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Abu Bakr al-Aydarus

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Abu Bakr al-ʿAydarūs, also known as Sayyid Abū Bakr al-ʿAdanī ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAydarūs (Arabic: أبو بكر العدني بن عبد الله العيدروس; 1447–1508[1]) was a Hadhrami religious scholar of Sufism and a poet who wrote in vernacular style.[2] Abu Bakr spent most of his adult life in Aden, where he was well respected for his societal contributions to the well-being of the city's residents. After his death in 1508, he was mourned by the city's residents, and was later venerated as the wali or "patron saint" of Aden.[3]

Biography

Abu Bakr was born in Tarim in the Hadhramawt in 1447.[4] In his youth, Abu Bakr studied the teachings of al-Ghazali, and in his early adulthood, he was sent to Aden to undertake missionary duties there. Abu Bakr oversaw the construction of the city's mosque and its Sufi school, and later settled down in the city.[5] Nevertheless, he made occasional return trips to his family in Tarim, many of whom relied on a monetary endowment funded by charitable traders in the region.[1]

Abu Bakr was eventually made the mansab or religious leader of Aden. He was highly respected by the city's residents, who described him as a brilliant and kind man with an excellent sense of justice.[6] Abu Bakr was also respected by members of the Adeni Jewish community, providing them refuge when they were harassed by desert bandits.[7] Abu Bakr also travelled to Harar after settling in Aden, and introduced the Qadiri order to Ethiopia.[8]

Introduction of coffee

At least three Arab texts, namely the Tarikh of an-Najm al-Ghazzi, the Jāmiʻ karamāt al-awlīyāʼ of Yūsuf ibn Ismāʻīl Nabhānī and Istifa' al-Safwa li-Tashyat al-Qahwa, mention Abu Bakr's role in the introduction of coffee to the Hadhramawt. According to the Tarikh of an-Najm al-Ghazzi, Abu Bakr became impressed with the strong stimulating effect derived from eating the berries of a coffee tree during his wanderings. He praised its effects, taking the coffee berries and introducing them to his disciples. The other two sources, Jāmiʻ karamāt al-awlīyāʼ and the Istifa' al-Safwa li-Tashyat al-Qahwa, mentioned Abu Bakr's fondness of coffee and accredited him with the introduction of coffee to South Arabia.[9]

Death and legacy

Abu Bakr died in 1508, although some sources suggested that he died in 1503.[10] His death was greatly mourned by residents of Aden, who published obituaries commemorating his life; an account of Abu Bakr's birthplace, Tarim, was also published.[4] His grave has since been visited by thousands of Muslim pilgrims every year who continue to pay their respects.[11]

Aidarus Mosque

Main article: Aidrus Mosque

Several people alleged that Abu Bakr possessed mystical powers and claimed that they had met his spirit while sleeping; one legend mentioned a Sikh traveller who met Abu Bakr in his dream shortly after his demise. The Sikh, who was suffering from a stomachache, fell asleep beside his tomb. In his dream, Abu Bakr instructed the Sikh to bathe in a nearby pond and he quickly recovered. Following the ordeal, the grateful Sikh built a mosque over Abu Bakr's grave and shortly before returning to India, he gave a promise to the local residents that he would provide the doors for the newly constructed mosque. The Sikh met Abu Bakr again after his return to India, who narrated to Abu Bakr of his difficulty of bringing wood to Yemen for the construction of the mosque's doors. Abu Bakr provided instructions to the Sikh on the fate of the wooden logs, to which he duly followed and threw them into the sea. Residents at Sira later reported of receiving the wooden logs which the Sikh had thrown into the sea, and noted an inscription which stated the intended use of the wooden logs.[5] The mosque later became the centre of Sufi learning in Aden, and several of his descendants took on the duty of the mosque's custodians. Renovations works were initiated during the 19th century[12] and again in the 1990s, after the mosque suffered serious structural damage from the North Yemen Civil War.[5]

Descendants

After relocating to Aden, Abu Bakr raised a family of his own and started a new lineage. The al-ʿAydarūs clan was an offshoot of the Ba 'Alawiyya as-Saqqaf clan of Tarim.[1][13] Many of his descendants established trading links with the Bedouins and the Qu'aiti sultans and took up prominent political positions.[14] Other descendants migrated to India, Southeast Asia and East Africa from the late 14th century onwards and established new Islamic schools or Muslim ruling houses;[1] among the first descendants to migrate was a grandson, ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAydarūs[15] and another descendant, ʿAbdallāh ibn Shaykh al-ʿAydarūs,[16] who migrated to India and Aceh, respectively, and established new diaspora communities.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d J. Spencer Trimingham, John O. Voll, The Sufi Orders in Islam, pg 73
  2. ^ Roger Allen, Donald Sidney Richards, Arabic Literature in the Post-classical Period, pg 216
  3. ^ José-Marie Bel, Théodore Monod, Aden: Port mythique du Yémen, pg 99
  4. ^ a b Engseng Ho, The Graves of Tarim: Genealogy and mobility across the Indian Ocean, pg 133 The link is a direct one: the Adeni was born there in 1447, the great-grandson of 'Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf, initiator of the ritual forms of the
  5. ^ a b c Daniel McLaughlin, Yemen, pg 185
  6. ^ Muhammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī, Clive K. Smith, Lightning Over Yemen: A History of the Ottoman Campaign (1569-71) : Being a Translation from the Arabic of Part III of Al-Barq Al-Yamānī Fī Al-Fatḥ Al-ʻUthmānī by Quṭb Al-Din Al-Nahrawālī Al-Makkī as Published by Ḥamad Al-Jāsir, pg 43
  7. ^ Reuben Ahroni, The Jews of the British Crown Colony of Aden: History, Culture, and Ethnic Relations, pg 28
  8. ^ Rex S O'Fahey, Hussein Ahmed, The Writings of the Muslim Peoples of Northeastern Africa, pg 26
  9. ^ M. Th Houtsma, E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, pg 631
  10. ^ Petrus Voorhoeve, Handlist of Arabic Manuscripts in the Library of the University of Leiden and Other Collections in the Netherlands, pg 143
  11. ^ Anne K. Bang, Sufis and Scholars of the Sea: Family Networks in East Africa, 1860-1925, pg 22
  12. ^ Zaka Hanna Kour, The History of Aden, 1839-72, pg 16
  13. ^ John Obert Voll, Islam, Continuity and Change in the Modern World: Continuity and Change in the Modern World, pg 72
  14. ^ Ulrike Freitag, W. G. Clarence-Smith, Hadhrami Traders, Scholars, and Statesmen in the Indian Ocean, 1750s-1960s, pg 153
  15. ^ Azyumardi Azra, The origins of Islamic reformism in Southeast Asia: networks of Malay-Indonesian and Middle Eastern 'Ulamā' in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, pg 57
  16. ^ M. Hasyim Assagaf, Derita putri-putri Nabi: Studi historis Kafa'ah Syarifah, pg 217, 224

References

  • Anne K. Bang, Sufis and Scholars of the Sea: Family Networks in East Africa, 1860-1925, Routledge, 2003, ISBN 0-415-31763-0
  • Azyumardi Azra, The origins of Islamic reformism in Southeast Asia: networks of Malay-Indonesian and Middle Eastern 'Ulamā' in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Allen & Unwin, 2004, ISBN 1-74114-261-X
  • Daniel McLaughlin, Yemen, Bradt Travel Guides, 2008, ISBN 1-84162-212-5
  • Engseng Ho, The Graves of Tarim: Genealogy and mobility across the Indian Ocean, University of California Press, 2006, ISBN 0-520-24454-0
  • J. Spencer Trimingham, John O. Voll, The Sufi Orders in Islam, Oxford University Press, 1998, ISBN 0-19-512058-2
  • John Obert Voll, Islam, Continuity and Change in the Modern World: Continuity and Change in the Modern World, Westview Press, 1982
  • José-Marie Bel, Théodore Monod, Aden: Port mythique du Yémen, Maisonneuve & Larose, 1998, ISBN 2-7068-1360-1
  • M. Hasyim Assagaf, Derita putri-putri Nabi: Studi historis Kafa'ah Syarifah, Remaja Rosdakarya, 2000, ISBN 979-692-004-2
  • M. Th Houtsma, E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, published by BRILL, ISBN 90-04-08265-4
  • Muhammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī, Clive K. Smith, Lightning Over Yemen: A History of the Ottoman Campaign (1569-71) : Being a Translation from the Arabic of Part III of Al-Barq Al-Yamānī Fī Al-Fatḥ Al-ʻUthmānī by Quṭb Al-Din Al-Nahrawālī Al-Makkī as Published by Ḥamad Al-Jāsir, I.B. Tauris, 2002, ISBN 1-86064-836-3
  • Petrus Voorhoeve, Handlist of Arabic Manuscripts in the Library of the University of Leiden and Other Collections in the Netherlands, Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden, Bibliotheek Staff, 1980, ISBN 90-6021-460-9
  • Reuben Ahroni, The Jews of the British Crown Colony of Aden: History, Culture, and Ethnic Relations, BRILL, 1994, ISBN 90-04-10110-1
  • Rex S O'Fahey, Hussein Ahmed, The Writings of the Muslim Peoples of Northeastern Africa, BRILL, 2003, ISBN 90-04-10938-2
  • Roger Allen, Donald Sidney Richards, Arabic Literature in the Post-classical Period, Cambridge University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-521-77160-9
  • Ulrike Freitag, W. G. Clarence-Smith, Hadhrami Traders, Scholars, and Statesmen in the Indian Ocean, 1750s-1960s, BRILL, 1997, ISBN 90-04-10771-1
  • Zaka Hanna Kour, The History of Aden, 1839-72, Routledge, 1981, ISBN 0-7146-3101-9
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