Judge Abū ʿUmar al-Mālikī (1), Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf [ibn Yaʿqūb] (2) ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥammād ibn Zayd—known as Abū ʿUmar—was the qāḍī of Baghdad and all its outlying districts.
He stood among the foremost imams of Islam in learning and discernment, eloquence and rhetoric, intelligence and leadership, so much so that his acumen and forbearance became proverbial (3). He transmitted widely from the leading shaykhs, and al-Dāraqutnī and other ḥuffāẓ related from him; people acquired from him an abundant share of fiqh and ḥadith. In 317 AH he was invested with the office of Qāḍī al-Quḍāt (Chief Justice), and he authored numerous works, including a substantial Musnad. When he sat to teach, Abū al-Qāsim al-Baghawī sat on his right—he was nearly his father’s age—on his left sat Ibn Ṣāʿid, before him Abū Bakr al-Naysābūrī, while the other ḥuffāẓ gathered around his platform on every side.
They said, “None of his judicial rulings was ever found wanting.”
I say: Among the soundest of his judgments was his execution of al-Ḥusayn ibn Manṣūr al-Ḥallāj (4)—may Allah disfigure and disgrace him—in 309 AH, as noted above (5).
He was of fine character and pleasant company. On one occasion, while his companions were with him, a luxurious garment priced at about fifty dinars was brought for purchase. When those present admired it, he summoned the cap-maker and ordered the cloth to be cut into caps equal to the number of those in attendance. He possessed many virtues and praiseworthy qualities—may Allah Most High have mercy on him.
He passed away in Ramadan of this year at the age of seventy-eight. Someone later saw him in a dream and asked, “What has your Lord done with you?” He replied, “He forgave me through the supplication of the righteous man Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī (6).” May Allah have mercy on them both.
[Then came the year 321 AH.]
In Ṣafar of that year the caliph brought forward a man who had been robbing travelers on the Tigris. He was flogged one thousand lashes in the caliph’s presence, then beheaded, and the hands and feet of his accomplices were cut off.