on al-Māzarī, so he devoted himself to the study of medicine until he excelled in it, and he even issued expert medical opinions just as he issued legal verdicts in jurisprudence.

Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ states in al-Madārik (1): “Al-Māzarī—known simply as ‘the Imām,’ a resident of al-Mahdiyya—was said to have seen a vision in which he asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, is the title by which they address me valid? They call me the Imām.’ He replied, ‘Broaden your breast for issuing fatwas’ (2).”

ʿIyāḍ then remarks: “He was the last of the scholastic theologians among the elders of Ifrīqiya who combined rigorous verification of jurisprudence, the rank of independent reasoning (ijtihād), and penetrating insight. He studied under al-Lakhmī (3), Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd al-Sūsī (4), and others in Ifrīqiya. He taught the principles of law and theology and rose to the very forefront; in his time no Mālikī anywhere in the lands was more knowledgeable of the school, nor more committed to it. He heard hadiths, probed their meanings, and mastered many sciences—medicine, mathematics, literature, and more—so that he became one of the truly accomplished scholars. People turned to him for legal verdicts. He was of fine character, delightful company, fond of storytelling and poetry, and his pen was more eloquent than his tongue. He authored works on jurisprudence and legal theory, produced a commentary on Muslim’s collection, on al-Talqīn, and on al-Burhān by Abū al-Maʿālī al-Juwaynī (5).”