From the benefits of our Shaikh Abu Mu’adh Hussain al-Hateeby (may Allah preserve him):

It is Muhammad bin Abdullah bin ‘Ulaatha (may Allah have mercy upon him).

Hafidh Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy upon him) said in at-Taqreeb (no. 6040): “Muhammad bin Abdullah bin ‘Ulaatha al-Jazari, al-Harrani,al-Qaadi. He was called the Judge of the Jinn”. [Taqreeb at-Tahtheeb no. 489]

The reason why he is called this was mentioned by Hafidh Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy upon him) in Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah:

“Ibn ‘Ulaatha was called the Judge of the Jinn because there was a well wherein anyone who took anything from it [of water] became possessed. So he said: “O Jinn, we will judge between us. You have the night and we will have the day”. So whoever took something [of water] from the well in the daytime, they were not possessed with anything”. [Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah (13/539)]

Note:

This story is also mentioned by Hafidh al-Mizzi (may Allah have mercy upon him) in at-Tahtheeb al-Kamaal (25/528):

“Ali bin Saraaj al-Misri said: Muhammad bin Abdullah bin ‘Ulaatha used to be called the Judge of the Jinn. That was due to a well which used to be between Harran and the castle of Maslamah [bin Abdil-Malik]. Whoever drank from it, the Jinn would address him. So he [Muhammad] stood in from it and said: “O Jinn, verily we will judge between you and mankind. For them [mankind] is the daytime and for you is the night”. He said: If a man took water from there during the daytime nothing would afflict him!”

Imam Khateeb al-Baghdadi (may Allah have mercy upon him) also narrated it in Tareekh al-Baghdad (5/389-390), also Hafidh Ibn ‘Asaakir in Tareekh ad-Damashq (53/400-401), Imam adh-Dhahabi (May Allah have mercy upon him) mentioned it in Siyar ‘Alaam an-Nubala (7/309), and others.

Translated by

Faisal bin Abdul Qaadir bin Hassan
Abu Sulaymaan