Rubat Tarim: The spring of knowledge [Archives:2007/1114/Last Page]
Mohammed Ahmed Bin Shihab
For the Yemen Times
It is like the sun sending its rays to purify and give light to the earth, removing the darkness of night and giving vitality and liveliness. This is Rubat Tarim, and since its establishment, its mission has been to enlighten and purify minds, to eradicate ignorance and to revive the movement of knowledge. It is prevalent everywhere in the world, so you can find the knowledge of Rubat Tarim in every country, whether by those who studied in it or by their students .
For years people frequented Tarim, the city of knowledge and scholars, to drink from its abundant spring and equip themselves with useful knowledge. At that time, the azz`awiyas (rooms built beside the mosque or above it to hold lessons in the Islamic sciences), and the houses of scholars were the places of teaching and learning. Knowledge seekers coming from outside Tarim suffered from a lack of accommodation, so some were housed in mosques, others in azz`awiyas, while still others lived with relatives or friends.
After the end of the ancient era, the number of knowledge seekers coming to Tarim increased, which is why a group of notables from Tarim thought to build a religious institution to be a place of study for foreign and domestic students in Tarim, and to house foreign students. Those notables were Mohammed Bin Salem Assri, Ahmed Bin Omer Al-Shatri, Abdul-Qader Bin Ahmed Al-Haddad, Ahmed Bin Abdul-Rahman Al-Juneed and sheikh Mohammed Bin Omer Arfan. They bought land on which to build the Rubat and endowed real estate in Singapore to invest in the institution.
The construction of Rubat Tarim began on the 25th of Thulqa`adah, 1303 A.H. and finished on the last day of Thulhejah in 1304 A.H. Rubat Tarim was inaugurated in 14 Muharram, 1305A.H., during which ceremony the biography of the prophet Mohammed was read. General supervision of teaching was ascribed, since its opening, to the mufti of Hadramout, Abdul-Rahman Bin Mohammed Al- Meshhoor. Among the first teachers in Rubat Tarim were Alwi Bin Abdul-Rahman Bin Abibaker Al-Meshhoor, Hussein Bin Mohammed Al-Kaf, sheikh Ahmed Bin Abdullah Al-Bekri Al-Khateeb, Hassan Bin Alwi Bin Shihab, sheikh Abubaker Bin Ahmed Bin Abdullah Al-Bekri Al-Khateeb and sheikh Mohammed Bin Ahmed Al-Khateeb . These teachers were delegated to teach when Abdullah Bin Omer Al-Shatri was appointed to teach upon his return from Makka, where he had studied for four years previously. The founders of Rubat Tarim gave Al-Shatri the leadership of Rubat and its educational administration . He spent most of his life teaching and serving Rubat Tarim voluntarily . He would spend six hours with his family, with the rest spent in Rubat Tarim. He continued in this manner until he died in 1361A.H. After his death, his four sons (Mohammed, Abubaker, Hasan and Salem) succeeded him in the task of teaching. Economic supervision and foreign student affairs management was ascribed to Omer Bin Ahmed Al-Shatri, the father of Abdullah Bin Omer Al-Shatri ,who volunteered to serve in the Rubat for more than 35 years.
The system of teaching in the Rubat is a traditional one, in which classes are held at three times: after fajr (dawn prayers), before 'asar (mid-afternoon prayers) and between maghreb (sunset prayers) and 'isha (evening prayers), in addition to additional lessons at other times. The students study various sciences such as law, grammar and etymology, prophetic narration, Islamic creed, prophetic biography, etc. They proceed gradually from less to more advanced, as well as memorize some core texts. Besides these lessons, public lessons are held on Saturday and Sunday mornings which scholars, students, notables and common people from Tarim and neighboring villages and cities attend. Visitors to Tarim also try to attend this lesson, in which they read books on Qur'anic interpretation, prophetic narration, law, mysticism (Sufism) and the sayings of contemporary scholars and righteous people in Hadramout. The chief scholar of Tarim presides over this lesson.
Many students have come to study in Rubat Tarim from Yemen and outside Yemen, from Southeast Asia to Africa. A lot of scholars graduated from Rubat who later traveled abroad to spread Islam. Some have even established religious institutions, while others went to the jungles of Africa, where Allah honored them by causing people to become Muslims as a result of their work. An example of this is Ahmed bin Meshoor Al-Haddad, who brought approximately 70,000 Africans to Islam.
According to statistics, the number of scholars who graduated from Rubat Tarim has reached more than 13,000. Rubat Tarim continued performing its mission until 1400 A.H. when it was closed down at the hands of communists, who were dominant in the southern part of Yemen before unification. But it was reopened after the unification of Yemen in 1412 A.H. and continues to function. The number of foreign students in Rubat Tarim is about 300, with 1,500 Yemeni students.
——
[archive-e:1114-v:15-y:2007-d:2007-12-24-p:lastpage]
