That year no one from Iraq performed the Hajj; only a small group assembled in Kufa and set out under the protection of an armed escort.
Among the noteworthy persons who passed away in that year were:
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Bāy ibn Jaʿfar ibn Bāy, Abū Manṣūr al-Jīlī (1). He was one of the pupils of Shaykh Abū Ḥāmid, served as judge at Bāb al-Ṭāq and in the precinct of the Caliphal Palace, and heard ḥadīth from numerous scholars. Al-Khaṭīb (2) said, “We wrote down ḥadīth from him; he was trustworthy. May Allah have mercy on him.”
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al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Faḍl, Abū Muḥammad al-Nasawī (3)(4), the governor. He had studied ḥadīth and was remarkably astute in the craft of administration and in detecting charges—and those charged—among litigants through subtle stratagems. It is related that he once stood before a group accused of theft. A jug was brought for him to drink from, but he flung it to the ground; all who were present flinched except one man, whom he then ordered to be interrogated. He remarked, “The thief is bold and strong,” and events proved him correct. On another occasion he had a man killed and beaten in his presence; a claim was then brought against him before the judge Abū Ṭayyib al-Ṭabarī, who ruled that he was liable for retribution. He ransomed himself with a large sum of money and thus escaped execution.
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Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿUmrūs, Abū al-Faḍl al-Bazzār (6). The leadership of the Mālikī jurists in Baghdad eventually devolved upon him. He was a distinguished Qur’an reciter and an accredited transmitter of ḥadīth. He heard ḥadīth from Ibn Ḥabāba, al-Mukhalliṣ, and Ibn Shāhīn. Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Dāmghānī accepted his testimony, and he was therefore counted among the reliable certifiers of witnesses.