Abu al-Faraj al-Shirazi al-Hanbali, shaykh of al-Sham

Shaykh Abu'l-Faraj al-Shirazi the Hanbali, 'Abd al-Wahid b. Muhammad b. 'Ali — of Shiraz, then Jerusalem, then Damascus; jurist and ascetic, shaykh of Syria in his time. He heard Ibn al-Simsar and Abu 'Uthman al-Sabuni at Damascus, read fiqh under the qadi Abu Ya'la at Baghdad, spread Ahmad's madhhab in Syria and companions were formed under him. ¹

An imam versed in fiqh and usul, a man of state and worship; Tughtakin lord of Syria revered him for a karama he saw, and he defended the creed, refuting the ta'wils of the attributes' reports. He died Sunday 18 Dhu'l-Hijja 486 at Damascus, buried at Bab al-Saghir cemetery where his grave is visited; his progeny are known as the house of Ibn al-Hanbali. ¹