He died in Córdoba in Rabīʿ al-Ākhir of the year 356 AH. The nisba “al-Qālī” is traced back to the village of Qāliqlā (1), a dependency of Manazkird in the Armenian province. Because he travelled in the company of people from that village, he was given this nickname and became widely known by it.

32 – Abū al-Sāʾib ʿUtbah ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā al-Hamadhānī *

Chief Judge (qāḍī al-quḍāt), Abū al-Sāʾib ʿUtbah ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Hamadhānī, a Shāfiʿī and a Sufi.

His father was a merchant in Hamadhan and the imam of a mosque. ʿUtbah himself at first applied himself to study, adopted the Sufi path, practiced asceticism, travelled, and kept the company of al-Junayd and other scholars.

He narrated hadith from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥātim and others, devoted himself to understanding the Quran, and recorded hadith and fiqh. He then went to Marāgha (2) and entered the service of the emir Ibn Abī al-Sāj, under whom he was appointed judge. His fame spread, and he was entrusted with the judiciary of the territories of Azerbaijan; afterwards he held the judgeship of Hamadhan. Later he came to Baghdad, secured patronage, and his stature increased until, in 338 AH, he was appointed chief judge of Iraq. He was the first Shāfiʿī ever to hold the judiciary of Baghdad. He lived eighty-six years.

He passed away in Rabīʿ al-Ākhir of the year 351 AH.