Who is Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, what are his beliefs, and does he hold any strange beliefs?

Ibn Hajar al-Haytami is Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Haytami, a Shafi'i jurist who died in theaboration year (973) AH. He made efforts in defending the Companions against the Shi'a, but he had some doctrinal deviations, including: permitting seeking intercession through the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, before his creation and after it; and his adoption of the Ash'ari creed in interpreting the attributes of Allah, which led to his denouncement of Sunni scholars such as Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim.