He was pleasant in conversation; his writings spread far and wide during his lifetime, and people continued to benefit from them after his death. He did not follow the hadith specialists in their quest for loftier chains, their differentiation between the high and the low isnad, and other such technical pursuits; rather, he belonged to the class of jurist-scholars who are also muhaddiths. Even so, he produced an abridgment of Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ’s handbook and added valuable notes of his own. …

Al-Suyūṭī takes issue with Ibn Ḥajar for the remark that seemed to belittle Ibn Kathīr’s standing as a hadith scholar. In the appendix to Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffāẓ (p. 261) he writes:

“The foundation of the science of tafsīr is to know which hadith are authentic and which are weak, their defects, the variety of their chains, and the standing of their narrators in terms of criticism and commendation. As for pursuing elevated and inferior isnads and the like, that is peripheral, not one of the essential principles.”

B. His Social Standing

• His ties with the sultan’s deputy
Such ties were only natural, for his roles in issuing fatwas, teaching, and writing history conferred on him a respected and prestigious social position. He was therefore invited to assemblies of learning and arbitration, to rule on delicate scholarly disputes, to attend public reconciliations, and to have direct dealings with the governors who served as the sultan’s deputies in Damascus. He records in al-Bidāyah wa-l-Nihāyah (16/427) under the events of 763 AH:

“On the second of Muḥarram the sultan’s deputy, ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn al-Mardānī, arrived after an absence of some fifteen days. He had struck terror into the lands of Frīr, seized a group of their leaders, and cast them into prison. Rumor had circulated that he intended to attack the Musāwī clans in the region of ʿAjlūn. When I greeted him I asked about this, and he informed me that he had gone no farther than the district of Frīr, that the clans had reconciled and come to terms, and that the expeditionary force remained with them there.”

It has already been mentioned that he composed a biography of the sultan’s deputy in Damascus, Mankalī Bughā (d. 770 AH), who honored Ibn Kathīr and drew him close. It was also noted that he wrote a treatise on jihād for Emir Manjak when the latter assumed the sultanate for a second time (771–775 AH).

• Attendance at the assemblies of senior scholars
A review of events from 730 AH onward shows that Ibn Kathīr regularly attended scholarly councils and participated in public life, especially in matters of arbitration and dispute resolution. This is confirmed by his words in al-Bidāyah wa-l-Nihāyah (16/451) concerning the events of 765 AH:

“On the fourteenth of Jumādā al-Ākhirah a large gathering was convened in Dār al-Saʿādah. The four chief judges were present together with a number of muftis, and I was summoned, so I attended with them. The meeting concerned the Tadmuriyyah school and the endowment made by its founder; they claimed that he had endowed one-third of the property upon them. The Ḥanbalī judge ruled in their favor and defended them with the utmost vigor.”

He also states in al-Bidāyah wa-l-Nihāyah (16/462) under the events of 767 AH:

“On Monday, the twenty-fourth of Rabīʿ al-Awwal, a large session was held in Dār al-Saʿādah regarding the accusations leveled against the Shāfiʿī Chief Judge, Tāj al-Dīn, son of the Chief Judge al-Subkī. I was among those who were summoned, so I attended together with the others, and …”