Ajay Kumar at 17:54, 28 August 2023

2023-08-28T17:54:11Z

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{{Sufism}}

'''Abu Bakr al-ʿAydarūs''', also known as '''Sayyid Abū Bakr al-[[Aden|ʿAdanī]] ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAydarūs''' ({{lang-ar|أبو بكر العدني بن عبد الله العيدروس}}; 1447–1508<ref name="Sufiorders">J. Spencer Trimingham, John O. Voll, ''The Sufi Orders in Islam'', pg 73</ref>) was a [[Hadhrami people|Hadhrami]] religious scholar of [[sufism]] and a poet of wrote several [[Arabic poetry|Arab poems]] in vernacular style.<ref>Roger Allen, Donald Sidney Richards, ''Arabic Literature in the Post-classical Period'', pg 216</ref> Abu Bakr led 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.<ref>José-Marie Bel, Théodore Monod, ''Aden: Port mythique du Yémen'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=TURek_n2BrkC&dq=aidrus+aden+mosque+saint&pg=PA99 pg 99]</ref>

==Biography==

Abu Bakr was born in [[Tarim, Hadhramaut|Tarim]] in 1447.<ref name="Engseng133">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</ref> 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.<ref name="Daniel185">Daniel McLaughlin, ''Yemen'', pg 185</ref> Nevertheless, he made occasional return trips to his family in Tarim, many of whom relied on monetary endowment given by charitable traders in the region.<ref name="Sufiorders"/>

His lineage is recorded as follows: He is Abu Bakr al-Adani bin Abd Allah al-Aydarus, bin Abu Bakr al-Sakran, bin Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf, bin Muhammad Mawla al-Dawilah, bin Ali Mawla al-Darak, bin Alawi al-Ghayur, bin [[Muhammad al-Faqih al-Muqaddam]], bin Ali, bin Muhammad Sahib al-Mirbat, bin Ali Khali Qasam, bin Alawi al-Thani, bin Muhammad Sahib al-Sawma'ah, bin Alawi al-Awwal, bin Ubayd Allah, bin [[Ahmad al-Muhajir]], bin Isa al-Rumi, bin Muhammad al-Naqib, bin [[Ali al-Uraydi]], bin [[Ja'far al-Sadiq]], bin [[Muhammad al-Baqir]], bin [[Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin|Ali Zayn al-Abidin]], bin [[Husayn ibn Ali|Husayn]], bin [[Ali|Ali bin Abi Talib]] and [[Fatimah|Fatimah al-Zahra]], the daughter of [[Muhammad]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://muwasala.org/2014/02/12/imam-al-adani/|title = Imam al-'Adani – MUWASALA}}</ref>

Abu Bakr was eventually made the ''Mansab'' (religious leader) of Aden. He was highly respected by the city's residents, who described him as a very brilliant and kind man with an excellent sense of justice.<ref>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</ref> Abu Bakr was also respected by members of the local [[Yemenite Jews|Jewish]] community, who provided refuge to the Jews who suffer from occasional harassment from the desert bandits.<ref>Reuben Ahroni, ''The Jews of the British Crown Colony of Aden: History, Culture, and Ethnic Relations'', pg 28</ref> Abu Bakr also travelled to [[Harar]] after settling in Aden and introduced the [[Qadiriyya]] [[Tariqa]] among the [[Ethiopia]]n natives.<ref>Rex S O'Fahey, Hussein Ahmed, ''The Writings of the Muslim Peoples of Northeastern Africa'', pg 26</ref>

===Introduction of coffee===
At least three Arab texts, namely the Ta'rikh 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 [[Hadhramaut]]. According to the Ta'rikh of an-Najm al-Ghazzi, Abu Bakr became impressed with the strong stimulating effect of the coffee fruit after he ate the berries of a coffee tree during his wanderings. He praised the effects of the coffee fruit, took the coffee berries and introduced them to his disciples. The other two sources, ''Jāmiʻ karamāt al-awlīyāʼ'' and the Istifa' al-Safwa li-Tashyat al-Qahwa mentioned of Abu Bakr's fondness of coffee and accredited him for the introduction of coffee to [[South Arabia]].<ref>M. Th Houtsma, ''E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam'', pg 631</ref>

==Death and legacy==

Abu Bakr's death in 1508 (although some source suggested that he died in 1503)<ref>Petrus Voorhoeve, ''Handlist of Arabic Manuscripts in the Library of the University of Leiden and Other Collections in the Netherlands'', pg 143</ref> was greatly mourned by the Adenis. The city residents published copies of obituaries commemorating the life of Abu Bakr, and an account of Abu Bakr's birthplace, Tarim was also published.<ref name="Engseng133"/> His grave has since been visited by thousands of Muslim pilgrims every year who continue to pay their respects.<ref>Anne K. Bang, ''Sufis and Scholars of the Sea: Family Networks in East Africa, 1860-1925'', pg 22</ref>

===Aidarus mosque===

Several people alleged the Abu Bakr may have possessed mystical powers and claimed that they had met his spirit while sleeping; a legend mentioned of a [[Sikhs|Sikh]] traveller who met Abu Bakr in his dream shortly after Abu Bakr's 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 [[Aidrus Mosque|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.<ref name="Daniel185"/> 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<ref>Zaka Hanna Kour, ''The History of Aden, 1839-72'', pg 16</ref> and again in the 1990s, after the mosque suffered serious structural damage from the [[North Yemen Civil War]].<ref name="Daniel185"/>

==Descendants==
After relocating to [[Aden]], Abu Bakr raised a family of his own and started off a new lineage. The al-ʿAydarūs clan was an offshoot of the [[Ba 'Alawi sada|Ba 'Alawiyya]] as-Saqqaf clan of [[Tarim, Hadhramaut|Tarim]].<ref name="Sufiorders"/><ref>John Obert Voll, ''Islam, Continuity and Change in the Modern World: Continuity and Change in the Modern World'', pg 72</ref> Many of his descendants established trading links with the [[Bedouin]]s and the [[Qu'aiti]] sultans and took up prominent political positions.<ref>Ulrike Freitag, W. G. Clarence-Smith, ''Hadhrami Traders, Scholars, and Statesmen in the Indian Ocean, 1750s-1960s'', pg 153</ref> 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;<ref name="Sufiorders"/> among the first descendants to migrate was a grandson, ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAydarūs<ref>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</ref> and another descendant, [[Abdullah ibn Shaykh al-Aydarus|ʿAbdallāh ibn Shaykh al-ʿAydarūs]],<ref>M. Hasyim Assagaf, ''Derita putri-putri Nabi: Studi historis Kafa'ah Syarifah'', pg 217, 224</ref> who migrated to [[India]] and [[Aceh]], respectively, and established new diaspora communities.

==See also==
*[[Ali al-Uraydi]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* 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}}
{{refend}}

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[[Category:1447 births]]
[[Category:1508 deaths]]
[[Category:15th-century Arab people]]
[[Category:House of Aidarus]]
[[Category:Muslim missionaries]]
[[Category:Hadhrami people]]
[[Category:Hashemite people]]
[[Category:Yemeni poets]]
[[Category:Yemeni Sufi religious leaders]]
[[Category:Yemeni Sufi saints]]

Abu Bakr al-Aydarus - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 17:54, 28 August 2023