| Habib Umar bin Hafiz | |
|---|---|
| Born | Umar 27 May 1963 [1] Tarim, Hadhramaut, Yemen |
| Residence | Tarim, Hadhramaut, Yemen |
| Nationality | Yemeni |
| Ethnicity | Arab |
| Occupation | Islamic scholar, teacher |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
| Website | |
| www.alhabibomar.com | |
Habib Umar bin Hafiz (Arabic: عمر ﺁبن حفيظ; born 1962), is an Islamic scholar, teacher, and founder and dean of Dar al-Mustafa Seminary in Tarim, Hadhramaut, Yemen.
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Habib Umar bin Hafiz was born in the town of Tarim in Hadhramaut, Yemen. His father is Muhammad bin Salim bin Hafiz, a pious caller to Islam and a martyr of the communist uprising. He is a sayyid, as his family lineage can be traced back to the Islamic prophet Muhammad through Hussein ibn Ali.[2] The surname "Hafiz" comes from a clan of the family of "Shaikh Abubakr" which originated from the name of his great-grandfather.
He follows the Ba 'Alawiyya sufi order, a tradition that has been based in Yemen for approximately 800 years and can be traced back to Muhammad.
Having memorized the Quran at very early age, Habib Umar also studied and memorized various core texts in Islamic jurisprudence, the Arabic language, traditions of the prophet and many other religious sciences under many traditional Islamic scholars in Yemen, as well as directly under his late father.
Habib Umar is founder and director of the Dar al-Mustafa Seminary in Tarim. His seminary was featured in The New York Times.[3] His seminary accepts students from a variety of countries. Some of his prominent students in US are Shaikh Christopher Khalil Moore, Shaikh Abdul Karim Yahya, and Shaikh Yahya Rhodus, who are all staff at Zaytuna College in Silicon Valley.[2]
In 2006 Habib Umar met with Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri; they exchanged knowledge on Islam, and he also received an Ijazah of Ahadith from Tahir-ul-Qadri.[4]
In 2011 he toured some western countries (UK, Canada and US) for outreach purposes and da'wah (calling to Islam).[2] It was not uncommon during his visits that the congregation cried.[5]
In 2009 Habib Umar was listed 33rd in the world's 500 most influential Muslims by Georgetown University's The Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talaal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan.