Full Name: Yahya ibn ‘Alee ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Alee ibn Ya’qoob al Haajooree. Kunya: Abu ‘Abdur Rahmaan.
Origin: Yemen, from the tribe of Banee Wahaan.
Born: Pre 1378 H | 1958 C.E.
Amongst his teachers:
Al ‘Allaamah Muqbil ibn Haadee al Waadi’ee.
Shaykh ‘Ubayd Allaah al Afghaanee.
Shaykh Muhammad A’dham.
Shaykh Rabee’ ibn Haadee al Madkhalee stated: “Shaykh Yahyaa al Hajooree is from amongst the most virtuous of people and is in a magnificent establishment.”
He also said: “Your brothers and Shaykh Yahyaa are noble scholars, they have virtues that by Allaah are not present in the Dunyaa at this time. They do not teach for certification or degrees, they do not teach for wealth, in the Emirates and Saudi, a teacher who may not even be qualified can earn 20 or 30,000 - they do not take any salaries, not from the government or otherwise. They study and teach for the pleasure of Allaah the Elevated, by Allaah this is a virtue for you, a virtue for your Da’wah, so have respect for it and be keen on having it remain strong, may Allaah bless you.”
The following is a Summary of the Shaykh’s own biography of himself.
“My father raised me and my brothers well, away from Qaat, smoking, Shamah and other calamities. Nothing would upset him more than seeing us being negligent in the prayer of congregation or our supererogatory prayers. The most beloved thing to him was that one of us would become a scholar. He sent us to study in Katateeb, he put me to study under the Mi’laamah of the Ameen of the village, it’s Khateeb and Faqeeh; Yahya al ‘Aatibee, may Allaah have mercy upon him. Studying in a Mi’laamah was in accordance to the methodology of those of old.
Upon graduating from the Mi’laamah with knowledge of the Qur-aan and reading it, my father decided to take me to the city of az Zaydeeyyah since it was said at the time that it was the city of knowledge and Fatwaa. My father, may Allaah preserve him, loves knowledge and religion, he used pray the night prayers and fast a lot, I do not know that he ever earned one Dirham from impermissible means, but he did not know about Sufeeyyah, Shee’ah or other misguided sects, he used to respect them and they would visit him a lot. Allaah saved me from studying under the Sufeeyyah through my mother, may Allaah preserve her and grant her a good end. She would cry so that I do not go and stay in another city by myself without a partner from my town at a young age, so my father let me remain and herd sheep.
I then traveled to Saudi Arabia where I attended the circle of Qur-aan of the noble Shaykh ‘Ubaydullaah al Afghaanee, may Allaah preserve him, after Fajr in the city of Abha. I also studied some of Saheeh Muslim from him, he used to start with it before listening to us. He traveled and I studied under Shaykh Muhammad A’dham who used to teach Qur-aan in Masjid Yahya, I read until Surat al ‘Araaf to them both, then the Shaykh traveled and I completed the Qur-aan with the Riwaayah of Hafs ‘an ‘Aasim with Muhammad Basheer and to Allaah belongs al praise.
Even though I loved knowledge at that time, I did not find anybody to direct me to study with ash Shaykh al Imaam ibn Baaz, or others from the scholars of Saudi who were teaching, may Allaah have mercy upon them. I then heard of the Shaykh al ‘Allaamah Muqbil ibn Haadee al Waadi’ee, may Allaah have mercy over him, that he was a Salafee scholar teaching the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Messenger - صلى الله عليه وسلم - in Damaaj, may Allaah protect it and grant its people success in attaining all that is good. I met him in his blessed house in the year 1405 H, my father came with me and told the Shaykh to look after me and left, and he continued to aid me in seeking knowledge with monetary aid every now and then.
Ever since that time I remained seeking knowledge, I do not like traveling a lot and wasting time, so Allaah, with His mercy, facilitated a lot of good and benefit in a number of sciences at the hands of our Shaykh, al ‘Alaamah al Muhaddith al Salafee al Maymoon Muqbil ibn Haadee al Waadi’ee, may Allaah have mercy upon him.
Likewise is the state in this blessed place (Damaaj), I used to teach Arabic Grammar, ‘Aqeedah and Fiqh in addition to what we all were studying under our Shaykh, Shaykh al Mashaayikh of the Salafee Da’wah in Yemen, Muqbil ibn Haadee al Waadi’ee, may Allaah have mercy upon him. After that, our Shaykh Muqbil, may Allaah make his home Firdaus, used to order me to take his place in teaching if he was sick or traveled, and when his time came close, he advised that I take his place after him.
The enemies of this place used to harbor evil suspicions, that after the Shaykh passed away, may Allaah have mercy upon him, the Da’wah would be removed and the building would be turned into warehouses for Qaat, as we and others used to hear them say during the illness of the Shaykh and prior to that. When Allaah turned the hearts of His servants to this goodness after the Shaykh’s death, the Da’wah expanded even more, and the numbers of students have increased by folds since the time of its founder, our Shaykh al Imaam al Waadi’ee may Allaah have mercy upon him. This angered some of those who were afflicted with the disease of jealousy in their hearts, from amongst the students of the Shaykh, may Allaah have mercy upon him, or other than them from amongst those who have other worldly motives or partisanship, Allaah repelled their evil and left fallow their plots.
The Da’wah continous to press forward in all goodness, and the favor is from Allaah, in the beginning and in the end, it is He who said {There is not a blessing that befalls you, except that it is from Allaah.} We ask Allaah to preserve for us our religion and our worldly life, and to repel Fitan, whether apparent or hidden, from us, our country and the rest of the lands of the Muslims and all praise is due to Allaah.