Abd al-Rahman bin Muhammad bin Abdullah al-Aydarus al-Saqqaf was a Ba Alawi scholar of Tarim born in 988 AH. Al-Mashra al-Rawi records that he memorised the Quran and studied the ten canonical readings as well as jurisprudence, Arabic, theology and tasawwuf.
Among his teachers was Abd al-Rahman bin Shihab al-Din al-Saqqaf, together with members of the al-Aydarus scholarly family and other scholars of Tarim. He later taught extensively, and the source names a substantial circle of students. One of them was Ahmad bin Umar al-Bayti al-Saqqaf.
After the death of his uncle, Abd al-Rahman assumed a leading teaching role within his family and continued public instruction. The traditional biography also preserves devotional material concerning dreams, spiritual states and karamat associated with him; these are treated here as part of the received tradition and not as independently verified historical events.
A later biographical compilation independently identifies the same Abd al-Rahman al-Aydarus al-Saqqaf, gives his birth in Tarim in 988 AH, names Abd al-Rahman bin Shihab al-Din among his teachers, notes his teaching activity and records his death in 1053 AH.
Lineage and source note
Primary source: Al-Mashra al-Rawi fi Manaqib al-Sada al-Kiram Al Abi Alawi, volume 2, full mapped biography section. The lineage and scholarly record are explicit in the primary biography and independently corroborated in later biographical compilations. Source-attested devotional and hagiographical material is retained where materially part of the received biography, with attribution rather than being stated as independent historical fact.