Shaykh ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdullah Bagharib (q.s.)

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

Shaykh ‘Umar Bagharib (q.s.) was the father of my shaykh, Shaykh Zakaria Bagharib (q.s.).  Mu’alim at-Tarim, Shaykh ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdullah Bagharib (q.s.) was born in Tarim, Hadhramawt, in Ramadhan 1300 AH.  This is according to Habib Muhammad ibn Salim al-‘Aththas (q.s.). 

His father was a hafizh of the Qur’an and had reportedly performed his haj 35 times by walking from Tarim to Makkah and Madina.  He undertook the task to spread and teach Islam in the villages he passed through along the journey.  Shaykh ‘Umar’s (q.s.) mother was Shaykha bint ‘Awad Abu Bakr Bazaghfan (q.s.).  His fourth grandfather, who was his namesake, Shaykh ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdullah Bagharib (q.s.), was a Quthb asw-Swadiqah al-Kubra’ who had more than a thousand students who had all memorised the Qur’an.  According to Shaykh ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdullah al-Khathib (q.s.), among the students was the famous Imam ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Alawi al-Haddad (q.s.), the one known as Swahib ar-Rathib. 

When he was 13 years old, Shaykh ‘Umar Bagharib (q.s.) was given the responsibility to teach.  He then traveled to al-Qaryah to teach Sayyid Muhammad ibn Husayn’s (q.s.) children for three years.  Upon the request of Habib Ahmad ibn Hasan al-‘Aththas (q.s.), he then went to al-‘Ajlaniyyah to teach the children there, and became the imam of Masjid al-‘Ajlaniyyah when he was 18 years old.  It seems that his style of teaching was greatly accepted by children wherever they were because when he migrated to Singapore around 1935, he opened three classes for boys and girls, teaching them the Arabic Language, Qur’an and fiqh.  Due to his affinity to teach children, he was affectionately called “mu’alim”, teacher.  Those classes were held at Masjid Khadijah, the mosque where he was appointed and served as imam for 33 years.  Besides teaching the children, he was also the teacher for Shaykh ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdullah al-Khathib (q.s.).  Although his son, Shaykh Zakariya ibn ‘Umar Bagharib (q.s.), later became Shaykh ‘Umar al-Khathib’s (q.s.) student, Shaykh ‘Umar’s (q.s.) humility obliged him to always kiss the hand of Shaykh Zakaria (q.s.), as an honour to his father. 

Shaykh ‘Umar Bagharib (q.s.) was also the first khalifah for the Qadiriyyah Thariqa’ in Singapore.  His shaykh was Mawlana ‘Abd al-‘Alim asw-Swiddiq ibn ‘Abd al-Hakim al-Qadri (q.s.). 

He passed away in Singapore, on Monday, 24^th June 1968, 28^th Rabi’ al-Awwal 1388, and was buried in Bidadari Cemetary.  May Allah (s.w.t.) Bless him and Raise his maqam.