He asked, “And who is to judge my case?”

They replied, “The Mālikī judge.”

He said, “How can he judge me when he is my adversary?” He grew extremely angry and visibly agitated. An official decree was then drawn up against him, and he was confined in a tower for several days.

On the night of ʿĪd al-Fiṭr he and his two brothers—Sharaf al-Dīn ʿAbd Allah and Zayn al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān—were transferred to the prison known as “al-Jubb” in the Citadel of the Mountain (1).

After more than a year (2), the deputy of the sultanate, Sayf al-Dīn Salar, summoned the three judges—the Shāfiʿī, the Mālikī, and the Ḥanafī—together with the jurists al-Bājī, al-Jazarī, and al-Nimrawī, to discuss releasing the Shaykh from prison.

They agreed that certain conditions should be imposed upon him and that he must retract some points of doctrine. They therefore sent someone to bring him so they could speak with him, but he refused to appear. The messenger went back and forth many times, yet he stood firm in his refusal to attend (3). Their meeting dragged on, and they dispersed without achieving anything.

In the month of Dhū al-Ḥijjah (4) of that same year, the Shaykh’s brothers, Sharaf al-Dīn and Zayn al-Dīn, were brought from prison to the gathering of the deputy of the sultan, Salar. Ibn Makhlūf the Mālikī was present, and a lengthy debate took place. Sharaf al-Dīn prevailed over Ibn Makhlūf with transmitted proofs, rational evidence, and scholarly insight, showing him to be in error on several points in which he had advanced baseless claims. The discussion focused on the issue of the Throne, the Divine Speech, and the Descent.

On the following day (5) Shaykh Sharaf al-Dīn alone was brought to the assembly of the deputy