Ba Alawi, Descendants of the Prophet

A house of sayyids at Tarim, respected as descendants of the Prophet and as Shafi'i scholars, with date gardens and grain land at Bayt Jubayr and round Tarim.

Muhammad ibn Ali's grandfather Muhammad, called Sahib Mirbat, taught and judged at Mirbat in Dhofar, traded grain between Hadramawt and Dhofar and protected caravans; he died there in 556 AH (1161). In 1200 the young Muhammad ibn Ali is studying with the jurists of Tarim (Ali ibn Ahmad Ba Marwan, Ahmad ibn Muhammad Ba Isa, Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abi al-Hubb, his uncle Alawi). Later he takes the Sufi cloak (khirqa) sent from Abu Madyan of Tlemcen, lays down arms by agreement with Sa'id ibn Isa al-Amudi of Wadi Daw'an, and founds the Alawi Sufi path that will make Tarim's sayyids peacemakers between the tribes.

That role is still in the future.

Who he is

Name: Not pinned who led the house that winter; its men include Alawi ibn Muhammad, son of Muhammad Sahib Mirbat, and the young scholar Muhammad ibn Ali Ba Alawi (born 574 AH, about 21), later called al-Faqih al-Muqaddam
Title: Descendants of the Prophet (sayyids, sharifs), scholars and landholders at Tarim
Since: The family moved from Bayt Jubayr to Tarim in 521 AH (1127)
Born: Muhammad ibn Ali: 574 AH (1178-1179) at Tarim; died 653 AH (1255)
Family: Descendants of Ahmad ibn Isa al-Muhajir through Alawi; Muhammad Sahib Mirbat (died 556 AH, 1161, at Mirbat) is the grandfather of Muhammad ibn Ali
Confidence: medium

Arabic Wikipedia 'al-Faqih al-Muqaddam'; Oman Daily report on Sahib Mirbat.

Overlord

Live under the lord of Tarim, Abd Allah ibn Rashid.

What it holds

Houses, mosques and date gardens in Tarim
Farmland at Bayt Jubayr, the family's earlier home (location in the wadi not pinned)
The tomb and memory of Sahib Mirbat at Mirbat, Dhofar

How it was acquired

Settled at Tarim in 521 AH (1127).

Allies and rivals

Close to the scholarly families of Tarim; the jurist Ba Marwan is the leading teacher. Ties to Dhofar through Sahib Mirbat's pupils and trade.

How things stand that morning

Respected but not yet the arbiters they later became; they hold no lordship.

Wealth

Date gardens, grain land, trade in grain between Hadramawt and Dhofar (Sahib Mirbat's), pious gifts.

Military

None; Muhammad ibn Ali's later renunciation of arms suggests the family had carried them.

Threats

Tribal wars round Tarim
Famine

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

Not pinned (after the death of Abu Madyan, usually dated 594 AH, 1197-1198)Abd Allah al-Salih al-Maghribi brings Abu Madyan's Sufi cloak to Tarim and invests Muhammad ibn Ali, in the presence of his teacher Ba Marwan.Depends on: The envoy reaching Tarim (his companion Abd al-Rahman al-Maq'ad died at Mecca). Stopped by: The envoy's death on the road.

Places of note

Tarim, the Ba Alawi quarter and mosques: Home of the sayyids.

Where the sources disagree

The date of the cloak's arrival is not given in the sources we checked; it may already have happened by 1 January 1200.

Evidence: Hagiographic tradition, written down later, but consistent on the main dates.

On the map: Not drawn: a family of standing, not a lordship.

Primary sources for Hadramawt

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

History of the Observant Traveller (A Traveller in Thirteenth-Century Arabia), Ibn al-Mujawir (Jamal al-Din Yusuf ibn Ya'qub) (about 1226 to 1232). A merchant-traveller's description of western and southern Arabia a generation after 1200: Mecca and the Hijaz ports, the Red Sea crossing, Zabid and the Tihama, Aden with its customs and tariffs, the Hadramawt coast, Dhofar and Oman, Socotra, and the opposite African shore at Zeila and the Dahlak islands. Read online

Sources and studies

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.