217 – al-Taqī al-Aʿmā *
The instructor at the Aminiyyah (1), he was an imam, a mufti, and well-versed in the Shāfiʿī school. When his money was taken, he accused of the theft a man who used to read to him and guide him. People then turned on him, and—overcome with shame—he hanged himself from the western minaret in 602 AH (2). After him, al-Jamāl al-Miṣrī (3) assumed the teaching post at the Aminiyyah.
218 – al-Farrāʾ, Abū al-Mafākhir Khalaf ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥamd **
He was the mufti of Isfahan: Abū al-Mafākhir Khalaf ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥamd al-Iṣfahānī, known as al-Farrāʾ, a Shāfiʿī. He heard hadith from Ismāʿīl ibn al-Ikhshīdh and Ibn Abī Dharr al-Ṣāliḥānī, while Ibn Khalīl and al-Ḍiyāʾ narrated from him. He granted written authorization to the Shaykh (4), to Ibn al-Bukhārī, and to Ibn Shaybān (5).
(*) Dhayl al-Rawdatayn by Abu Shama, pp. 54–55; al-Ibar, 5/4; Tarikh al-Islam, 18/1/93–94; Nukat al-Himyan, pp. 323–324; Tabaqat al-Subki, 8/345–346; Tabaqat al-Isnawi, fol. 24; al-Bidaya by Ibn Kathir, 13/44; al-Aqd al-Mudhhab by Ibn al-Mulaqqin, fol. 166; Shadharat al-Dhahab, 5/7.
His name is Isa ibn Yusuf ibn Ahmad al-Gharafi, so called after al-Gharaf, the well-known town and river in Iraq that still exist today.
(1) The madrasa is named for Amin al-Dawla Kumishtakin ibn Abd Allah (d. 541); see al-Daras by al-Nuaymi, 1/177, and Munadamat al-Atlal by Badran, pp. 86–87.
(2) Abu Shama reports that he was found hanged on Thursday, 7 Dhu al-Qaʿda of that year.
(3) At that time al-Jamal al-Misri was the administrator of the treasury (wakil bayt al-mal) in Damascus.
(* *) Tarikh al-Islam, 18/1/99.
(4) That is Shams al-Din Abd al-Rahman al-Maqdisi.
(5) He likewise granted an ijaza (authorization to transmit) to Ibn Abi al-Khayr.