Salim bin Ahmad bin Shaykhan was a Ba Alawi scholar, author and spiritual teacher associated with Mecca. Al-Mashra al-Rawi preserves his lineage through Shaykhan bin Ali and the Ba Alawi line of Muhammad Mawla al-Duwayla and records his sustained study of the religious sciences and tasawwuf.
Salim studied works including Ihya Ulum al-Din and took instruction from Ahmad al-Shinnawi, from whom he received a wide range of scholarly and Sufi transmissions. He taught others and wrote across several subjects. Among the works named in the biography are Bulghat al-Murid and other treatises concerned with spiritual discipline, religious learning and devotion.
A later biographical record identifies the same Salim bin Ahmad bin Shaykhan al-Husayni as born in 995 AH and dying in 1046 AH and likewise preserves him as a Meccan scholar and author.
Karamat and spiritual discipline
The traditional biography says that Salim disliked displaying karamat and regarded attachment to extraordinary occurrences as contrary to the discipline expected of mature spiritual guides. It nevertheless acknowledges that unusual events were sometimes attributed to him, particularly in circumstances described as necessary rather than sought or displayed. The same passage presents steadfastness and upright conduct as the greater karama. This framing is preserved as part of Salim’s received devotional biography.
Lineage and source note
Primary source: Al-Mashra al-Rawi fi Manaqib al-Sada al-Kiram Al Abi Alawi, volume 2, biography of Salim bin Ahmad bin Shaykhan. It records his scholarly formation, spiritual transmissions, writings and devotional outlook. A later biographical record corroborates his identity as a Meccan scholar and author and gives his life as 995 to 1046 AH.