Abū Ghassān Mālik ibn Ismāʿīl, Musaddad ibn Musarhad, Muḥammad ibn Kathīr, Yaḥyā al-Ḥimmānī, and a number of others.

He studied jurisprudence under Abū Sulaymān al-Jūzajānī the jurist—one of Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan’s foremost disciples—collecting material and authoring works of his own.

Leading imams and scholars, in turn, acquired their fiqh from him.

Those who transmitted hadith from him include: Abū Muḥammad ibn Ṣāʿid, Ibn Makhlad, Ismāʿīl al-Ṣaffār the grammarian, Abū Sahl ibn Ziyād, Abū Bakr al-Najjād, and many others besides.

Al-Khaṭīb said: He assumed the judgeship of Baghdad after Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī died in 249 AH (1).

Ṭalḥah ibn Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar remarked: Al-Birtī was among the finest of Muslims—devout and chaste—adhering to the school of the scholars of Iraq. He had been a companion of Yaḥyā ibn Aktham and, before that, had served as judge of Wāsiṭ. He transmitted Muḥammad’s compilations from al-Jūzajānī and narrated a large body of hadith.

Al-Khaṭīb further said: He was reliable, precise, and an authoritative proof, remembered for his righteousness and worship … until he related: “The judge al-Ṣaymarī informed us, the judge Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḍabbī informed us, the judge Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Hāshimī informed us, and Abū ʿUmar Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf the judge informed us, saying:

‘I once rode with Ismāʿīl the judge to visit Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Birtī, who remained confined to his house. I saw an elderly man, his complexion sallow, the traces of worship evident upon him. I observed Ismāʿīl showing him profound respect, asking about his own state, his family, and his aged female servants. We sat with him for a time, then departed. Ismāʿīl said to me: “My boy, do you know who that shaykh is?”

‘I replied, “No.”

‘He said, “That is the judge al-Birtī. He has secluded himself in his home and devoted himself to worship—just like that …”’