Baqi ibn Makhlad

Abu Abd al-Rahman Baqi ibn Makhlad al-Andalusi or simply known as Baqi ibn Makhlad (820-889), was a Spanish jurist, mufassir, soldier, and the founder of the earliest hadith school in Islamic Spain. Nicknamed as the Pillar of hadith in the West , ibn Makhlad compiled the Musnad Baqi ibn Makhlad, the largest hadith book collection ever compiled, containing over 100,000 narrations, which included narrations from more than 300 Companions of the Prophet Muhammad. Most of its collections were lost following the Spanish Reconquista, resulting in the disappearance of one of the most significant western contributions to hadith literature. A student of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Baqi ibn Makhlad also authored the Tafsir al-Baqi, which according to Ibn Hazm was the greatest tafsir ever to be written, even greater than Tafsir al-Tabari.

He had a close relationship with Emirs such as Muhammad I of Córdoba and Al-Mundhir of Córdoba, who often protected him when some Maliki scholars were against him. Later, al-Mundhir also offered Baqi ibn Makhlad the role of judge, but Baqi declined the offer.