Shaykh Umar Al-Khatib ق of Singapore (D.1997)

His full name was Shaykh Umar bin Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Salem Al-Khatib. His lineage traced back to Abbad ibn Bisyr Al-Ausi Al-Ansari, a Companion of the Prophet (saw), whose tomb is at Al-Lisik, Hadramaut. He was born in Tarim, Hadramaut, on Thursday 8 Zulhijah 1326H. He held strongly to the Ba’Alawi tariqa.

𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿
His knowledge was as vast as the ocean yet he remained a humble man. That is how the friends and students - consisting of great scholars including the Mufti Syed Isa Semait, described Shaykh Omar Abdullah Alkhatib, who passed away at dawn, on 22 September 1997. Throughout his lifetime, he declined any sort of publicity. One of Singapore's current most learned revert scholar, Ustaz Muhammad Iqbal Abdullah was a student of his and he commented, "He was a mirror of Rasulullah's characteristics. Perhaps due to his wisdom and Allah's blessings, I was able to master Arabic in just a few years."

𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲
"One of his extraordinary talents was his ability to memorize genealogies (ilmu nasab). He was a true alim and because of that, he was very humble. He seldom sought publicity. However, because of his knowledge, he was well-known in Saudi and Yemen. People from afar came to see him to seek knowledge or to attain ijazah. This is his uniqueness, " said one of his students, the Mufti.

Shaykh Umar mastered several Islamic disciplines such as Tafsir, Qiraat, Tarikh Islam, Arabic Language and Literature and Fiqh. His comprehensive knowledge and understanding of Fiqh was acknowledged by many contemporary ulama, and he became their reference for many complex issues of Fiqh. Perhaps, as a sign of true genius, Shaykh Umar was also capable of rapid mathematical calculation. He could look at a problem of Faraid and, without pencil and paper, he could give the answer. In his own words, he could calculate faster than a bank teller with a calculator.

At nine, he had memorized the whole Al-Quran in just 97 days, and had started seeking knowledge in various branches of religious knowledge from many famous scholars at his hometown. He was loved by his teachers. Among them were Habib ‘Abdallah Ibn ‘Aydarus Ibn ‘Alwi al-’Aydarus, Shaykh Abu Bakr Ibn ‘Abdallah al-Khatib, Shaykh ‘Abd ar-Rahim Ibn ‘Abdallah Ibn Salim al-Khatib, Habib ‘Abd ar-Rahman Ibn ‘Ubaydallah as-Saqqaf, and Habib ‘Alwi Ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahman as-Seri.

In 1935, and due to his phenomenal capability, the scholars in Tarim decided to offer him a position as Qadhi. He was 27 years old and he declined the offer because he felt that there were many elder ulama better than him. And because he was afraid that he would be pressured to take that position from his respected teachers, he decided to move away from Tarim and migrate to Singapore.

𝗜𝗻 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗲

In Singapore he started life as a humble clerk at a property company owned by the Al-Haddad family, where he did not reveal his mastery of Islamic knowledge. Then, after having acquired enough savings, he decided to start a company of his own at Kandahar Street. But all this time, he never neglected to attend any religious classes, although his humility restrained him from delivering a class as a teacher. He still felt that other, elder ulama in Singapore were better qualified than him.

In 1948 at the age of 40, he was married into the Al-Khatib family. Nearly twenty years later, in 1967, he decided to go to Mecca and stayed there for 10 years. He was much respected, holding a special chair at Masjidil Haram and Masjid Nabawi but, after much persuasion by Singaporean ulama, he returned to Singapore in 1977 at the age of 69. Only then did he start to teach and lead several religious classes. He taught day and night, almost every day. His students ranged from a simple uneducated Indian beggar, to the Mufti of Singapore. He held discussion groups for the ulama on classical Islamic books. Saturday afternoons were devoted for Fiqh class and Sunday mornings for a halaqah (reading group) of the Ihya Ulumiddin by Imam Al-Ghazali, and the hadith collections of Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. Sunday and Monday nights were for Nahu class and Thursday nights were specially for the ulama of Singapore.

Shaykh Umar was very stern and would scold students who didn't attend classes for no valid reasons. In fact, he was willing to pay the transportation fees for his students to ensure they continue attending classes. He was regarded as a father to many of his students. He was very patient with new students, but would yell at the mistakes made by those who had been attending his classes for more than 10 years. Yet his anger was short-lived. He could quickly cool down and then smile again. He cared for his students, and had the knack to ask the correct questions about his students’ problems. He could look at his students’ face and could guess accurately what was troubling them.

Visiting Muslim scholars made a point to visit him or his classes, especially the Sunday morning halaqah. Some even travelled to Singapore solely for an ijazah from him. All his classes were free. Although he received many donations, he secretly chanelled most of the money he received to hundreds of poor families in his birthplace, Tarim.

𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴

In 1992, he was hospitalized. He cancelled all classes and formed a new one: the I’rab of Al-Quran (Understanding the Al-Quran through Arabic grammar and literature). It was to be a gargantuan task, to lead his students through the whole Quran. Five years later, he had managed to reach Juz 29, when his illness took a sudden turn for the worse. He could not continue to the last Juz and two weeks later he was called upon by Allah. He passed away on Monday morning, 22 September 1997 (19 Jumadil Awal 1418) at the age of 90. He left behind eight children – three boys and five girls.
[Adapted from Sout Ilaahi FB, Ibnyahya.com & Remini]