He was born around the year 150 AH.

He heard from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ghasil—his oldest shaykh—as well as from Mālik ibn Anas, Ḥammād ibn Zayd, Ḥashraj ibn Nubātah, Ṣāliḥ al-Murri, and the Chief Judge Abū Yūsuf, under whom he studied law and by whom he came to excel.

Those who narrated from him include al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAllawayh, Ḥāmid ibn Shuʿayb al-Balkhī, Mūsā ibn Hārūn, Abū al-Qāsim al-Baghawī, Abū Yaʿlā al-Mawṣilī, Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Thaqafī, and many others.

His doctrinal stance was sound; he did have a slip, yet—Allah willing—it does not compromise his honesty or his virtue.

He became judge of ʿAskar al-Mahdī in 208 AH (1), then judge of Madīnat al-Manṣūr, remaining in office until 213 AH. We have been informed that he was an imam, broad in fiqh, abundant in knowledge, devoted to hadith, and notable for piety and worship.

It was said that his daily routine comprised two hundred cycles of prayer, a practice he maintained even after suffering paralysis and physical debilitation—may Allah have mercy on him (2).

Muḥammad ibn Saʿd al-ʿAwfī said: “Bishr ibn al-Walīd al-Kindī transmitted Abū Yūsuf’s books and was appointed judge over both sides of Baghdad. Someone then denounced him to the authorities, claiming that he rejected the doctrine of the Qur’an being created. Al-Muʿtaṣim therefore ordered that he be confined to his house and placed guards at his door. When al-Mutawakkil assumed the caliphate, he ordered his release, after which Bishr lived on for many years.

“Later he said, ‘Just as I affirm that the Qur’an is the speech of Allah without saying that it is created, so too I do not say that it is uncreated; rather, I withhold judgment.’ He adhered to this position of suspension, whereupon many hadith scholars distanced themselves from him and stopped transmitting from him, while others continued to do so (3).”