Imam al-haddad

His Lineage

He is al-Imam al-Habib 'Abdullah bin 'Alawi bin Muhammad bin Ahmad bin 'Abdullah bin Muhammad bin 'Alawi bin Ahmad bin Abu Bakr bin Ahmad bin Muhammad bin 'Abdullah bin Ahmad bin 'Abd al-Rahman bin 'Alawi 'Amm al-Faqih (uncle of al-Faqih al-Muqaddam), bin Muhammad Sahib Mir-bat, bin 'Ali Khali' Qasam, 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 Muham-mad al-Baqir, bin 'Ali Zayn 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.

Imam al-haddad

The name “al-Haddad” goes back to one of the ancestors of Habib 'Abdul-lah, Sayyid Ahmad bin Abu Bakr, who used to spend time with an ironsmith (haddad in Arabic) in his shop in Tarim and thus became known by that name to distinguish him from another Sayyid, whose name was also Ahmad.(For the full story and for a more detailed biography of the Imam, see Sufi Sage of Arabia, Mostafa al-Badawi)

“Habib” came to be the title of the 'Alawi sayyids from the 11th Century onwards.

His Life

Imam al-Haddad was born in Subayr near the city of Tarim in 1044 (1634). He went blind at the age of four but Allah blessed him with the light of inner sight. His father directed him to the pursuit of knowledge and he memorised the Qur’an and the foundational texts of the Islamic sciences at an early age. Among his teachers were Habib 'Abdullah bin Ahmad Balfaqih, Habib 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-'Attas and Habib Muhammad bin 'Alawi al-Saqqaf who lived in Mecca and with whom he corresponded by letter. He continued in his studies until he reached the rank of mujtahid.

His love of knowledge was accompanied with a love of worship. In his childhood, when his morning lessons had finished, he would perform up to 200 rakats of prayer in Masjid Ba Alawi or other mosques. His day was struc-tured around acts of worship, which began long before dawn and ended late at night, interspersed with lessons and time with his family. He compiled a number of litanies, the most famous being the Ratib and al-Wird al-Latif, which provide spiritual sustenance for the seeker. He had a great attachment to Surah Ya Sin, which he read constantly and in which he was given a special opening. The supplication which he would make after it continues to be read widely, as do many of his litanies.

After being given the order by his grandfather, the Messenger of Allah , the Imam began calling to Allah at every level, such that he became known as the ‘Pole of Da'wa and Guidance.’ He had a small number of close disciples who he trained in the spiritual path. He said of his technique: “We may train one of our students for a whole year in attaining one attribute.” He called the scholars to act according to their knowledge and to become callers them-selves. He called the rulers and the common people alike. He established a mawlid in the month of Rajab and would feed all those who attended, saying:

“If they do not benefit from our speech then we will place our blessings in the food.”

He authored a number of books which continue to benefit people genera-tion after generation. His works are clear and concise and thus suitable for our times. Several have been translated into English and other languages. He would dictate large sections of his books to his students without any prepara-tion. The Imam’s longest work, al-Nasa’ih al-Diniyya, contains the essence of Imam al-Ghazali’s Ihya’ 'Ulum al-Din. In al-Da'wa al-Tamma (The Complete Call) he classifies society into eight categories and outlines each category’s rights and duties. Risalat al-Mu'awana (The Book of Assistance), which he au-thored at the age of 26, is every Muslim’s manual of the path to Allah. Other works include The Lives of Man, Knowledge and Wisdom and Good Manners, all excellently translated by Dr Mostafa al-Badawi.

The Imam also placed his knowledge and his secrets in his collection of poetry (Diwan) and used it as a means of calling people to Allah. He said that the one who has the Diwan needs no other book. Several of the poems in it contain a complete exposition of the spiritual path and were explained dur-ing the lifetime of the Imam by his great student Habib Ahmad bin Zayn al-Habashi. Habib Ahmad bin Zayn also wrote a commentary on the Imam’s 'Ayniyya in which he compiled biographies of many of the great Imams who represent the Imam’s chain of spiritual connection back to the Messenger of Allah . His poetry reached such a degree of acceptance that one of his verses was inscribed on the wall of the enclosure in which lies the grave of the Messenger of Allah :

“An awesome Prophet, whose character the All-Compassionate has venerated in the Master of all Books”

Imam al-Haddad’s poems continue to bring light and life to gatherings all over the world.

Imam al-Haddad was involved in society at every level. He would write to the sultans warning them of their contravention of the Sacred Law and com-manding them to repent and return to Allah. He also advised them in the affairs of government and mediated between conflicting tribes. He advised farmers on agricultural techniques and castigated the wealthy for not using their wealth to help the poor.

He established the village of al-Hawi on the outskirts of Tarim which was self-sufficient and free from the meddling of the rulers of the time – close enough to receive the good of Tarim but far enough away to be safe from the conflict and sedition that plagued the city. The mosque which he built there, Masjid al-Fath, and his house have now been greatly renovated and receive many visitors. He would supervise and fund the raising of orphans in his house and, in spite of his blindness, would take part in the work of the house, feeding the animals and sealing the water vessels.

One of the sultans of India wished to honour him by sending a ship laden with gold but the Imam knew that the arrival of this wealth would have nega-tive effects on Hadramawt and its people. He asked Allah to make the ship sink and that everyone aboard would be saved, which duly happened.

His reliance on Allah was such that he said: “If the sky were to call out, ‘I will not send forth a drop of rain,’ and the earth were to call out, ‘I will not send forth a single shoot,’ and I was responsible for feeding all the people of Tarim I would not be in the least concerned after my Lord has said: There is no creature on the earth but that Allah has guaranteed to provide for it.” (Hud, 11:6)

His constant supplication was to perfect his following of the Messenger of Allah . In his old age he grew his hair long, saying: “There is not a sunnah that was prescribed by the Prophet except that I hope I have acted upon it.”

Habib 'Ali al-Habashi said of him:

Everyone that takes the path after him

Is guided by his brilliant light

He was the cooling of the eye of the Prophet Muhammad

And he is one of the best of his children

His Death

It is little surprise that the Imam came to be regarded as the “renewer” (mu-jaddid) of the 12th Islamic Century. He died in al-Hawi on 8th Dhu’l-Qa'ida 1132 (1719) and was buried in the Zanbal Graveyard in Tarim. He (may Allah be pleased with him) left behind six sons – Hasan (who became his spiritual heir), Husayn, 'Alawi, Salim, Zayn, Muhammad; and four daughters – 'A’ishah, Salma, Fatimah, and Bahiyyah.

His students were giants in their own right: amongst them Habib Ahmad bin Zayn al-Habashi, Habib 'Abd al-Rahman bin 'Abdullah Balfaqih, Habib 'Umar bin 'Abd al-Rahman al-Barr and Habib Muhammad bin Zayn bin Sumayt.

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