Muhammad Mawlud محمد ماوْلُود

Muhammad Mawlud (rahimahullah) was born around 1260 AH / 1844 CE in the desert country of Mauritania, a land whose inhabitants lived primarily as nomadic herders and subsistence farmers. Despite the austere environment, Mauritanians maintained a sophisticated system for preserving the sacred sciences of Islam through dedicated scholarly clans known as zawaya. Muhammad Mawlud was born into one such family, receiving what he himself would have called the Inheritance of the Prophets. His patrilineal line was distinguished by scholars, authors, and religious judges who administered traditional Islamic universities called mahadras: his father was Qadi Ahmed Fal, son of Qadi Muhamadhan Fal, son of Qadi al-Amin, son of Qadi al-Mukhtar, son of Qadi al-Fa'a Musa. From this heritage he inherited both the scholarly tradition and the ethos of the zawaya. He is most celebrated as the author of the didactic poem on the diseases of the heart and their spiritual cures, translated into English as 'Purification of the Heart,' and also authored 'The Rights of Parents.'