Jalal al-Din al-Hilli al-Taftazani

Jalal al-Din Muhammad ibn Saʿd al-Din al-Hilli al-Baghdadi al-Taftazani, the unique imam, described as the diamond of the sharp-minded. He was born around 801 AH in al-Hilla and memorised books of jurisprudence, grammar and the principles of law. He then travelled to Khurasan, where he studied with Shams al-Din Ibn al-Razi al-Samʿani, and he followed the principles of religion of Ibn al-Qushji and Saʿd al-Din al-Taftazani. He then returned to Baghdad, taught, and was appointed shaykh of the al-Mansuriyya college. After the disputes had been resolved, leadership in Iraq came to him. Jalal al-Din Ibn Abi al-Waqqar and Ibn al-Haym himself studied with him.

He was a master of every discipline, and in his time no one had a sharper insight or a firmer opinion. He wrote useful works, among them "al-Kashf al-Shafi," a gloss on "al-Matali'," "al-ʿIqd al-Jalali," and "al-Nihaya" on the principles of law. He repeatedly denounced tyrants, and sometimes was seized and imprisoned for it. He was appointed chief judge of Baghdad, and then remained in seclusion in one of its colleges. He died on the first day of 864 AH and was buried in the cemetery of the Western Gate in Baghdad ¹.