In the chapter on ritual bathing (ghusl), the author states under the sub-heading “Among the acts that obligate it”: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “A single jurist is more formidable against Satan than a thousand worshippers.”

I add: He has cited this on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās in connection with a story involving some of his followers from the Successor generation. Al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah, and Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr in his Jāmiʿ al-ʿIlm all transmit it from Ibn ʿAbbās as a Prophetic report (marfūʿ) without mentioning the story. Al-Tirmidhī comments, “It is a singular (gharīb) ḥadīth,” i.e., weak. Al-Manāwī relays that the ḥadīth scholar al-ʿIrāqī said, “Its chain is very weak.” That verdict is accurate, and a fuller discussion may be found in my notes on al-Mishkāt, p. 217.

As for the story itself, I have not yet located an isnād to examine. I do not believe it to be authentic; it contains objectionable elements. Allah knows best.