3.3.2. Shaykhs of al-Shirw ā n ī
3.3.2.1. His Shaykhs in Yemen
Al-Shirwānī’s two main teachers, beside his father, whom he had personally referred to as “my teacher”, were ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Sulīmān al-ʾAhdal, and ʿAbd al- Raḥmān al-Bahkalī. Among the teachers that were on Abbas’s lists are Ibrāhīm b. al- Amīr al- Ṣanʿānī and Al-Derīhemī al-Zabīdī. It is worth mentioning that some of al- Shirwānī teachers occupied political position as rulers.
3.3.2.1.1. Ibrāhīm b. al-Amīr al- Ṣanʿānī (d.1213/1798)
Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl b. al-Amīr was born in Sanaa, in 1141/1728, and studied under the guidance of his father Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl b. al-Amīr, known as b. al Amīr al-Ṣanʿānī, who was one of the most famous scholars in the Islamic World
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during the 18th century. Ibrāhīm was famed for his profuse knowledge, and the strength of his arguments, e.g., he sent many letters of advice to rulers of Yemen, Egypt, Mecca, Syria, and India. He travelled substantially in Yemen and Ḥijāz. He visited al-
Ḥudaydah city many times on his way to Mecca, as it was one of his stations in his route. Finally he settled in Mecca until he died in 1213/1798. Ibrāhīm was also a writer, and wrote a number of books on different aspects of Islamic knowledge, such as: al- ‘Fulak al-Mashḥwn,’ (ن ا ا),‘Sharḥ al-Arbaʿīn al-Jawhariyyah (’ ر ا ح ) ھ ا, ‘Fatḥ al-Mutʿāl,’(ل ا ), And ‘Al-Fāriq bayn Ahlu al-Huda wa Ahlu al-
Ḍalāl’ل ا ھاو ى ا ھا قر ا) ).144ʿAbbās mentioned that his father was one of Ibrāhīm`s disciples, and it seems that Aḥmad al-Shirwānī had joined his study circle in al-Ḥudaydah. Moreover, through his year of death, it is clear that al-Shirwānī must have studied under Ibrāhīm b. al-Amīr when al-Shirwānī was at young age. The relations between Aḥmad al-Shirwānī and the family of Alu al-Amīr was were not limited to disciplement. Indeed, al-Shirwānī also exchanged a few letters with Yusūf, the son of Ibrāhīm b. al-Amīr, sharing various literary works such as poems.145
3.3.2.1.2. Al-Derīhemī al-Zabīdī (d.1226/1811)
The name of al-Derīhemī al-Zabīdī, was mentioned by ʿAbbās as one of his father’s teachers. The two parts of the name are family names, although ʿAbbās did not mention the first name of the al-Derīhemī al-Zabīdī, and did not offer any information about his status or his main occupation, thus his character remains unknown. However, the personality of al-Derīhemī al-Zabīdī can be identified by tracing the biographies of the scholars of al-Derīhemī al-Zabīdī family.
It is worth mentioning here that, the family of al-Derīhemī al-Zabīdī was one of al-
Ḥudaydah scholarly families, who assumed or occupied the position of Judge (Qāḍī) in al-Ḥudaydah during the end of 18th and the beginning of 19th centuries.146 This particular al-Derīhemī al-Zabīdī likely refers to al-Ḥassan b. Ibrāhīm al-khaṭīb al- Derīhemī (d.1226./1811) for two reasons; firstly because he was a contemporary of
144Zabārah, Nayl al-Waṭar, Vol.I, 28-34; Al-Ḥibshī, Maṣādir al-Fikr, 161.
145Zabārah, Nayl al-Waṭar, Vol.I, 212-214; Al-ʿUmarī, Al-Nahḍah al-ʾAdabiyyah fī al-Yemen, Vol. II,
328-29. More detailed will be further explained in the next section.
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Aḥmad al-Shirwānī. Secondly, he was among al-Ḥudaydī’s senior scholars, and its mufti of Shāfaʿiyyah. In addition, he was Judge (Qāḍī) of al-Ḥudaydah, and remained in this position until his death in 1226/1811.147
These arguments identify al-Ḥassan b. Ibrāhīm al-khaṭīb al-Derīhemī as the most probable person of the said shaykh of al- Shirwānī. It seems that al-Shirwānī must have attended his circle study in al-Ḥudaydah, and received the knowledge in the field of ‘fiqh’, particularly in the ‘Shāfʿīfiqh,’ from him.
3.3.2.1.3. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Bahkalī (d.1248/1832)
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Aḥmad b. Ḥasan al-Bahkalī, was the most prominent of the al- Bahkalī family. He was born in 1182/1768 in Ṣībīā, one city of al-Mikhlāf al-Sulīmānī. There he grew up and was educated under the care of his father, Aḥmad b. Ḥasan al- Bahkalī. Thereafter he visited Sanaa several times to attend the study circle of imām al-Shawkānī. Al-Bahkalī was distinguished in the field of Grammar, Morphology and History. He wrote a number of books such as:‘Nafḥ al-ʿUd fī Syrat al-Sharīf Ḥamūd
د ا ة د ا )
( in the field of history, al-Afāwīq be Tarājim al-Bukhārī wa al-Taʿālīq ( او ير ا ا و ا) a biography dictionary, and other books.148
Al-Bahkalī was appointed as Qāḍī and ruler of Bayt al-Faqīh city, during the time of imām al-Mansūr ʿAlī (1775-180), through the recommendation of imām al- Shawkānī.149 As it seemed, during his residence in Bayt al-Faqīh, Aḥmad al-Shirwānī gained acquaintance with al- Bahkalī, and joined his study circle. Similarly, al- Shirwānī referred to him by title of ‘Sayedī’.150 The relationship between them was not only one of discipleship, as they also established a friendship both exchanged a number of letters. Most of these letters dealt with political news, and general affairs or issues. For instance, in al-Shirwānī’s letter, dated in 1221/1806, he referred to the conflict
147Ismāʿīl b. Muḥammad al-Washalī, Nashr al-Thanāʾ al-Ḥasan ʿalā Arbāb al-Faḍl wa al-Kamāl min Ahl al-Yemen wa Thikr al-Ḥawādith al-Wāqiʿah fī hathā al-Zaman, (Sanaa: Maktabat al-Ershād, 2ed edition, 2003), Vol.I, 19; Al-al-ʿUmari, Al-Nahḍah al-ʾAdabiyyah fī al-Yemen, Vol. I, 248.
148Al-Ḍamadī, Al-Dībāj al-Khusraūānī, 370; Ḥussien al-ʿAmrī, Al-Mūʾrakhūn al-Yemanīūn fī al-ʿAṣr al- Ḥadīth (Birute: Dār al-Fikr, 1988), 62.
149Al-ʿUmarī, Al-Nahḍah al-ʾAdabiyyah fī al-Yemen,Vol. I, 380. 150Al-Shirwānī, Aḥmad, Al-ʿAjab al-ʿUjāb,16-18.
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which broke out in Najd and Ḥijāz, between the Wahhābī movement and the other tribes.151 However, the most revealing letter of their friendship was one that al-Shirwānī wrote to al-Bahkalī, in 1227/1812, after he settled in Calcutta. This letter includes various pieces of personal information. Al-Shirwānī mentioned that the reasons for his emigration to India were for trade and for earning a livelihood. He also stated that he decided to settle in Calcutta city, because it was the most important city at the time in India. Furthermore, he informed him that he got work with English, in the field of education, referring to his work at Calcutta Madrasa and Fort William Collage, in Calcutta.
Finally, he indicated that he wrote his book ‘Nafḥat al-Yemen’ for the Indian students (he meant the student at the College of Fort William). He mentioned, in the same letter, that one of his poems had been published (ʿAbd al-Rahmān al-Bahkalī) in the fifth chapter of his book.152
3.3.2.1.4. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-ʾAhdal (d. 1250/1834)
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Sulīmān b. Yaḥya al-ʾAhdal, the muftī and the great shaykh of Zabīd, was among the scholars who taught Aḥmad al- Shirwānī. Al-ʾAhdal was born in 1179/1765 in Zabīd. There he grew up, and received the knowledge from a number of great scholars of his time, among them are his father shaykh Sulīmān, who was muftī
of Zabīd, and shaykh ʿAbd al-Khālq al-Mizjājī (d. 1201/1786). Moreover, al-ʾAhdal attended the study circle of the famous Indian linguistic Sayed Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Razāq al-Belīgramī, who was known as Sayed Murtḍā al-Zabīdī (d.1205/1790) and had spent some time in Zabīd. In addition, al-ʾAhdal was in contact with other famous scholars such as: Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl b. al-Amīr, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Qāṭin (d.1199/1784), Aḥmad and ʿAlī sons ofal-Shawkānī.153 The reputation of al-ʾAhdal as a prolific scholar and writer attracted a lot of scholars and students, Aḥmad al-Shirwānī was one of them. 154
151Al-Shirwānī, Aḥmad, Al-ʿAjab al-ʿUjāb, 18. 152Ibid.94.
153Al-Shawkānī, Al-Badr al-Ṭāliʿ, Vol. I, 168; Zabārah, Nayl al-Waṭar, Vol. II, 30-31. 154Al-Shirwānī, Aḥmad, Al-ʿAjab al-ʿUjāb, 12.
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The nature of their communication was primarily intellectual. For instance, in his letter, dated in 1221/1806, Aḥmad al-Shirwānī discussed three books, two of which he had received, titled ‘Sharḥ al-ʿAlawī’ ي ا ح )and ‘Al-Riyāḍ al-Mustaṭābah’, ض ا) ( ا and a book he hoped to get, titled, ‘Sharḥ al-Sherīshī’ ( ا ح ).155