Habib Omar bin Hafiz was born on 27 May 1963 CE or 4 Muharram 1383 AH in Tarim, Hadhramaut, Yemen, and raised in a household that possessed a tradition and lineage of Islamic scholarship and righteousness by his father. His father was Muhammad bin Salim bin Hafiz, a Habib and mufti of Tarim, a pious caller to Islam, scholar, and a martyr of the communist uprising. He is a Sayyid, through his grandson Hussein ibn Ali. The surname "Hafiz" comes from his great grandfather's name, a branch of the family of "Shaikh Abubakr bin Salim", which is also the name of his paternal thirteenth generation progenitor. His lineage is recorded as follows: He is Omar bin Muhammad, bin Sālim, bin Hafiz, bin Abdullah, bin Abu Bakr, bin Aidarus, bin Umar, bin Aidarus, bin Umar, bin Abu Bakr, bin Aidarus, bin Husayn, bin Fakhr al-Wujūd al-Shaykh Abu Bakr, bin Salim, bin Abdullah, bin Abd al-Raḥman, bin Abdullah, bin Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf, bin Muhammad Mawla al-Dawilah, bin Ali Mawla al-Darak, bin Alawi al-Ghayur, bin Muhammad al-Faqih Muqaddam, bin Ali, bin Muhammad Sahib al-Mirbat, bin Ali Khali Qasam, bin Alawi al-Tsani, bin Muhammad Sahib al-Ṣawma'ah, bin Alawi al-Awwal, bin Ubaydullah, bin Ahmad al-Muhajir, bin Isa al-Rumi, bin Muhammad al-Naqib, bin Ali al-Urayḍi, bin Ja'far al-Sadiq, bin Muhammad al-Baqir, bin Ali Zayn al-Abidin, bin Husayn, bin Ali bin Abi Talib and Fatimah al-Zahra, the daughter of Muhammad.
Early life
Having memorized the Qu'ran at a very young age, Habib also studied and memorized core texts in Fiqh, the Arabic language, Hadith and many other religious sciences. He studied Islamic sciences including spirituality from his father. Later, he enrolled at the Ribat of al-Bayda', where he began studying the traditional Islamic sciences under the tutelage of Al-Habib Muhammad bin Abd-Allah al-Haddar, as well as under the Shafi‘i jurist and scholar Al-Habib Zain bin Sumait. Habib Omar was given permission to teach soon after. He then studied under the mufti of Ta‘iz, al-Habib Ibrahim bin Aqil bin Yahya. He also studied under Shaikh al-Habib Muhammad al-Haddar, who gave him his daughter’s hand in marriage. Bin Hafiz then traveled to the Hejaz and studied several books with scholars, including Al-Habib Abdul Qadir bin Ahmad al-Saqqaf, Al-Habib Ahmed Mashur al-Haddad, and Al-Habib Attas al-Habashi. At the age of 15, Habib began to teach, while continuing to study and receive lessons.
Career
After returning to Tarim, bin Hafiz established Dar al-Mustafa, an Islamic educational seminary. Habib currently lives in Tarim, where he oversees the development of Dar al-Mustafa and the schools that have been set up under his management. Dar al-Mustafa has been featured in The New York Times. His seminary accepts students from a variety of countries. Some of his prominent students in the UK include Shaykh Ibrahim Osi Efa, and in the United States, Shaykh Abdul Karim Yahya and Shaykh John Rhodus, while his prominent students in Indonesia include the late Habib Munzir Al-Musawa. Habib travels regularly to meet with students and leaders, deliver talks and media interviews, and participate in official and private functions. Among the places he has been include: the Persian Gulf states, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Sudan, Mali, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, the Comoros Islands, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, and Spain. He has connected to the chains of transmission of the scholars of these regions. In 2006, Habib met with Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri; they exchanged knowledge on Islam, and he also received an Ijazah of Hadith from Tahir-ul-Qadri. In 2007, Habib joined the ranks of the world's leading Muslim academics and scholars as a signatory to A Common Word Between Us and You, a document that builds bridges between the Muslim and Christian communities. He has also spoken at Cambridge University on the need for such a dialogue. In July 2008, he partnered with Muslim Aid Australia as founder of Yemen-based NGO Al-Rafah Charitable Society to address issues of poverty and hunger and lack of sufficient health care that affect areas of Tarim. In 2011, Habib toured the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States for outreach purposes and da'wah.
Habib has many audio and visual publications as well as writings. Among the latter are:
Mukhtar al-Hadith: Selection of Noble Prophetic Traditions
Two collections of hadith: Selections from Shifa al-Saqim and The Light of Faith From the Speech of the Beloved of al-Rahman
Aid to Those Seeking the Creator's Pleasure, by Clarifying the Noble Traits of Character
Advice to Students
Our Traits
Forthpourings of Favor from the Mercy of the Giver of Favors
Directing the Intelligent to the Contentment of the Beneficent
The Glorious Treasure
The Summary of Prophetic Aid, a book of invocations
Two mawlids, celebrating the life of Muhammad: The Shimmering Light Mentioning the Birth of the Interceding Prophet and The Pure Drink Mentioning the Life of the Fullest of Moons
The Forthpouring of Spiritual Aid, a Compilation of Sermons
