Habib Umar Bin Hafiz
Habib Umar Bin Hafiz
Principal, Darul Mustafa (Tarim, Hadramawt, Yemen)
Islamic Scholar & Preacher
Habib Umar Bin Hafiz is a descendent of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) from Sayyidina Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad – being the son of both ‘Ali and of Fatimah al-Zahra the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. He was born in Tarim, Hadramawt, a city of Yemen known far and wide due to the abundance of scholars and pious people that it has produced over the centuries, including the erudite and eminent scholar, Sheikh Umar Bin Abdullah Al-Khatib, who taught in Singapore for the most part of his life.
His father was the famous erudite preacher, Muhammad Bin Salim Bin Hafiz Bin Shaikh Abu Bakr Bin Salim. Likewise his grandfathers, Habib Salim Bin Hafiz and Habib Hafiz Bin Abd-Allah, were scholars who were highly respected by the scholars of their day. Habib Umar was raised in the most appropriate of conditions, surrounded by people of knowledge and piety.
Having memorised the Qur’an at a very early age he also memorised the core texts in fiqh (jurisprudence), hadith (traditions of Prophet Muhammad), Arabic Language and other Islamic sciences thereby adhering to the circles of knowledge that were held by many traditional scholars. He was educated and trained by many teachers, some of them being:
• Habib Muhammad Bin Salim Bin Hafiz (father)
• Muhammad Bin ‘Alawi Bin Shihab (at Rubat of Tarim)
• Shaikh Fadl Baa Fadl (at Rubat of Tarim)
• Habib Muhammad Bin ‘Abd-Allah al-Haddar (at Rubat of al-Bayda’)
• Habib Ibrahim Bin Aqil Bin Yahya (Mufti of Ta‘iz)
• Habib Zain Bin Sumait (scholar of Hijaz)
• Habib Abdul Qadir Bin Ahmad al-Saqqaf (scholar of Hijaz)
• Habib Ahmed Mashur al-Haddad (scholar of Hijaz)
• Habib Attas al-Habashi (scholar of Hijaz)
After spending a good number of years studying the Islamic sciences, in and around the Middle East, he returned to Tarim and established an institute of higher learning for Islam called Darul Mustafa. Darul Mustafa would be his gift to the world and to it the world was summoned. In what would seem such a short time, the people of Tarim would witness the convergence, both male and female students, from lands far and wide upon a city that was on the verge of being forgotten. Students from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, The Comorus Islands, Tanzania, Kenya, Egypt, Great Britain, Pakistan, United States and Canada as well as other Arab states and countries would be under the tutelage of Habib Umar and his appointed teachers. They would become students and catalysts in an authentic attempt at reviving traditional Islam. The rise of similar Islamic institutions in Yemen and abroad under the management of Habib Umar would again be a major momentum in the spread of knowledge and good behavior and provide the common people with opportunities that they had previously been deprived of.
Habib Umar currently lives in Tarim, Yemen where he oversees the development of Darul Mustafa and the many schools that have been set up under his management. He still maintains an active role in the propagation of the religion of Islam such that he spends most of the year traveling all over the world in pursuit of such noble activities.