, al-Abhari (1), the leading authority of the Maliki jurists; Abu al-Qasim al-Daraki (2), the leading authority of the Shafiʿi jurists; Abu al-Husayn Tahir ibn al-Husayn (3), the principal scholar of the hadith transmitters; Abu al-Husayn ibn Samʿun (4), the foremost preacher and ascetic; Abu ʿAbd Allah ibn Mujahid, the chief theologian—together with his companion Abu Bakr ibn al-Baqillani—all gathered in the house of our shaykh, Abu al-Hasan al-Tamimi, the leading authority of the Hanbalis.
Abu ʿAli remarked, “Had the roof fallen in on them, no one would have remained in Iraq capable of issuing a legal ruling on any matter for which even one of them could have been consulted.”
He also said (5): “As for al-Ahwazi’s tale about al-Barbahari, one could go on indefinitely questioning its authenticity; the clearest proof of its falsehood is his claim that al-Barbahari never became prominent in Baghdad until he left it, whereas once he had arrived in the city (6) he never separated from it nor journeyed away.”
(1) Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Salih al-Abhari al-Tamimi al-Maliki was the leading imam of his circle in his time. He combined mastery of the Qur’an’s readings (qira’āt), a strong isnād tradition, and sound jurisprudence, and through him the Maliki school spread widely. He died in 375 AH.
See: Tabaqāt al-Fuqahā’ (Ranks of the Jurists) by al-Shīrāzī, pp. 168–169; Tarṭīb al-Madārik (Arrangement of the Intellects) by al-Qāḍī ‘Iyāḍ, vol. 6:183–192.
(2) Abu al-Qāsim ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Dārkī was a diligent jurist who studied under Abū Isḥāq al-Marwazī. He eventually taught in Baghdad, where the majority of the city’s scholars transmitted from him. He died in 375 AH.
See: Tabaqāt al-Fuqahā’, pp. 125–126; Tabaqāt al-Shāfi‘iyya (Ranks of the Shāfi‘īs) by al-Subkī, vol. 3:330, 333.
(3) In Tabyīn Kaḏhib al-Muftarī (Clarifying the False Accuser): al-Ḥasan. I was unable to consult this work.
(4) Abu al-Ḥusayn Muhammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Anbas al-Baghdādī, known as Ibn Sama‘ūn, was the leading preacher of his time in Baghdad. He died in 387 AH. Ibn Khallikān remarks: “No preacher after him equaled his like.”
See: Wafayāt al-A‘yān (Deaths of the Notables) by Ibn Khallikān, vol. 4:304–305; al-Wāfī bil-Wafayāt (The Complete Record of Deaths) by al-Ṣafadī, vol. 2:51–52.
(5) “An addition from the Shaykh.” The text here continues directly from the preceding section in Tabyīn Kaḏhib al-Muftarī.
(6) In the printed edition: “an.”