Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi

‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Ahmad al-Kattani said: "Al-Khatib followed the [doctrinal] school of Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari – Allah have mercy on him." Al-Dhahabi replies and comments: "This is true. For al-Khatib explicitly stated, concerning the reports on the Divine Attributes, that they are passed on exactly as they were received, without interpretation." Al-Dhahabi goes on to narrate al-Khatib’s methodology of rejecting nullification (ta‘tîl), figurativeness (ta'wil) and literalism (dhahir) of the divine Attributes:[12]

Abu Bakr al-Khatib said: "As for what pertains to the divine Attributes, whatever is narrated in the books of sound reports concerning them, the position of the Salaf consists in their affirmation and letting them pass according to their external wordings while negating from them modality (kayfiyya) and likeness to things created (tashbîh). A certain people have contradicted the Attributes and nullified what Allah I had affirmed; while another people have declared them real then went beyond this to some kind of likening to creation and ascription of modality. The true objective is none other than to tread a middle path between the two matters. The Religion of Allah lies between the extremist and the laxist. The principle to be followed in this matter is that the discourse on the Attributes is a branch of the discourse on the Essence. The path to follow in the former is the same extreme caution as in the latter. When it is understood that the affirmation of the Lord of the Worlds [in His Essence] is only an affirmation of existence and not of modality, it will be similarly understood that the affirmation of His Attributes is only an affirmation of their existence, not an affirmation of definition (tahdîd) nor an ascription of modality. So when we say: Allah has a Hand, hearing, and sight, they are none other than Attributes Allah has affirmed for Himself. We should not say that the meaning of ‘hand’ is power (al-qudra) nor that the meaning of ‘hearing’ and ‘sight’ is knowledge (‘ilm), nor should we say that they are organs (lâ naqûlu innahâ jawârih)! Nor should we liken them to hands, hearings, and sights that are organs and implements of acts. We should say: All that is obligatory is [1] to affirm them because they are stated according to divine prescription (tawqîf), and [2] to negate from them any likeness to created things according to His saying (There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him) (42:11) (and there is none like Him) (112:4)."

Biographers Sibt ibn al-Jawzi, Ibn Kathīr, and Ibn Taghribirdi wrote that the original was a work by as-Suri which al-Baghdādī had extended.[11] Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī attributed the authorship to as-Surī's sister and accused al-Baghdādī of plagiarism, whereas Ibn Kathīr made no accusation of plagiarism, but attributed the original to as-Suri's wife.[11]

He was accused of being Hanbali then switched to becoming Shafi'i according to Ibn Al-Jawzi, however, early and contemporary historians unanimously agreed that he began his career as a Shafi‘i and was never a Hanbali in his life.[13]

The Hanbali hadith master, Ibn Aqil said: "Al-Khatib wrote abundantly on the science of hadith and became the undisputed hadith authority in his time." Al-Mu’taman al-Saji said "that the people of Baghdad never saw anyone such as al-Khatib after Al-Daraqutni." Abu ‘Ali al-Baradani said: "It is probable al-Khatib never met his equal." Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini said: "Al-Khatib is the Daraqutni of our time."[14]

Ali ibn Makula said:[14]

"He was one of the foremost scholars whom we witnessed in his science, precision, memorization, and accuracy in the hadith of the Messenger of Allah. He was an expert in its minute defects, its chains of transmission, its narrators and transmitters, the sound and the rare, the unique and the denounced, the defective and the discarded. The people of Baghdad never had someone comparable to Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn ‘Umar al-Daraqutni after the latter, except al-Khatib."

Al-Dhahabi said:[15]

"The most peerless imam, erudite scholar and mufti, meticulous hadith master, scholar of his time in hadith, prolific author, and seal of the hadith masters."

Ibn Hajar declared his works influential in the field of the Science of hadith and Hadith terminology saying, "Scarce is the discipline from the disciplines of the science of ḥadīth on which he has not written a book." He then quoted Abu Bakr ibn Nuqtah, a Hanbali scholar, as saying, “Every objective person knows that the scholars of ḥadīth s coming after al-Khaṭīb are indebted to his works.”[16] Over 80 titles have been attributed to al-Baghdādī.

Selected list of works.[7]

• History of Baghdad or Madīnat as-Salām ('City of Peace') and Appendix of Scholars - 23 volumes. Considered his most important work.[17]
• al-Kifaya fi ma'rifat usul 'ilm al-riwaya: an early work dealing with Hadith terminology, which Ibn Hajar praised as influential in the field
• al-Djami' li-akhlak al-rawi wa-adab al-sami
• Takyid al-'ilm: Questions whether putting traditions into writing is forbidden
• Sharaf ashab al-hadith: Centers around the significance of traditionalists
• al-Sabik wa 'l-lahik: dealing with hadith narrators of a particular type
• al-Mu'tanif fi takmilat al-Mu'talif wa 'l-mukhtalif: Correct spelling and pronunciation of names
• al-Muttafik wa 'l-muftarik
• Talkhis al-mutashabih fi 'l-rasm wa-himayat ma ashkala minhu min nawadir al-tashif wa 'l-wahm
• al-Asma' al-mubhama fi 'l-anba' al-muhkama: identifying unnamed individuals mentioned in hadith
• al-Rihla fi talab al-hadith
• Iktida' al-'ilm al-'amal

• List of Ash'aris and Maturidis

• Zulfiqar Ayub (2 May 2015). THE BIOGRAPHIES OF THE ELITE LIVES OF THE SCHOLARS, IMAMS & HADITH MASTERS Biographies of The Imams & Scholars. pp. 133–196.