Umar bin Abdullah bin Umar bin Faqih bin Abd al-Rahman bin Shaykh Ali was a Ba Alawi scholar of Tarim whom Muhammad bin Abi Bakr al-Shilli remembered as a companion in study. Al-Mashra al-Rawi records that Umar was born and raised in Tarim, memorised the Qur’an and pursued religious learning with particular attention to jurisprudence and tasawwuf.
The biography says that he memorised several instructional texts, including the Ghazalian creed, the Forty Hadith of Imam al-Nawawi, the Ajurrumiyyah, al-Irshad and Qatr al-Nada. He studied with scholars in Tarim and later travelled in Yemen, where he continued learning from scholars of his time.
Among the teachers named in the primary biography are Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf al-Aydarus, Alawi bin Abdullah al-Aydarus, Abdullah bin Ahmad al-Aydarus and Umar bin Husayn Faqih. The source also records that Umar received the khirqa from several teachers.
Umar is remembered for frequent Qur’an recitation, retreat, night prayer, regular remembrance of God and participation across several branches of knowledge, with an especially strong interest in jurisprudence and tasawwuf. The biography closes by saying that he continued to increase in knowledge and devotion until his death, but it does not give a death year. None is supplied here.
Scholarly connections
Teacher: Alawi bin Abdullah al-Aydarus is named directly among Umar’s teachers in Al-Mashra al-Rawi. The same passage also names Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf al-Aydarus, Abdullah bin Ahmad al-Aydarus and Umar bin Husayn Faqih, whose names are retained here exactly as source-grounded teacher associations.
Study companion: Muhammad bin Abi Bakr al-Shilli describes Umar as his companion in study. This is preserved as a peer association rather than recast as a teacher-student relationship.
Lineage and source note
The primary source is Al-Mashra al-Rawi fi Manaqib al-Sada al-Kiram Al Abi Alawi, volume 2, in the biography headed Umar bin Abdullah bin Umar bin Faqih bin Abd al-Rahman bin Shaykh Ali. The notice records his Tarim upbringing, memorised texts, named teachers, travel in Yemen, devotional practice and scholarly interests. It ends with his death without preserving a year.
The following notice in Al-Mashra al-Rawi concerns a different Umar, son of Shaykh Ali bin Abi Bakr bin Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf, and gives that different person’s death as 899 AH. That adjacent date is not assigned to this Umar.
An independent genealogical witness appears in Shams al-Zahirah fi Nasab Ahl al-Bayt min Bani Alawi, first edition, 1404 AH / 1984 CE, printed pages 133 and 134. Page 133 anchors Abd al-Rahman as a son of Ali bin Abi Bakr al-Sukran. Page 134 then treats Muhammad Faqih within that branch and explicitly names Umar bin Abdullah bin Umar bin Muhammad Faqih, stating that he was born and died in Tarim. This independently supports the exact person and clarifies that the shorter Faqih form in the primary heading corresponds to Muhammad Faqih in Shams. The primary heading is preserved as transmitted rather than silently rewritten.
Shams al-Zahirah supplies no death year for Umar, so none is inferred. The memorised texts, named teachers, Yemen study, khirqa material, devotional practice and al-Shilli companion statement remain attributed to the primary biography.