Shaykh 'Umar al-mihdar

His Lineage

He is Shaykh 'Umar al-Mihdar bin Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf bin Shaykh Muhammad Mawla al-Dawilah, bin 'Ali Mawla Darak, bin 'Alawi al-Ghuyur, bin al-Faqih al-Muqaddam, Muhammad bin 'Ali, bin Muhammad Sahib Mirbat, 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 Muhammad 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 .

The name “al-Mihdar” means “the one who comes swiftly when called.”

Zanbal burial area in tarim

His Life

He was born in Tarim and grew up under the watchful eye of his father, the great Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf, who he came to imitate in all his states and actions. Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman chose for his son the best of teachers, amongst them Shaykh Abu Bakr Bilhaj Ba Fadl. He quickly mastered jurisprudence and the other outward sciences, to the point where he practically knew Imam al-Nawawi’s Minhaj al-Talibin by heart. He later travelled within Yemen and to the Hijaz in search of knowledge. His father, wishing to direct him towards the inner sciences, said to him: “The jurists only have a small ray of light while the sufis have a blazing torch. An ounce of the actions of the heart is equal to a ton of the actions of the body.”

Like his predecessors he took the path of intense spiritual struggle, on the principle of “Those who truly strive for Our sake, We will show them Our Ways.”(Al-'Ankabut, 29:69) He crushed his lower self by denying it its pleasures, such that he did not eat dates for thirty years because they were the food that he desired most. The fruit of his labours was the outpouring of knowledge direct from Allah, which astounded the scholars of his time. When asked about this, he said that this was knowledge “from above.” “You enter the houses through their doors whereas I scale the walls.” He said: “If I wished to comment on Allah’s state-

ment: We do not abrogate a verse or cause it be forgotten except that We bring something better than it (Al-Baqarah, 2:106), I could have laden a thousand camels.”

In spite of the divine gifts with which he had been blessed, Imam al-Mihdar had intense fear of his Lord. He said: “I wish that I was a sheep that would be slaughtered and eaten.” He would often say: “If I knew that one good deed of mine was accepted by Allah, I would have fed the whole of Tarim on meat and grain, even the livestock.”

He spent his wealth feeding the poor and supporting students of knowledge. He provided financial support to the majority of 'Alawi families in Tarim. He built a mosque in Tarim, the famous Masjid al-Mihdar, which he generously endowed, and another near al-Shihr. He established a number of safe havens (huwat) in the area of al-Shihr where people could seek refuge from tribal conflict.4 His influence was such that he united the 'Alawi sayyids under his leadership, putting in a place a niqabah or council headed by the leading 'Alawi scholars of the time. A covenant was made which bound the 'Alawi sayyids to stand together to defend the truth and reject falsehood and oppres-sion, and to call to good and forbid evil. It dictated how charity should be dis-tributed and gave the final word on the affairs of the community to Shaykh 'Umar al-Mihdar.

His Death

Shaykh 'Umar had no sons but left behind four daughters: 'A’ishah, who he married to his nephew and pupil, Imam al-'Aydarus; Fatimah, who he mar-ried to his other nephew, Shaykh 'Ali bin Abu Bakr al-Sakran; and Maryam and 'Alawiya.

He continued calling to Allah, preserving and promoting the way of his predecessors until, in 833 (1429), he answered the call of his Lord while in prostration in the Zuhr prayer. He was buried in the Zanbal cemetery in the proximity of his family and relatives. His poetry is still read in gatherings, particularly the Hadarah of Imam al-Saqqaf.

4.The “hawtah” became a feature of Hadramawt – an area designated by someone of authority to be a safe haven, in which killing and fighting were outlawed and people were safe from tribal conflict and the oppressions of the rulers.