[2] Born in Baghdad, the son of a Turkish freedman and Ibn al-Jawzi's daughter, he was raised by his grandfather.
[1] After his grandfather's death he moved to Damascus, where he worked under the Ayyubids Sultans al-Mu'azzam, an-Nasir Dawud, and al-Ashraf.
[3] In 1229, on an-Nasir's command, he gave a fiery sermon in the Umayyad Mosque denouncing the treaty of Jaffa with the Crusaders as Damascus prepared for the coming siege at the hands of al-Ashraf.
[citation needed] Unlike his Hanbali grandfather, he was of the Hanafi madhhab, which was the judicial school common to those of Turkish descent and preferred by the Ayyubid Sultans.
[3] His historical writings, which include more critical accounts of Uthman compared to other sources, and Ibn Kathir's obituary of him have been given as evidence supporting this.