ʿAbd Allah ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (1) ibn al-Marzbān ibn Sābūr ibn Shāhinshāh, Abū al-Qāsim al-Baghawī (2), known as Ibn Bint Manīʿ.

He was born in 213—some say 214—AH.

He met Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām (3) but did not receive ḥadīth from him, whereas he did study under Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (4), ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī, Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, ʿAlī ibn al-Jaʿd, Khalaf ibn Hishām al-Bazzār, and many others.

He once possessed a fascicle recording his auditions from Ibn Maʿīn; Mūsā ibn Hārūn the ḥāfiẓ seized it, hurled it into the Tigris, and said, “Do you mean to unite the three?” He narrated independently from eighty-seven shaykhs. Trustworthy, a ḥāfiẓ, and meticulous, the leading ḥuffāẓ transmitted from him, and he authored several works.

Mūsā ibn Hārūn al-Ḥāfiẓ said, “Ibn Bint Manīʿ is reliable and truthful.” When someone objected, “There are people here who criticize him,” he replied, “They are envious; Ibn Bint Manīʿ speaks nothing but the truth.”

Ibn Abī Ḥātim and others said: “His aḥādīth (5) are fit for inclusion in the Ṣaḥīḥ.”

Al-Dāraqutnī remarked: “Al-Baghawī rarely commented on a report, but when he did, his words were like a nail driven into teak.”

Ibn ʿAdī listed him in al-Kāmil, voiced reservations, and said, “He transmitted some narrations that were rejected, though he did possess a measure of ḥadīth expertise and authorship.”

Ibn al-Jawzī undertook a rebuttal of Ibn ʿAdī and related that Ibn Bint Manīʿ died on the night of ʿĪd al-Fiṭr of this year, having reached one hundred and three years and a few months. Even so, his hearing, eyesight, and teeth remained sound, and he still had relations with female slaves (6).

He passed away in Baghdad and was buried in the Bāb al-Tibn cemetery. May Allah have mercy on him and honor his resting place.