Habib abdullah bin umar al-shatiri

His Lineage

He is al-Imam Shaykh al-Islam al-Habib 'Abdullah bin 'Umar bin Ahmad bin 'Umar bin Ahmad bin 'Umar bin Ahmad bin 'Ali bin Husayn bin Muhammad bin Ahmad bin 'Umar bin 'Alawi al-Shatiri bin 'Ali bin Ahmad bin Muham-mad Asad Allah bin Hasan al-Turabi bin 'Ali bin al-Faqih al-Muqaddam Mu-hammad, bin 'Ali, bin Muhammad Sahib Mirbat, bin 'Ali, bin 'Alawi, bin Muhammad Sahib al-Sawma'ah, bin 'Alawi, bin 'Ubaydullah, bin al-Imam al-Muhajir il-Allah Ahmad, bin 'Isa, bin Muhammad al-Naqib, bin 'Ali al-'Uraydi, bin Ja'far al-Sadiq, bin Muhammad al-Baqir, bin 'Ali Zain al-'Abidin, bin Husayn al-Sibt, bin 'Ali, bin Abu Talib and Fatimah al-Zahra’, the daughter of our Master Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets.

Zanbal Tarim

His Life

Habib 'Abdullah was born in Tarim in the year 1290 Hijri (1873). After gain-ing a firm grasp in the foundational Islamic sciences, he studied under the Mufti of Hadramawt, Habib 'Abd al-Rahman bin Muhammad al-Mashhur as well as Habib 'Alawi bin 'Abd al-Rahman al-Mashhur and Habib 'Abdullah bin 'Aydarus al-'Aydarus. He spent four months in the Ribat of Habib 'Ali al-Habashi in Seiyun. During his time in Seiyun, he not only studied under Habib 'Ali, but also under Habib 'Ubaydullah bin Muhsin al-Saqqaf and Habib Ahmad bin 'Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf and a number of other scholars. He likewise received knowledge from Habib 'Aydarus bin 'Umar al-Habashi and Habib Ahmad bin Hasan al-'Attas. In 1310, at the age of twenty, he travelled to Mecca. He spent the next four years in the relentless pursuit of knowledge. He would take around thirteen lessons a day from scholars such as Habib Husayn bin Muhammad al-Habashi, Shaykh Muhammad Ba Busayl, Sayyid Abu Bakr Shata and Shaykh 'Umar Ba Junayd. He would prepare for each of these lessons, and only allow himself two hours’ sleep every twenty four hours. On one occasion, he pressed himself to the Multazam on the wall of the Ka'bah and pleaded with Allah to allow the knowledge he had gained to benefit people all across the world. He eventually succumbed to his father’s repeated requests to come home and returned to Tarim in 1314.

The Ribat of Tarim, which had been established in 1305, was in need of a head of studies so Habib 'Abdullah took up this post and remained in it for the next forty seven years. He did so sincerely for Allah’s sake, and took no wage for his services. He supervised the arrangement of lessons which were in the form of halaqat or circles of knowledge and expended all his energies in bene-fiting the students. He would teach daily from after Fajr until well after sunrise. He would then return after Zuhr and teach until after the adhan of 'Asr. He would then occasionally attend the Rawhah (The scholars of Hadramawt traditionally used the name rawhah for the lessons they would give after 'Asr in which they would focus upon teaching the sciences of the heart and reading the books of the Imams of Tasawwuf.) of one of his teachers before re-turning to the Ribat to teach his own Rawhah. He would then teach from after Maghrib until after 'Isha’. He would never leave these lessons unless he was com­pletely unable to attend. At times of poor health he would call his students to his house and teach them there. He said that at times he would attend a lesson while in pain, seeking healing through hearing and imparting knowledge.

On Wednesday and Saturday morning was the general lesson or madras which was open to all, and people from Tarim and further afield thronged to attend. Habib 'Abdullah only taught in this gathering after the death of his two teachers, Habib 'Abd al-Rahman al-Mashhur and his son Habib 'Ali. He would attend the mawlid in the Jami' Masjid of Tarim every Thursday night and give a speech to those present, and established a number of other weekly lessons outside of the Ribat. He presided over the annual Mawlid in the Ribat on the last Wednesday of Rabi’ al-Awwal, which thousands attended. He once said that a spiritual flood came forth from this Mawlid which reached every-one in creation. He had immense concern for the progress of his students. He would constantly encourage them to use their time wisely and to record what they learnt in writing. In his early days he would oversee their memorisation of core texts. He would ask after them if they failed to attend lessons, and in spite of all his duties, he found time to advise them and fulfil their needs. He would often sit in on their lessons and test them on their knowledge, thus in-creasing their desire to revise and memorise.

He told those who were studying Imam al-Nawawi’s Minhaj al-Talibin with him that if they did not read through the section they were about to study twenty times at least, they should not attend the lesson. They duly read through the section with all the commentaries and then Habib 'Abdullah would ask them questions which none of the commentaries answered.

In his later life, he preferred to teach children Surat al-Fatihah and the basics of the prayer, leaving his top students to teach older students. When asked about this, he said he found comfort in teaching children, because their hearts were completely pure, unlike adults. He also said that he hoped to attain the reward for all these children’s acts of worship and the reward of the acts of worship that these children would go on to teach.

As a result of his efforts the Ribat flourished, and students came from all parts of Yemen, from South East Asia, South India and East Africa. Records show that 13,000 students studied under Habib 'Abdullah in the Ribat. These students then returned to their homelands and spread the knowledge that they had obtained. A number of them opened their schools and Ribats. Habib Hasan bin Ismail bin Shaykh Abu Bakr bin Salim opened a Ribat in 'Aynat, Habib Muhammad al-Haddar opened a Ribat in al-Bayda and Habib 'Abdullah bin 'Abd al-Rahman bin Shaykh Abu Bakr bin Salim opened one in al-Shihr. It has been said that wherever you go in the world, especially in the regions previously mentioned, you will find the students of Habib 'Abdullah, or the students of his students. In this we witness the answering of the prayer he made in Mecca in his youth. This is even more remarkable considering that he lived before the times of modern transport, in which travel between conti-nents took weeks.

The knower of Allah, Habib 'Abdullah bin Muhsin al-'Attas, said of him that he will be resurrected on the Day of Judgement along with his students as a nation (Ummah) by himself and he will be met by his grandfather Muhammad . We find this meaning in the hadith in which the Messenger of Allah said: “Shall I not inform you of the most generous of the generous? Allah is the Most Generous of the generous, I am the most generous of the children of Adam, and the most generous of people after me is a man who taught people and spread his knowledge – he will be resurrected on the Day of Judgement as a nation (Ummah) on his own, as well as a man who generously gave his life for the sake of Allah.”( Narrated by al-Bayhaqi and Abu Ya'la)

He said that he wished that he could pray all his prayers in the great Masjid Ba 'Alawi. His wish was answered when the Imam of the Masjid, Habib 'Abd al-Rahman bin Ahmad Hamid asked him to take his place while he spent time in Java. This happened twice and lasted for a total of twelve years.

His thirst for knowledge was never quenched, and he said that had he found someone to take over the running of the Ribat, he would have travelled in search of knowledge. He wished to spend less time teaching and devote some time to authoring works but his shaykh Habib Ahmad bin Hasan al-'Attas forbade him and instructed him to produce scholars who would then author works, and this is what happened.

Perhaps his greatest student was Habib 'Alawi bin 'Abdullah Shihab al-Din, about whom he said: “It is a sufficient honour to the Ribat that the likes of 'Alawi bin 'Abdullah came out of it.” Habib 'Alawi would teach alongside Habib 'Abdullah and preside over the madras in his absence. His other great students were Habib Ja'far bin Ahmad al-'Aydarus, Habib Muhammad bin Salim bin Hafiz, who authored a biography of Habib 'Abdullah, named Nafh al-Tayyib al-'Atiri. Habib 'Abd al-Rahman bin Muhammad al-Sirri also com-piled some of his speech. Another of his students was Habib Ahmad bin 'Umar al-Shatiri, who at his request authored the great summary of Shafi'i law, al-Yaqut al-Nafis. Shaykh Salim Bukayyir Ghaythan, Mufti of Tarim, studied at length under Habib 'Abdullah and also taught in the Ribat, as did Habib 'Umar bin 'Alawi al-Kaf.

Although almost his whole time was spent in the Ribat, he made several ex-cursions calling people to Allah to Daw'an and the Indian Ocean coast. He also called people to Allah through his poems, which are collected in his Diwan.

His Death

Habib 'Abdullah passed away after a short illness on the eve of 29th Jumad al-Awwal 1361 (1941). The people of Tarim and other parts of Hadramawt came out to pray over him in the Jabbanah (The Jabbanah is the musalla situated near the graveyards of Tarim in which the Janazah prayer and the Eid prayers are performed.) the following day. Habib 'Alawi bin Shihab gave a speech extolling Habib 'Abdullah’s virtues before leading the prayer. He was buried in the Zanbal Cemetery, at his request, at the feet of his noble mother, Sharifah Nur bint 'Umar Shihab al-Din, placing his hopes in the narration that “Paradise is beneath your mother’s feet.”

Habib 'Abdullah’s sons continued to oversee the Ribat after his death – firstly his oldest son Habib Muhammad al-Mahdi, then Habib Hasan. During the period of socialist rule in South Yemen, the Ribat was forcibly closed and re-mained so for twenty five years, until the regime fell and North and South Yemen were reunited in 1411 (1990). At this point Habib Hasan and his brother Habib Salim returned from exile to re-open the Ribat. After the death of Habib Hasan in 1425 (2004), Habib Salim took over the running of the Ribat, and he continues to do so much the same way that his father did. May Allah grant him long life and benefit us by him, his brothers and his father and may the Ribat continue to be a beacon shining the way for the people of this Ummah.

The source of book "Imams of the Valley" Dar al-Turath al-Islami (DTI)