Events of the year 741 AH:

On Tuesday, the last day of Shawwāl, a tribunal was convened in the House of Justice at Dār al-Saʿādah, and I attended. The judges and leading notables assembled, as was customary, and that day ‘Uthmān al-Dakkālī—may Allah disgrace him—was brought before them. He was charged with enormities surpassing anything ever attributed to al-Ḥallāj or to Ibn Abī al-ʿAzāqir al-Shalmaghānī. Conclusive proof was produced that he had claimed divinity—may Allah curse him—together with other blasphemies, such as belittling the Prophets and associating with dubious circles among the Bājriqiyyah and other Ittiḥādīs—upon them all be Allah’s curses.

The Mālikī judge was asked to deliver the ruling. After praising Allah, extolling Him, and invoking blessings upon His Messenger, he decreed that the man’s blood be shed even should he repent. The accused was thereupon taken to the horse market and beheaded, while a crier proclaimed: “This is the recompense of anyone who follows the doctrine of the Ittiḥādīs.”

It was a memorable day at Dār al-Saʿādah. Large numbers of dignitaries and scholars were present, among them our teacher, the ḥāfiẓ Jamāl al-Dīn al-Mizzī, and our teacher Shams al-Dīn al-Dhahabī; both spoke forcefully, urging decisive action in the case. The condemned man’s heresy was affirmed by widespread testimony, as likewise attested by Shaykh Zayn al-Dīn, the brother of Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn Ibn Taymiyyah.

The three judges—the Mālikī, the Ḥanafī, and the Ḥanbalī—left the council after ratifying the verdict and witnessed the execution. I myself was present throughout, from beginning to end.