Abu Bakr bin Abd al-Rahman bin Shihab al-Din was a Ba Alawi scholar of Tarim, widely known in his family as Ibn Shihab. Al-Mashra al-Rawi traces him through Ali bin Abu Bakr bin Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf. He was born and raised in Tarim, memorised the Quran and studied foundational texts before pursuing jurisprudence, hadith, legal theory, Quranic commentary and tasawwuf. Among those named in his education are his father, his brothers and Abdullah bin Shaykh al-Aydarus. He later travelled through Yemen and to the Hijaz, spending time in the Two Holy Sanctuaries and studying with additional scholars there. The source particularly emphasises his breadth of learning and careful writing. Claims of extraordinary occurrences in the traditional account are omitted from the historical narrative.
Lineage and source note
Primary source: Al-Mashra al-Rawi fi Manaqib al-Sada al-Kiram Al Abi Alawi, volume 2. The source explicitly places this figure within the Ba Alawi genealogical network. OCR has been checked against the mapped full biography section; devotional and hagiographical claims are omitted or attributed rather than asserted as independent historical fact.