Abu (1) was one of Imam Malik’s direct pupils, and he was the first to carry Malik’s jurisprudence into al-Andalus. The judgeship there was offered to him, but he refused it.

[Then came the year 327 AH]

In Muharram of that year the Caliph al-Radi bi-llah left Baghdad for Mosul to fight Nasir al-Dawla al-Hasan ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Hamdan, its governor. Preceding him were the amir al-umara Bujkam and the Chief Judge Abu al-Husayn ʿUmar ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf. By the caliph’s order, Abu al-Husayn had left in Baghdad his son—the judge Abu Nasr Yusuf ibn ʿUmar—to act as his deputy, and he was a man of learning and virtue.

When Bujkam reached Mosul and the Jazira he encountered al-Hasan ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Hamdan, routed him, and the caliph thereby restored order in Mosul and the Jazira.

As for Muhammad ibn Raʾiq, he exploited the caliph’s absence from Baghdad, raised (2) a force of one thousand Qarmatians, and entered the city with them, wreaking great havoc—though he did not touch the caliphal palace. He then wrote to the caliph asking for reconciliation and pardon for his misdeeds. The caliph accepted, sending to him the Chief Judge Abu al-Husayn ʿUmar ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf. Ibn Raʾiq thereupon departed Baghdad, and the caliph re-entered it in Jumada al-Ula of that year, to the delight of the Muslims.

At sunset on the first night of the month of Adhar, within Jumada al-Ula, a torrential rain fell along with enormous hailstones, each weighing about two uqiyyas; the storm continued, and many houses in Baghdad collapsed as a result.

That same year vast swarms of locusts appeared. The Hajj caravan by way of the Iraqi route had been discontinued from 317 AH until this year, but the Sharif Abu ʿAli ʿUmar ibn Yahya al-ʿAlawi interceded with the Qarmatians—who admired him for his courage and generosity—asking that they allow the pilgrims through on condition that they receive five dinars for every camel and seven dinars for every litter. [They agreed to that] (3), and the people set out for the Hajj that year on those terms.

Among those who departed was the shaykh Abu ʿAli ibn Abi Hurayrah (4), one of the eminent Shafiʿi scholars. When he passed by the Qarmatians they demanded the protection toll (khifarah); he turned his mount around and returned, saying, “I did not turn back out of stinginess, but once this khifarah was demanded, the obligation of Hajj no longer applies to me.”