[1][2][3] He was also known by the honorific al-Shaykh al-Ajall, or "the most eminent shaykh"; according to Ibn al-Jawzi, he was the only person during his lifetime to have this title.
[3] This was a controversial choice because of his youth and suspected rationalist sympathies, as well as because it was passing over the expected successor Sharif Abu Ja'far.
[2] Nizam al-Mulk had originally designated Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi to be its head, but Abu Ishaq did not show up for the inauguration in protest of the fact that parts of Baghdad had been torn down (in his view, unjustly) to provide construction materials for the Nizamiyya.
[2] Nizam al-Mulk was upset and wrote to his agent in Baghdad, and Abu Ishaq ended up accepting and assumed office on 13 October.
[2] Based on entries in Abu Ali ibn al-Banna's diary, his death appears to have been perceived as a great loss for the traditionalist camp.