This weekend Capetonians will have the opportunity to be in the company of an esteemed luminary in the field of Islamic sciences, Habib Umar ibn Hafidh. While the Yemeni scholar requires no introduction having become a household name in South Africa, he is often hailed a spiritual pool flowing with pearls of wisdom. The eve

After having enrolled at the Ribat of al-Bayda’, where he began studying the traditional Islamic sciences under the tutelage of Al-Habib Muhammad bin Abd-Allah al-Haddar, Shafi‘i jurist and scholar Al-Habib Zain bin Sumait, Habib Umar was granted ijaazah to transmit his knowledge. Habib Umar will again be presiding at a spiritual retreat in Macassar’s Masjid Nur al-Lateef in the vicinity of the karamat of Shaykh Yusuf, an event hosted by the Mahabba Foundation.

Speaking to VOC’s Drive Time Maulana Abdurahman Khan said individuals from around the world to be present at the event, including scholars from as far as the United Kingdom and North America, as well as scholars from Cameroon and Malawi.

“We have at least 60 international students and scholars that have travelled to be part of this great event…right now we just want our community to know about this, since the first people to benefit from this event should be our Muslims living in the Cape.”

Habib Umar arrived at Cape Town International Airport on Thursday afternoon where a number of his students welcomed their esteemed teacher.

“We actually want to call on the community to be part of the welcoming of the Habib, honouring this great scholar… [who is] recognised by all traditions of Ahlu al-Sunnah who have spoken about the greatness of this individual.”

The retreat will commence on Thursday evening after Magrieb with the recitation of the Ratib of Imam al-Hadad and will end on Sunday after thuhr.

“Habib Umar is the living heir of Imam al-Habib; they come from the same spiritual tree, the Ba’Alawi, and it’s important for Muslims of the Cape to commemorate with one of the heirs of the composer, Habib Umar.

The main programmes of Habib Umar takes place after fajr and Asr, in which the Shaykh will conduct classes on the text of Imam al-Nawawi, Al-Maqasid.

“The text talks about Iman, Islam, our actions, Salah, Ihsan and the importance of Tassawuf.”

Anyone interested may email admin@mahabbah.co.za or pop in Timbuktu book store for more information on the event. VOC