Muḥammad ibn Saʿd said: “Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Wāqidī was a client of the Banū Aslam and later of the Banū Sahm, a branch of Aslam. He served as judge in Baghdad under al-Maʾmūn for four years. He was learned in the maghāzī (accounts of the Prophet’s campaigns), the sīrah, the futūḥ (Muslim conquests), legal rulings, and the areas where the scholars differ. He set all of this forth in books that he compiled, arranged, and from which he taught. He informed me that he was born in 130 AH.

Ibn Saʿd also said in al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kabīr: “He was the client of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Buraydah al-Aslamī. He came to Baghdad in 180 AH because of debts that had befallen him and remained there. He then travelled to Syria and al-Raqqah, after which he returned. When al-Maʾmūn arrived from Khurasan, he appointed him judge, assigning him to the Camp of al-Mahdī. He continued in office until he died in Baghdad on the eleventh of Dhū al-Ḥijjah, 207 AH.” ⦗1⦘

Al-Bukhārī mentioned him, saying: “They withheld from him; he was abandoned by Aḥmad and Ibn Numayr.” ⦗2⦘

Muslim and others said: “His ḥadith is to be discarded.”

Al-Nasāʾī said: “He is not reliable.”

Al-Khaṭīb said: “His fame spread across East and West; riders carried his books on the various disciplines—maghāzī, sīrah, ṭabaqāt, and fiqh. He was generous, noble, and renowned for his munificence.” ⦗3⦘

Muḥammad ibn Salām al-Jumaḥī said: “Al-Wāqidī was the scholar of his era.” ⦗4⦘