Abdur-Rahman al-Mu'allimee al-Yamani
Encyclopedia
Abu `Abdillah `Abd al-Rahman ibn Yahya ibn `Ali al-Mu`allimee (Arabic
: عبد الرحمن بن يحيى المعلمي) was a recent Sunni
Islam
ic scholar who specialized in hadith
and biographical evaluation. He was born in Yemen
, then under Ottoman
control, then spending time as an editor in India
before returning to the then nascent Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
where he was head of the main library in Mecca
. He was responsible for editing numerous classical religious works primarily in his field of specialization. For his efforts, he has been lauded as "the al-Dhahabi of the era", referring to the prominent medieval scholar of history.
, Yemen
. He relocated for a period of five years to pursue religious studies before returning and marrying. He married al-Mu`allimee's mother who was from one of the Yemeni tribes. She bore him one daughter and three sons: Fatimah, Muhammad, `Abd al-Rahman and `Atiyyah. Al-Mu`allimee – `Abd al-Rahman- was born in 1894 in the village of al-Mahaqirah in the vicinity of al-Tufan. Yahya also married Fatimah bint Ahmad al-Mu`allimee who also bore four children.
After some time in al-Tufan, he moved with his family to a village in al-Rimah, building a house atop a terraced mountain – Jabal al-Wali- that had been abandoned previously. This house came to be known as Bait al-Rimi. He split his time between teaching the local children, leading the Friday
and `Eid
prayers, farming and teaching his own children. He died in 1941 when al-Mu`allimee was 59 years old.
with his father and another family member, writing and memorizing it systematically. Before completing the Quran, his father moved with him to Bait al-Rimi where he continued to teach his son. Al-Mu`allimee then moved to al-Hajariyyah in the Ta'izz
region with his brother Muhammad who was employed as a clerk in the Sharia
h court there. He studied Quranic recitation, math and the Turkish language
while a student at a public school. Upon visiting his son, Yahya was dismayed to learn of his slow progress in studying Arabic grammar
. Upon his father's encouragement, he then progressed in his grammar studies and upon returning to Bait al-Rimi focused his studies in the company of a local scholar. He also studied jurisprudence
and inheritance
before being appointed a judge.
Al-Mu`allimee read Sahih al-Bukhari
and Sahih Muslim
in the audience of Muḥammad `Abd al-Qadīr al-Ṣiddīqī at the college of al-Jami`ah al`Uthmaniyyah
in Hyderabad, India. He was also authorized
by him to narrate the Six Canonical Books
: Sahih Bukhari
, Sahih Muslim
, Sunan al-Nasa'i
, Sunan Abi Dawood, Sunan al-Tirmidhi
and Sunan Ibn Majah, in addition to Al-Muwatta by Imam Malik
.
, now in South-western Saudi Arabia, in the year 1911. There he was appointed head judge by Muhammad al-Idrisee the then governor of Asir and given the title Shaykh al-Islam. Al-Mu'allimee continued to teach throughout this period and remained with al-Idrisee until the later's death in 1923.
Following the death of al-Idrisee, al-Mu'allimee moved to Aden
in Yemen where he taught and delivered sermons for a year. From Aden, he went to Hyderabad, India where he was appointed an editor at Dāʻirah al-Maʼārif al-ʼUthmāniyyah. There he edited books of hadith in addition to works history and literature for approximately 25 years beginning in about 1927.
In 1952, he moved to Mecca
, Saudi Arabia
where he began working at the Library of Mecca (Maktabah al-Ḥaram al-Makkī). After a year, he was appointed head (amīn) of the library in November–December 1952. During his time there, he continued to edit books for Dāʻirah al-Maʼārif al-ʼUthmāniyyah in India.
at the Grand Mosque
in Mecca
. Afterwards, he returned to the library in which he was working and died in his bed.
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
: عبد الرحمن بن يحيى المعلمي) was a recent Sunni
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic scholar who specialized in hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
and biographical evaluation. He was born in Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
, then under Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
control, then spending time as an editor in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
before returning to the then nascent Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
where he was head of the main library in Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
. He was responsible for editing numerous classical religious works primarily in his field of specialization. For his efforts, he has been lauded as "the al-Dhahabi of the era", referring to the prominent medieval scholar of history.
Family
Al-Mu`allimee's father Yahya ibn `Ali was raised in the village of al-Tufan in the Automah district of DhamarDhamar Governorate
Dhamar , also spelt Thamar, is a governorate of Yemen. It is located to the south and southeast of Sana'a Governorate, to the north of Ibb Governorate, to the east of Al Hudaydah Governorate and to the northwest of Al Bayda' Governorate in the central highlands of Yemen...
, Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
. He relocated for a period of five years to pursue religious studies before returning and marrying. He married al-Mu`allimee's mother who was from one of the Yemeni tribes. She bore him one daughter and three sons: Fatimah, Muhammad, `Abd al-Rahman and `Atiyyah. Al-Mu`allimee – `Abd al-Rahman- was born in 1894 in the village of al-Mahaqirah in the vicinity of al-Tufan. Yahya also married Fatimah bint Ahmad al-Mu`allimee who also bore four children.
After some time in al-Tufan, he moved with his family to a village in al-Rimah, building a house atop a terraced mountain – Jabal al-Wali- that had been abandoned previously. This house came to be known as Bait al-Rimi. He split his time between teaching the local children, leading the Friday
Jumu'ah
Jumu'ah is a congregational prayer that Muslims hold every Friday, just after noon in lieu of dhuhr...
and `Eid
Eid Prayer
The Eid prayer was prescribed in the first year after the hijra. It is Wajib and Muhammad always performed these prayers.-Procedure:...
prayers, farming and teaching his own children. He died in 1941 when al-Mu`allimee was 59 years old.
Education
Al-Mu`allimee began studying the QuranQur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
with his father and another family member, writing and memorizing it systematically. Before completing the Quran, his father moved with him to Bait al-Rimi where he continued to teach his son. Al-Mu`allimee then moved to al-Hajariyyah in the Ta'izz
Ta'izz
Ta'izz , or Taiz, is a city in the Yemeni Highlands, near the famous Mocha port on the Red Sea, lying at an elevation of about 1,400 metres above sea level. It is the capital of Ta'izz Governorate...
region with his brother Muhammad who was employed as a clerk in the Sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
h court there. He studied Quranic recitation, math and the Turkish language
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
while a student at a public school. Upon visiting his son, Yahya was dismayed to learn of his slow progress in studying Arabic grammar
Arabic grammar
Arabic grammar is the grammar of the Arabic language. Arabic is a Semitic language and its grammar has many similarities with the grammar of other Semitic languages....
. Upon his father's encouragement, he then progressed in his grammar studies and upon returning to Bait al-Rimi focused his studies in the company of a local scholar. He also studied jurisprudence
Fiqh
Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....
and inheritance
Islamic inheritance jurisprudence
Islamic Inheritance jurisprudence is a field of Islamic Jurisprudence that deals with inheritance, a topic that is prominently dealt with in the Qur'an. It is often called Mīrāth, and its branch of Islamic law is technically known as ʿulm al-farāʾiḍ...
before being appointed a judge.
Al-Mu`allimee read Sahih al-Bukhari
Sahih al-Bukhari
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī , as it is commonly referred to, is one of the six canonical hadith collections of Islam. These prophetic traditions, or hadith, were collected by the Persian Muslim scholar Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari, after being transmitted orally for generations. Muslims view this as one of...
and Sahih Muslim
Sahih Muslim
Sahih Muslim is one of the Six major collections of the hadith in Sunni Islam, oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. It is the second most authentic hadith collection after Sahih Al-Bukhari, and is highly acclaimed by Sunni Muslims...
in the audience of Muḥammad `Abd al-Qadīr al-Ṣiddīqī at the college of al-Jami`ah al`Uthmaniyyah
Osmania University
Osmania University , , since 1918, is a public university located in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established and named after the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan. It is one of the oldest modern universities in India. It is the first Indian University to have Urdu and...
in Hyderabad, India. He was also authorized
Ijazah
An ijazah is a certificate used primarily by Sunni Muslims to indicate that one has been authorized by a higher authority to transmit a certain subject or text of Islamic knowledge...
by him to narrate the Six Canonical Books
Six major Hadith collections
The six major Hadith collections are collections of hadith by Islamic scholars who, approximately 200 years after Muhammad's death and by their own initiative, collected "hadith" attributed to Muhammad...
: Sahih Bukhari
Sahih al-Bukhari
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī , as it is commonly referred to, is one of the six canonical hadith collections of Islam. These prophetic traditions, or hadith, were collected by the Persian Muslim scholar Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari, after being transmitted orally for generations. Muslims view this as one of...
, Sahih Muslim
Sahih Muslim
Sahih Muslim is one of the Six major collections of the hadith in Sunni Islam, oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. It is the second most authentic hadith collection after Sahih Al-Bukhari, and is highly acclaimed by Sunni Muslims...
, Sunan al-Nasa'i
Al-Sunan al-Sughra
as-Sunan as-Sughra , also known as Sunan an-Nasa'i is one of the Sunni Six Major Hadith collections, and was collected by Al-Nasa'i.-Description:...
, Sunan Abi Dawood, Sunan al-Tirmidhi
Sunan al-Tirmidhi
Jāmi` al-Tirmidhi , popularly and mistakenly Sunan al-Tirmidhi , is one of the Sunni Six major Hadith collections. It was collected by Abu 'Eesa Muhammad ibn 'Eesa al-Tirmidhi.-Title:...
and Sunan Ibn Majah, in addition to Al-Muwatta by Imam Malik
Malik ibn Anas
Mālik ibn Anas ibn Mālik ibn Abī 'Āmir al-Asbahī is known as "Imam Malik," the "Sheikh of Islam", the "Proof of the Community," and "Imam of the Abode of Emigration." He was one of the most highly respected scholars of fiqh in Sunni Islam...
.
Teachers
For him, his teachers were the following:- His father Yahya
- His elder brother Muhammad
- Ahmad ibn Sulaiman al-Mu`allimee
- Muhammad ibn `Ali al-Idrisi
- Muḥammad `Abd al-Qadīr al-Ṣiddīqī
- Salim ibn `Abd al-Rahman Basihi
Career
Al-Mu'allimee then traveled to JizanJizan
-Ethnography:The inhabitants of Jazan, are made up of Arabs. Islam is the religion of almost the totality of the inhabitants of the city and the province.-External links:*http://www.jazan.gov.sa* *http://krwetatnt.com/vb/...
, now in South-western Saudi Arabia, in the year 1911. There he was appointed head judge by Muhammad al-Idrisee the then governor of Asir and given the title Shaykh al-Islam. Al-Mu'allimee continued to teach throughout this period and remained with al-Idrisee until the later's death in 1923.
Following the death of al-Idrisee, al-Mu'allimee moved to Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
in Yemen where he taught and delivered sermons for a year. From Aden, he went to Hyderabad, India where he was appointed an editor at Dāʻirah al-Maʼārif al-ʼUthmāniyyah. There he edited books of hadith in addition to works history and literature for approximately 25 years beginning in about 1927.
In 1952, he moved to Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
where he began working at the Library of Mecca (Maktabah al-Ḥaram al-Makkī). After a year, he was appointed head (amīn) of the library in November–December 1952. During his time there, he continued to edit books for Dāʻirah al-Maʼārif al-ʼUthmāniyyah in India.
Death
On Thursday, May 27, 1966, al-Mu`allimee prayed the morning prayerFajr
The Fajr prayer is the first of the five daily prayers offered by practising Muslims. The five daily prayers collectively form one pillar of the Five Pillars of Islam, in Sunni Islam, and one of the ten Practices of the Religion according to Shia Islam.The Fajr prayer is mentioned by name in the...
at the Grand Mosque
Masjid al-Haram
Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām is the largest mosque in the world. Located in the city of Mecca, it surrounds the Kaaba, the place which Muslims worldwide turn towards while performing daily prayers and is Islam's holiest place...
in Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
. Afterwards, he returned to the library in which he was working and died in his bed.
Authored
- Ṭalīʼah al-Tankīl bimā fī Taʻnīb al-Kawtharī min al-Abāṭīl
- al-Tankīl bimā fī Taʻnīb al-Kawtharī min al-Abāṭīl
- al-Anwār al-Kāshifah bimā Aḍwāʻ ʼalā al-Sunnah
- ʼIlm al-Rijāl wa Ahimmiyyatuh