Suwayd ibn Saʿīd said, “He was called al-Zanjī because of his dark complexion.”

That was Suwayd’s view; Ibn Saʿd and others differed, saying, “He was blond, and he was only nicknamed al-Zanjī by way of contrast.”

Aḥmad al-Azraqī remarked, “He was a jurist and a devoted worshipper who fasted perpetually.”

I say: he pursued his legal studies under Ibn Jurayj.

Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī said, “He was the jurist of Mecca, and he was fair-haired, the color of an onion.”

Ibn Abī Ḥātim said, “An imam in knowledge and jurisprudence; he had a light complexion tinged with redness, and he was labelled al-Zanjī because of his love for dates.”

His maidservant once told him, “You are nothing but a Zanjī!”

From al-Jaʿdiyyāt (1): al-Zanjī ibn Khālid narrated to us; Zayd ibn Aslam narrated to us, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“When one of you enters upon his Muslim brother and the latter offers him a drink, let him drink it without asking about it; but if he has misgivings, let him dilute it with water.”

This ḥadith is denounced (munkar).

I say: he died in 180 AH.

23 – Sulaymān al-Khawwāṣ *

One of the eminent ascetics of Syria.

Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Firyābī said, “I was in a gathering that included al-Awzāʿī, Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, and Sulaymān al-Khawwāṣ, and he mentioned …”