and his commentary on the Qur’an, which is counted among the finest works of tafsīr.

Ibn al-Qaṭṭān said: “Ibn al-Mundhir was a jurist, a ḥadīth scholar, and a trustworthy authority.”

His Quest for Knowledge and His Travels. — Abū Ḥamād Ṣaghīr Aḥmad states in the introduction to al-Awsat (1/14):

“We have no detailed record of Ibn al-Mundhir’s journeys from Nishapur to any other land in pursuit of knowledge and ḥadīth. All that the historians mention is that he was born in Nishapur and later moved to Mecca, where he took up residence. Exactly when did he settle in Mecca, and did he travel anywhere else, near or far? There is simply no answer to this question. What we can say with certainty is that he never stayed in Baghdad, Isfahan, or Damascus, for the local histories of those cities make no mention of him, and al-Dhahabī explicitly states that he never resided in Baghdad or Damascus.

It is quite possible that he journeyed to Egypt and heard ḥadīth there from al-Rabīʿ and other scholars. Ibn al-Mundhir’s own words hint at this. He says, ‘Bakkār ibn Qutaybah in Egypt related to us…,’ and so on. He also remarks, concerning al-Shāfiʿī’s statement that ‘minor ablution becomes obligatory for a man who kisses his mother, daughter, or sister out of respect for them,’ that ‘I did not find this ruling in the Egyptian writings of al-Shāfiʿī which we read to al-Rabīʿ.’” End of citation.

His Methodological Approach. — Al-Dhahabī writes:

“Shaykh Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Nawawī said: ‘In the precision of his works he has reached a level that none can match. He had complete mastery of ḥadīth, and he exercised his own judgment; in selecting opinions he was not tied to any single school but followed whatever evidence was strongest.’

I, al-Dhahabī, add: No one restricts himself to a single madhhab except one whose grasp of knowledge is limited—like most scholars of our time—or one driven by partisanship. This imām, however, was among the people of proof, keeping pace with Ibn Jarīr, Ibn Surayj, and that illustrious group (may Allah be pleased with them).”

Ibn Qāḍī Shuhba said: “He was a mujtahid who followed no one’s authority blindly.”

Al-Suyūṭī likewise remarked: “He possessed consummate knowledge of ḥadīth and juristic disagreement and was a mujtahid who imitated no one.”