Shaykh ‘Umar b. Abdullah Bagharib al-Qadiri ق in Singapore (D.1968)

Shaykh ‘Umar b. Abdullah Bagharib al-Qadiri ق was born in Tarim, Hadhramawt, in Ramadhan 1300 AH/1883CE. Shaykh ‘Umar Bagharib ق was the first khalifah of Mawlana Muhammad ‘Abdul 'Aleem as-Siddiqi ق for the Qadiri tariqa in Singapore. He is the father of Shaykh Zakaria Bagharib ق from Singapore.

His father was a hafizh of the Qur’an and had reportedly performed his hajj 35 times by walking from Tarim to Makkah and Madina. He undertook the task to spread and teach Islam in the villages he passed through along the journey. Shaykh ‘Umar’s mother was Shaykha bint ‘Awad Abu Bakr Bazaghfan ق.

When he migrated to Singapore around 1935CE, he opened three classes for boys and girls, teaching them the Arabic Language, Qur’an and fiqh. Due to his affinity to teach children, he was affectionately called ‘mu’alim’, teacher. These classes were held at Masjid Khadijah, the mosque where he was appointed and served as imam for 33 years.

Shaykh Umar was the first person to give out the call to prayer (azan) at Ba'alwie Mosque in Singapore. That was during Asr, on Tuesday, 19 Zulhijjah 1372H (9 Sep 1952). He was also the one who set up the daily prayer schedule. He often gave khutbah at Ba'Alwie Mosque, which at that time, was in the Arabic language.

He passed away in Singapore, on Monday, 24th June 1968, 28th Rabi’ al-Awwal 1388, and was buried in Bidadari Cemetary. May Allah (s.w.t.) Bless him and raise his maqam.

[Ibnyahya.com & Sout Ilahi FB]