361 – Ibn al-Ḥajj, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Khalaf

He was the senior shaykh of al-Andalus, its mufti, and chief qāḍī: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Khalaf ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Lub al-Tujībī, from Córdoba, a Mālikī, known as Ibn al-Ḥajj.

He studied jurisprudence with Abū Jaʿfar ibn Ruzq, refined his literary training under Abū Marwān ibn Sirāj, and heard a large number of ḥadith from Abū ʿAlī al-Ghassānī, Muḥammad ibn al-Faraj, Khāzim ibn Muḥammad, and several others.

Ibn Bashkuwāl said: “He was one of the eminent scholars, counted among the ḥadith specialists and men of letters. He had keen insight in issuing legal opinions; fatāwā revolved around him because of his learning, piety, and reliability. He cared deeply for the transmitted reports, collecting them, meticulously recording the names of their transmitters, noting their meanings and rare expressions, and attending to genealogy, language, and grammar.

“He devoted his entire life to the preservation of knowledge. I know of no one in his day who pursued learning as he did. I heard from him myself. He was gentle, forbearing, and humble; no injustice was ever recorded against him in any case. He was much given to humility and remembrance. He was killed wrongfully on a Friday while in prostration, in Safar of the year 529 AH, at the age of seventy-one.”(1)

I say: Those who transmitted from him include Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAmīrah, Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf ibn Rushd, Ibn Bashkuwāl, and his son Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn