He was born in Ariana to a father of Arab origin who traced his lineage to Abu Bakr.

[1] He studied in Kairouan and then in Fatimid-Egypt and became a teacher of Maliki jurisprudence upon his return.

At the age of 57, he left his home-town (Ariana) and went into seclusion in Carthage.

In c. 1014 he settled in Tunis, in a house in Bab Souika, which would become his mausoleum and later the Sidi Mahrez Mosque.

[2] He proposed to his teacher Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani (922 – 996 CE) to write a aqidah and fiqh education book, and his proposal was concretised under the title Risala fiqhiya.