Born in 570 AH (1). He studied jurisprudence under Ibn al-Būqī, al-Mujīr al-Baghdādī, Ibn Faḍlān, and Ibn al-Rabīʿ. Distinguished for his mastery, he lectured, issued fatwas, and was appointed judge in 624 AH. In 631 AH he also took up the professorial chair at the Mustanṣiriyya (2). In 633 AH he was dismissed from all his posts; he withdrew to his home, dedicating himself to worship and ascetic practice. Thereafter he was placed in charge of the Marzabāniyya ribāṭ, a position he held until his death.
He transmitted hadith from Ibn Kulaib.
He was regarded as one of the most clear-minded of the leading scholars.
He died in Dhu al-Qaʿda (3), 639 AH.
80 – Ibn ʿAyn al-Dawla, Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥasan al-Iskandarānī *
Chief Judge, Sharaf al-Dīn, Abū al-Makārim Muḥammad, son of the qadi al-Rashīd,
(1) Al-Subki’s and al-Isnawi’s biographical dictionaries both give his birth year as 571 or 572 AH.
(2) For a full discussion, see Naji Maʿruf, History of the Scholars of the Mustansiriyya, vol. 1, pp. 210–212.
(3) Al-Hafiz al-Mundhiri dates his death to the night of 25 Dhu al-Qiʿda; al-ʿAsjad al-Masbuk to 13 Dhu al-Hijja; and History of the Scholars of the Mustansiriyya to 23 Dhu al-Hijja. The most reliable view is al-Dhahabi’s, corroborated by Ibn al-Najjar and followed by al-Subki, Ibn al-Mulaqqin, al-ʿAyni, and Ibn al-ʿImad, which places the death in Dhu al-Qiʿda.
(*) Principal sources: Ibn Nuqta, Takmila li-Wafayat al-Naqala, 3:3056 (notes recorded from him); Ibn Saʿid al-Andalusi, al-Mughrib fi Hula al-Magrib, Egyptian section, 1:256-257; al-Dhahabi, al-ʿIbar, 5:162; idem, Tarikh al-Islam, MS Aya Sofya 3012, fol. 216; al-Safadi, al-Wafi bi-l-Wafayat, 3:352-353, no. 1433; al-Subki, Tabaqat, 8:63-66, no. 1077; al-Isnawi, Tabaqat, 1:544-545, no. 501; al-Fayumi, Nathr al-Juman, vol. 2, fol. 13; al-ʿAsjad al-Masbuk, 505-506; Ibn al-Mulaqqin, al-ʿIqd al-Mudhhab, fol. 176; al-Suyuti, Husn al-Muhadara, 2:119; Ibn al-Imad, Shadharāt al-Dhahab, 5:181-182 and 5:205.