David ben Se‘adya

Little is known about the life of halakhic scholar David ben Se‘adya al-Ger (or Ibn Muhājir), who was active in the circle of either Samuel ha-Nagid or Isaac Ibn Ghiyath. The patronym al-Ger (the proselyte) may have denoted that David’s father converted to Judaism; it has been suggested that his father may have come from northern Spain or southern France. David was held in high regard by his contemporaries. Later authorities, however, including Isaac al-Fāsī, criticized some of his rulings. In addition to a relatively wide-ranging halakhic work, The Comprehensive Book (Kitāb al-ḥāwī), David wrote a book on the laws of oaths. Parts of his writings were translated into Hebrew in the decades after his death.