Abdul Rawoof Ateeq's video: Learning How to Ask from God-Habib Abdul Qadir al-Saqqaf Teacher of Hamza Yusuf Habib Ali Habib Umar

al-Qutb al-Habib Abdul Qadir Ibn Ahmad al-Saqqaf was born in Seiyun, Hadramawt in 1331, the Pole of the Ahlul Bayt(prophet's family) is the unsung Shaykh of Habib Umar bin Hafidh, Habib Ali al-jifri, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and many more. A pillar which signifies ones nearness to Allah is humility, and Abdul Qadir al-Saqqaf never fell short of this quality. He is renowned for his efforts to make people feel at ease, never feeling comfortable if the people around him were uncomfortable. He respected people, and thus he was respected, he asked for prayer and made sure his guests felt welcome – even his students. A major element of his honor is derived from his subservient nature and immense shame before Allah. Habib Abdul Qadir Al-Saqqaf would often attend gatherings with Habib Ahmed Mashhur Al-Haddad, his spiritual brother. Together they seemed to form a delicate balance. Al-Saqqaf embodied Majesty (Al-Jalal) while Al-Haddad embodied Beauty (Al-Jamal). Gatherings with these men were suffused with blessing. He was a spiritual lord who commanded enormous influence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia against all odds, for Sufism was banned and suppressed by the religious authorities and Al-Saqqaf was one of the world’s preeminent Sufi masters. He was given the best of upbringings by his father, the great scholar and caller to Allah, al-Habib Ahmad al-Saqqaf. He memorized the Qur’an in his early years and began the pursuit of knowledge at the hands of his father and the Mufti of Hadramawt, al-Habib `Abd al-Rahman bin `Ubaydullah al-Saqqaf, as well as al-Habib Muhammad bin Hadi al-Saqqaf. Amongst his teachers were the Imams of his time, al-Habib `Alawi bin `Abdullah Bin Shihab, al-Habib Ja`far bin Ahmad al-`Aydarus and al-Habib `Abdullah bin `Umar al-Shatiri. He began teaching publicly in Seiyun at a young age and students of knowledge flocked to benefit from him. However, when the Socialist regime in South Yemen began persecuting scholars he left Yemen in 1393, going first to Singapore and then Indonesia. He then headed to the Hijaz, where he was to settle in Jeddah. He established gatherings of knowledge and remembrance in his house in Jeddah attended by numerous scholars and visitors. He made trips to various countries calling to Allah and visiting the scholars and Muslims in those places. Amongst the places he visited were Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, the Comoros Islands (where he visited al-Habib `Umar bin Ahmad bin Sumayt in the company of al-Habib Ahmad Mashur al-Haddad) and East Africa. He visited North Yemen and returned to visit Hadramawt after the unification of North and South Yemen but did not resettle there. He was loved by all those that came into contact with him. He had immense concern for every member of this Umma, regardless of their race or rank and he would stop at nothing to attend to people’s needs and deal with their requests. Countless people benefitted from his knowledge and from his gatherings, which were gatherings of connection to Allah, His Messenger and the Imams of this deen. Habib Ali al-jifri narrates a beautiful story about Habib Abdul Qadir al-Saqqaf(may Allah be well pleased with him). He was traveling from one gathering to another. One of his disciples opened the car door for him. When Habib Abdul Qadir climbed in to the car, the disciple shut the car door and climbed into the back seat. When they reached their destination Habib Abdul Qadir told his disciples to go on ahead of him. When they left the car, he calmly asked the driver to come round and open the door. The driver discovered that the disciple had unknowingly shut the car door on the Shaykh's fingers. Habib Abdul Qadir quietly asked the driver if he could take him to a hospital. The driver asked him why he hadn't said anything earlier. He replied that he didn't want to distress the disciple who had closed the door. One day Sayyid Omar Abdullah returned from a visit to Al-Saqqaf at his home in Jeddah. His visit had produced an unveiling. “I realized,” he said with grave certainty, “that Al-Saqqaf has reached the station of baqa (subsistence in God). He has been completed.” Sayyid Omar rarely discussed the spiritual stations of his peers.The supreme stations of knowledge (ma’rifa) on the Sufi path are fana(annihilation) and baqa(subsistence in God), referred to in Sura Rahman (55:26-27): “All that is on the earth shall pass away (faan) And the Face of your Lord will abide forever (yabqa), full of Majesty and Generosity.” “Fana is annihilation of consciousness of ‘ubudiyyat, (human individuality as a servant of the Lord) and baqa is subsistence in the contemplation of ilahiyyat (divinity).