Muhammad al-Baqir bin Umar bin Aqil was a Ba Alawi scholar born in Tarim in 1026 AH. Al-Mashra al-Rawi traces his family through the Jamal al-Layl line and records that he memorised the Quran and studied with his brothers Aqil and Alawi, Zayn al-Abidin and Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf of the al-Aydarus family, Abdullah bin Zayn Bafaqih and other scholars of his period.
He travelled to the Two Holy Sanctuaries and continued his studies there, later travelled in India, and eventually returned to Tarim. The biography says that he became especially devoted to the study of tasawwuf and to Imam al-Ghazali’s Ihya Ulum al-Din. It also places him in the company of Imam Abdullah bin Alawi al-Haddad.
Muhammad al-Baqir died in Tarim in 1079 AH and was buried in Zanbal Cemetery.
Lineage and source note
Primary source: Al-Mashra al-Rawi fi Manaqib al-Sada al-Kiram Al Abi Alawi, volume 2, biography of Muhammad al-Baqir bin Umar bin Aqil. It records his birth in 1026 AH, named teachers, travel to the Hijaz and India, association with Abdullah bin Alawi al-Haddad, devotion to Ihya Ulum al-Din, death in 1079 AH and burial at Zanbal.