He was the Ḥafiḍh, the Mufassir, the Muḥaddith, the Faqiḥ, the Islāmic historian, Shaykh al-Islām, Abū al-Faraj, ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān ibn ‘Alī ibn Muḥammad ibn Ubayd-Allāh ibn ‘Abd-Allāh ibn Ḥammadī ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ja’far ibn ‘Abd-Allāh al-Qasim ibn al-Nadr ibn al-Qasim ibn Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd-Allāh ibn al-Faqiḥ ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān ibn al-Faqiḥ al-Qasim ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr, al-Baghdādī, al-Ḥanbalī ﺭﺣﻤﻪ ﺍﻟﻠﻪ .
Who is also famously known as ibn al-Jawzī. He was born in Baghdād, ‘Irāq during the month of Ramaḍhān and he traces his lineage back to the great Caliph, Abū Bakr aṣ-Ṣādiq ﺭﺿﻲ ﺍﻟﻠﻪ ﻋﻨﻪ . Shaykh studied in his home city of Baghdād under numerous ‘Ulāma, including his uncle, Muḥammad ibn Nāṣir al-Baghdādī ﺭﺣﻤﻪ ﺍﻟﻠﻪ .
Shaykh is famous for his great Tafsīr of the Qur’ān entitled: Zād al-Masīr fiy ‘Alam at-Tafsīr; a work that explains the Qur‘ān and has the unique attribute of mentioning Ḥanbalī opinions.
His other works include Talbīs of Iblīs, Sayd al-Khātir, Fadāyl Bayt al-Maqdīsī, al-Ḥath ‘ala Ṭālib al-‘Ilm, Adab al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, and many more.Ibn Rajab ﺭﺣﻤﻪ ﺍﻟﻠﻪ said, “Ibn al-Jawzī was the leading authority on the art of Da’wah in his age. He also authored excellent works in various sciences, and his efforts were generally accepted. He would teach Fiqh and author works to that end…
However, we are not pleased with his writings with respect to Sunnah (meaning ‘Aqīdah in this context)” [Aḍh-Ḍhayl ‘ala Tabaqat al-Ḥanabilah, 3/446-453].
Ibn al-Jawzī did have some mistakes in his ‘Aqīdah as he had been influenced, in part, by the Āshā’irah. This however, does not subtract from his other works.
