It was a blistering hot day right in the middle of the Mauritanian Sahara desert, and my friends and I were heading towards a small village, embarking on what felt like an epic journey. Our driver was my good friend from Mauritania’s capital Nouakchott, Nebil Mostapha, while sitting in the back of the car with me, was Imam Fakhrudin Owaisi, long-time friend and former Chairman of the Sunni Ulama Council in Cape Town. Muhib Rashid, one of my closest friends, sat in the passenger seat. Our Mauritanian trip was a first for Muhib, something he had looked forward to for a long time.
Muhib, who hails from Alum Rock in Birmingham, like many young Muslims in the West, grew up disconnected from the deen. In his late teens, he sought a deeper connection with his faith through traditional scholarship and the inheritors of the Prophet ﷺ. We all grew up fascinated by stories of Mauritania, its revered scholars who lived in the desert, and the Western students who travelled there and returned to significantly impact Islam’s path in the West. Shayukh like Ibrahim Osi-Efa, Rami Nsour, Yahya Rhodus, Abdul-Karim Yahya, and perhaps most influential of all, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, who had notably influenced Muhib’s bond with Islam.
We were on our way to the village of Taysir, to visit the eminent scholar and spiritual master, Shaykh Muhammad Hasan ould al-Khadim.
Muhib’s main reference for the Shaykh was through Purification of the Heart, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s translation and commentary of the work of the Mauritanian scholar Imam al-Mawlud’s Matharat al-Qulub. He often said this book transformed his relationship with Islam, and prompted him to deepen his connection to the Deen and use it as a means to purify his soul and embody the true message of Islam. At the beginning of the book, Shaykh Hamza acknowledges and thanks “Shaykh Muhammad Hasan ould al-Khadim, for giving me licence to teach and translate the poem and whose outstanding commentary on it was my constant companion during the classes and remains so today.”
Shaykh Muhammad Al-Hasan bin Ahmed Al-Khadim was born on the night of Jummah on the 9th Sha’ban 1357AH / 1938 AD in the depths of the state of Trarza, in southern Mauritania. He is the son of Shaykh Ahmed Al-Khadim bin Muhammad Mawlud bin Abi Muhammad bin Mawlud bin Ahmed Al-Jawad Al-Ya’qoubi. His tribe, the Yaqubiyin, trace their lineage back to Abdullah bin Jafar Al-Tayyar ibn Abu Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, the cousin and companion of the Prophet ﷺ. His mother, Azza bint Sayed Mohammed Al-Moussawiya, belonged to the same tribe. He was raised under the nurturing care of his parents until he reached the educational age of around six or seven years old. His initial educator was his grandmother, Fatimah bint Muhammad Al-Tahaji, who taught him the Quran. Under her guidance, he flawlessly recited and memorised two-thirds of the Qur’an, and went on to complete his memorisation under his father, mastering the Book and its sciences at an early age.
He proceeded to study under the traditional West African mahdara system, focusing on a holistic Islamic curriculum, requiring memorization and mastery of each studied book. Here, he commenced with the Sirah poem Qurrat Al-Absar by Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Lamti, exploring the life, attributes, and immense virtues of the Messenger of God ﷺ, and the poem of the Ghazawat, penned by Shaykh Ahmad al-Badawi al-Majlisi al-Shanqiti (1158 AH/1745 AD – 1208 AH/1794 AD). The latter was a revered scholar from the land of Shanqit (Mauritania), renowned for his works in genealogy and the Prophetic biography. This acclaimed poem, also referred to as Organising the Raids or The Poem of the Military Expeditions, consists of 455 verses and delineates the pivotal events of the Prophet’s life, his military expeditions, missions, and the unfolding of jihad and various battles.
In addition to this, Shaykh Muhammad Al-Hasan immersed himself in the study of Ibn Ashir, a traditional text outlining the fundamentals of Maliki jurisprudence, Ashari aqida, and Junaydian tasawwuf. He pursued proficiency in grammar through Al-Ajrumiyya and deepened his understanding of the Arabic language by exploring the Diwan of the six poets – selections from the renowned pre-Islamic poetry of Imru’ al-Qais, Alqamah bin Abdah, An-Nabigha, Zuhayr, Tarafa, and Antarah Al-Abssi.
Subsequently, he was directed towards Sayyid Ahmad bin Ahmad Yahya, with whom he studied the compositions of Muhammad Mawlud bin Ahmad Fal. This included the renowned Maṭhara al-Qulūb, a poem discussing the purification of the heart, and Maḥārim al-Lisān, a poem on the prohibitions of the tongue. Additionally, he studied Kafāf al-Mubtadī, a comprehensive 3,747-line poem on Mālikī fiqh, reputed to encompass the entire content of the Risala of Ibn Abi Zayd, inclusive of perspectives from other jurisprudential schools, along with commentary on the Alfiyya of Ibn Mālik. He engaged with diverse Islamic sciences, diligently memorising every text studied under the guidance of Sayyid Ahmad bin Ahmad Yahya, including those not explicitly mentioned here, and is currently seen as the inheritor and preserver of the legacy of Muhammad Mawlud.
Following his extensive studies, he proceeded to study under the esteemed scholar and researcher, ‘Al-Usuli’ Al-Mukhtar bin Abiloul, followed by the educator Muhammad Ali bin Nema, and later, the scholar Muhammad Salem bin Alma, among others, all renowned for their profound and invaluable knowledge. His fervour and insatiable appetite for learning never waned, and he perpetually sought more knowledge to absorb.
Shaykh Muhammad Al-Hasan began imparting knowledge to students even while he was still a student himself, cultivating a deep passion for teaching. Upon mastering all the available texts in the madhara system and receiving his ijazat (formal permission to teach) upon graduation, he chose to reside in an area northeast of Tiguent, a quaint town in southwestern Mauritania, situated approximately three kilometres from the Nouakchott – Rosso road. In this locale, Shaykh Muhammad Al-Hasan, along with his students, supervised the construction of a well, named Al-Taysir. The modest settlement that sprouted around this well evolved into the thriving educational village to which we were journeying.
Upon our arrival in the village, we were greeted by my friend Hassan, grandson and namesake of the Shaykh as well as his personal assistant. He took us to his grandfather’s house directly and informed us that he was currently conducting class. Beginning around 11am, Shaykh Muhammad would teach until Maghrib prayers, only taking breaks to pray and recite his litanies after Asr.
Entering the gate, we were hit with a subtle spiritual energy, and the Shaykh’s aura was strong and powerful despite his small frame. He was lying down on a plastic mat outside of his modest room, his body cloaked in a simple cotton shiga dira, the traditional robe of the Mauritanian desert. A group of students gathered around him, each with a different book.
As the Shaykh lay on his side, resting his hand on his head which was propped up by a small red pillow, one student approached him and recited his lesson to him, a poem on Usul al-Fiqh that he was memorising. He recited five lines of the poem to the Shaykh, who listened attentively for any mistakes in the student’s recitation, before proceeding to give a detailed commentary on the lines of poetry for the next 15 minutes as we all listened. He then stopped and allowed the next student to approach him with his book on hadith sciences, and the process was repeated. This is how the madhara system works; it is a one-to-one teaching method with short and concise lessons to allow the students to memorise what they’ve learned before they return to the Shaykh to take their next lesson.
Once the class was complete, we greeted Shaykh Muhammad, and I presented the two guests to him. He graciously welcomed and conversed with us for over half an hour, asking about our affairs and our home countries; he gave advice and prayed for us. When Imam Fakhrudin asked him about his books, the Shaykh told his grandson to take us to his private library where we could each take copies of whichever book we desired.
Shaykh Muhammad al-Hasan is notable among Mauritanian scholars; not only has he devoted himself to teaching, but he has also written over 100 books on most of the Islamic sciences, including Quranic studies, Hadith and Aqidah, Seerah, Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Tasawwuf, Nahw, the Arabic Language, Mantiq and History. He has written a commentary on the Alfiyyah of Imam Suyuti in Usul al-Hadith and the Nadhm of Jam’ al-Jawami’ of Imam Suyuti in Usul al-Fiqh, as well as commentaries on Qurrat Al-Absar and Ibn Ashir and most of the books of Muhammad Mawlud bin Ahmad Fal. The latter includes the one studied by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf for Purification of the Heart, and used as the main reference for his own translation.
Shaykh Muhammad is not a distant, mystical figure in the desert, reached and benefitted only through a long a strenuous journey, but rather he is an accessible, erudite scholar with a living legacy, whose knowledge will continue to benefit generations across continents, during his lifetime and after it.
The library door was padlocked; the Shaykh’s grandson, Hasan, unlocked the door for us, and we used our flashlights to illuminate the volumes and volumes of books in the dark room. Though I had already been gifted more than twenty of the Shaykh’s book on my previous visits, it was always a blessing to attain more. As Fakhruddin and I searched through the multitudes of books, Muhib had only one book in mind. He asked Hasan, “Do you have a commentary on The Purification of the Heart?” Upon receiving it, his eyes overflowed, “Everything is coming back full circle, and now I’ve been gifted a copy of the book that lead to the book that changed my life, by the man who gave it to the man who gave it to us in the English language.”
In that moment, I witnessed the effect of the ihsan and sincerity of the Shaykh, whose only goal in life was to study and teach sacred knowledge. He had created waves that affected countless individuals continents away, whether they knew his name or not. And if some venture through the desert of Mauritania to benefit from his presence, Shaykh Muhammad al-Hasan remains unchanged, but those who sit in his company, they are no longer the same.
