Ibn Zulāq said: ʿAlī ibn Ḥasan related to me, saying, “I heard Ibn al-Ḥaddād say:

‘I was once attending the session of Ibn al-Ikhshīd—the ruler of Egypt—and when we rose to leave he kept me back alone and asked, “Who is superior: Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, or ʿAlī?” I answered, “Two against one.”

He then asked, “And who is superior: Abū Bakr or ʿAlī?” I replied, “If the criterion is exploits, then ʿAlī; but if it is piety (1), then Abū Bakr.” At that he laughed.’

Ibn Zulāq continued: ‘This is similar to what I have heard about Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam. A man once asked him, “Which of the two is superior, Abū Bakr or ʿAlī?” He said, “Return to me after three days.” When the man returned, he told him, “Precede me to the rear of the congregational mosque.” The man went ahead, and Muḥammad rose, begging to be excused, but the man refused. So he said, “ʿAlī. And, by God, if you report this from me to anyone I will inform the governor Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn and he will have you flogged.”’

Ibn Zulāq also said: ‘Ibn al-Ḥaddād had already been appointed judge under Ibn al-Ikhshīd. Six months later a new writ of investiture for the judgeship arrived from the Chief Judge of Iraq, Ibn Abī al-Shawārib, in favour of Ibn Abī Zurʿa, who then rode out clad in black. Ibn al-Ḥaddād continued to act as his deputy until his final days.

Ibn Abī Zurʿa treated him with the utmost courtesy, venerated him, and never opposed him in anything. Later Ibn Abī al-Shawārib was removed from Baghdad and replaced by Abū Naṣr Yūsuf ibn ʿUmar, who forwarded the patent of office to Ibn Abī Zurʿa.’

Ibn Khallikān said: ‘Abū Bakr ibn al-Ḥaddād authored the book al-Furūʿ in the Shāfiʿī school. Though small in size, its legal questions are treated with great precision, and a number of leading scholars have written commentaries on it—among them al-Qaffāl al-Marwazī, Judge Abū Ṭayyib, and Abū ʿAlī al-Sinjī—up to …’