could match him for the loftiness of his chains of transmission.”
Abu Dawud (215) and al-Darimi 1:194 transmit the report through Abu Hazim, from Sahl ibn Saʿd, who said: “Ubayy ibn Kaʿb told me that the legal verdict they used to give—namely, ‘water is only obligatory for water’—was a concession granted by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at the beginning of Islam; later he commanded that a full ritual bath (ghusl) be taken.” The chain is sound. It was declared authentic by Ibn Khuzayma (225), Ibn Hibban (228, 229), al-Darqutni 1:126, and al-Bayhaqi 1:165. For a detailed discussion, see our critical edition of al-Baghawi’s Sharh al-Sunna, 2:3–7.
(*) Further biographical references: al-Dhahabi, Tarikh al-Islam 4:267/2–268/1; his Duwal al-Islam 2:47; al-Ibar 4:65; al-Nuwayri, al-Nujum al-Zahira 5:247; al-Suyuti, Husn al-Muhadara 1:375; Ibn al-Imad, Shadharat al-Dhahab 4:75.
إِلَى أَنْ قَالَ: وَكَانَ بَشِعَ الصُّوْرَةِ زرِيَّ اللّباس.
وَقَالَ السَّمْعَانِيّ: هُوَ حَافظ مبرز فِي صنعَةِ الحَدِيْث، سَمِعَ الكَثِيْر، وَنسخ بخطِّه وَإِلَى آخر عُمُرِهِ، وَكَانَ يَنسخ وَقت السَّمَاع.
وَقَالَ ابْنُ نَاصر: فِيْهِ تسَاهُلٌ فِي السَّمَاع، يَتحدَّث وَلاَ يُصْغِي، وَيَقُوْلُ: يكفِيْنِي حُضُوْرُ المَجْلِسِ، وَمَذْهَبُهُ فِي القُرْآنِ مَذْهَبُ سُوءٍ.
مَاتَ: فِي رَبِيْعٍ الآخِرِ، سَنَةَ أَرْبَعٍ وَعِشْرِيْنَ وَخَمْسِ مائَةٍ.
قُلْتُ: مَا ثَبَتَ عَنْهُ مَا قِيْلَ مِنَ التَّشبيه، وَإِن صَحَّ، فَبُعْداً لَهُ وَسُحْقاً.
٣٣٣ - الرَّازِيُّ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللهِ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ أَحْمَدَ بنِ إِبْرَاهِيْمَ *
الشَّيْخُ، العَالِمُ، المُعَمَّرُ، الثِّقَةُ، مُسْنِدُ الإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّة وَمِصْر، أَبُو عَبْدِ اللهِ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ أَحْمَدَ بنِ إِبْرَاهِيْمَ بن أَحْمَدَ الرَّازِيّ، ثُمَّ المِصْرِيّ، الشُّروطِي، المُعَدَّل، المَعْرُوف بِابْنِ الحطَاب الَّذِي يَقُوْلُ فِيْهِ أَبُو طَاهِرٍ السِّلَفِيُّ فِيمَا نَقلتُهُ مِنْ خطِّه: لَمْ يَكُ فِي وَقته فِي الدُّنْيَا مَنْ يُدَانِيه فِي عُلُوِّ الإِسْنَادِ.
= داود (٢١٥) ، والدارمي: ١ / ١٩٤ من طريق أبي حازم، عن سهل بن سعد، قال: حدثني أبي بن كعب، أن الفتيا التي كانوا يفتون أن الماء من الماء كانت رخصة رخصها رسول الله ﷺ في بدء الإسلام، ثم أمر بالاغتسال بعد، وإسناده صحيح، وصححه ابن خزيمة (٢٢٥) ، وابن حبان (٢٢٨) و (٢٢٩) ، والدارقطني: ١ / ١٢٦، والبيهقي: ١ / ١٦٥، وانظر التفصيل في " شرح السنة " للبغوي بتحقيقنا: ٢ / ٣ - ٧.
(*) تاريخ الإسلام: ٤: ٢٦٧ / ٢ - ٢٦٨ / ١، دول الإسلام: ٢ / ٤٧، العبر: ٤ / ٦٥، النجوم الزاهرة: ٥ / ٢٤٧، حسن المحاضرة: ١ / ٣٧٥، شذرات الذهب: ٤ / ٧٥.