The Hanbalis and their rabble prevented his burial in daylight, imputing to him Rafidite leanings, while some ignoramuses even branded him a heretic—far be it from him! In truth he was one of the leading imams of Islam, both in knowledge and in practice of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). They merely adopted these accusations from Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Dāwūd the Ẓāhirī jurist, who used to malign him and hurl grave charges of Rafḍ at him.

When he died, people from every quarter of Baghdad assembled, offered the funeral prayer for him in his own house, and he was buried there. For months thereafter the people kept coming to his grave, praying for him. I myself have seen a work of his, in two large volumes, compiling the ḥadiths of “Ghadīr Khumm,” as well as another book collecting the transmission of “the Bird.”(1)

– His critique of Ibn Khallikān:
Ibn Kathīr, in recording the events of 298 AH and the biography of Ibn al-Rāwandī, says:

“He was one of the notorious heretics. His father was a Jew who professed Islam, and it is said that he altered the Qur’an, just as the son pitted the Qur’an against itself and rejected it. He authored a refutation of the Qur’an entitled al-Dāmigh, another attacking the Sacred Law called al-Zumurrudah, and a third known as al-Tāj with the same purpose …”

He then adds:

“Ibn Khallikān mentioned him in al-Wafayāt and merely gagged over him, producing nothing—as though the dog had not eaten his dough! This is his habitual manner with scholars and poets: for poets he prolongs their entries, for scholars he gives only a brief notice, and for heretics he omits any mention of their heresy. Ibn Khallikān dated his death to 245 AH, a gross blunder; the correct year is this one, as recorded by Ibn al-Jawzī and others.”

– His critique of al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī:
Ibn Kathīr (may Allah have mercy on him) writes in al-Bidāyah wa-l-Nihāyah (10/335):

“Al-Khaṭīb, when describing Abū Jaʿfar al-Manṣūr’s construction of Baghdad, said: ‘He built it circular, and no other round city is known on earth. He laid its foundation at an hour chosen for him by the astrologer Nūbakht.’

He then quoted one of the astrologers who said: ‘When al-Manṣūr had finished building Baghdad he said to me, “Cast its horoscope.” I examined its ascendant—Jupiter was in Sagittarius—and informed him of what the stars indicated: its long life, abundant habitation, the world’s wealth flowing into it, and people everywhere depending on what it contained. I then added, “And I give you glad tidings, Commander of the Faithful, that no caliph will ever die in it.” He smiled and said, “Praise be to Allah; that is the grace of Allah which He bestows upon whom He wills, and Allah is the Lord of mighty bounty.”’

Al-Khaṭīb also related that a poet composed lines on the matter, among them:
Her Lord decreed that no caliph shall die within her;
He decrees within His creation whatever He wills.

Al-Khaṭīb endorsed this error, accepted it without the least objection, and actually ratified it despite his learning and awareness!”

• Public readings of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim were held in six madrasahs, in the residences of certain amirs, and in other places.