He was born in 496 AH.

In Cordoba he studied under Abū Muḥammad ibn ʿAṭṭāb, Abū Baḥr ibn al-ʿĀṣī, and Abū al-Walīd ibn Rushd in 515 AH; and in Seville he sat with Abū Bakr ibn al-ʿArabī and Abū al-Ḥasan Shuraiḥ ibn Muḥammad, though he later chose not to transmit from either of them.

He read the Kitāb of Sībawayh (1) with Abū al-Ḥasan ibn al-Akhḍar and took from him the standard works on language. He likewise received Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim from Abū al-Qāsim al-Hawzanī.

Those who narrated from him include Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Allah al-Sharīshī, Abū al-Ḥusayn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Zarqūn, Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ghazzāl, Abū ʿAlī al-Shalawbīn, Abū al-Khaṭṭāb ibn Diḥyah, Yaḥyā ibn Aḥmad al-Sakūnī al-Lablī, and many others.

He enjoyed outstanding prestige: leadership in safeguarding the textual material required for legal opinion devolved upon him. He was summoned to the consultative council in 521 AH; his standing grew immense and he came to possess ample worldly means. Although he was not versed in the critical science of ḥadith, his chains of transmission in it were exceptionally elevated.

A master of eloquence, he was tried during the Lablah affair, fettered and imprisoned. He was the jurist of his age, and eminent scholars completed their training under him.

He died in Shawwāl (2), 586 AH.

Abū al-Rabīʿ ibn Sālim said: “Among the eminent shaykhs I studied with is the great ḥadith scholar, the illustrious senior Abū Bakr ibn al-Jadd—jurisconsult of al-Andalus, its foremost memorizer, and its undisputed leader. For more than sixty years the mantle of authority in fiqh rested upon him, together with a majesty that surpassed all bounds and the noble qualities to which he steadfastly held. The abundance of his memory and the robustness of his learning are lessons for those who reflect, a sign among signs. I read to him the Jāmiʿ of al-Tirmidhī.”