The life and times of Sheikh Omar-al-faruuq

After the death of our sheikh Omar al-Faruq a few hours in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, I received the news of the great tragedy with trepidation and shock as I was far away from where he died, in Nairobi, Kenya. Although I was not socially associated with him, my relationship with him was great as signified by the bond of brotherhood in Islam.
No one disputes that our Sheikh was famous in Africa and the Islamic world. Although it is not good to talk and write about the dead, a brief history of the life and times of Sheikh Omar-al-faruug just to show my loyalty and love for his virtue will suffice.
Descendant
Name: Sheikh Umar Farooq Haji Abdul Sultan Haji Ahmad Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Yusuf Haji Ibrahim.
His mother: Mrs. Aisha daughter of Sheikh Ahmed, a cousin of his father.
his lineage emanates from Ja’far al-Sadiq bin Muhammad al-Baqir bin Ali bin Hussein, known as Zain El Abidine Ben Ali Ben Al Hussein bin Ali bin Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him.

Birth
 Sheikh Omar al-Faruq was born on Thursday in the fall 1939 in a town called Qoxley better known as Carmaale located between the towns of Qabri dahare and Qalaafe on the banks of the Shabelle River.
 Upbringing and education
The Sheikh grew up as an orphan in his childhood when his mother died while he was at the age of four years old, and his father died when he was seven years old and thus he was nurtured by his grandmother.
At the beginning of his education he joined the Quranic School for memorizing the Holy Quran which was the habit of Somalis and other Muslims in the Horn of Africa, where the child begins to attend the schools for teaching the Quran.
Sheikh Omar was then nine years old, and received the Quran from Sheikh Ahmed Hussein Gori completing the Qur’aan at eleven years of age.

He then started learning Islamic jurisprudence, Arabic and Tafsiir, particularly the Shafi’i school of thought, which was prevalent in the region. He started learning Safinatu-najaat and Safinatu-salaah at the hands of Sheikh Osman Jar Sheikh Hussein, and besides he started to learn the Arabic language of grammar, such as Lamiyatul-afa’al from Sheikh Mahmoud Haji Abdullahi.
The sheikh grew up in a family comprising of educated and well-known scholars the likes of Sheikh Shafi’i Haji Abdi Haji Sultan (his elder brother) and Sheikh Morshed Haji Mohammad Haji Muhammad (his cousin), which gave sheikh Omar-al-faruuq the opportunity to learn and master the religion of Islam in a silver plate, thanks to that noble family.

 Trips he undertook in search of KnowldgeHe traveled to the city of Qallafi which was known then for its thriving in the Islamic jurisprudence, where he studied a book which is considered to be one of the greatest books of fiqh Shafi’i in the region. He also studied the theology of the books: the essence of monotheism (jawhar al tawhid), and the start of the hopes (bad’ul aamaal), and the Book of the doctrine of al-Sanusi(aqiidah al-sanusi, Islam and the life(hayaat al-islam) by Imam Al-Ghazali. Sheikh also studied Books about poetry and eloquence (qasaaid) He studied hadith books such as arbain an-nawawi. He lastly devoted eminence and specialized in the interpretation of the Quran.
He then left Somali territory into the North-Eastern region of Kenya, particularly Mandera. It is an honor for me to hail from Mandera where Sheikh Omar al-faruuq once visited.  In 1965, the Sheikh left for Mogadishu where he furthered his education. While in Mogadishu, his life entered a new phase where he began teaching regular schools in the capital itself like the Institute of Islamic solidarity in Mogadishu, which was linked to the Islamic University in Medina  
As his quest for knowledge got intensified, he did not hesitate to continue on this path, and preferred to find his way to seek knowledge, but this time to a foreign trip far from home, where he journeyed to the land Mecca and Medina, and joined the Islamic University in the city of the Prophet., and when he finished his studies set off to advocate for the dissemination and teaching of Islamic knowledge throughout Africa, Asia and Europe.
Within no time the sheikh amassed many students who flocked to his gathering to get knowledge.
And in the Islamic Diaspora, specifically Northern Europe, there are still the hallmarks and legacy of Sheikh’s phenomenon in the arena of advocacy.
This is Sheikh Omar al-Faruq, who left us yesterday, but the effects of advocacy and reform will remain encapsulated in everyone’s mind and can be retrieved by anyone, especially the recorded ones, as he was an orator, a speaker with nimble mind, quick in answer, strong in memory, deriving his argument either from the Quran and Sunnah or Mathur. He had a strong vigor, was relentless in activity with a strong endurance to the vicissitudes of time and showed strong commitment to the ahlu-sunnah wal-jama’ah.
He buried polytheism, revived Islam and refuted falsehood. May God bless the sheikh Omar Al-Faruq al-Hassani and rest his soul in peace. May God give his family patience and solace. To God we belong and to Him we return. Tweet