Ahmed b. Ali

Ahmed b. Ali b. Ahmed Abu Bakr al-ʿAlawī. He whitewashed walls. But he did not paint images on the walls. He never took any payment from anyone for the work he did. He had enough property to benefit from and sustain his livelihood. He listened to hadith from the judge Abu Yalā. From him, he also learned some fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). When he performed the pilgrimage, he would visit the graves in Mecca. When he reached the grave of Fudayl b. ʿIyāḍ, he would draw a line next to the grave with the stick in his hand and say, "O Lord, [bless] there." It is narrated that he performed the pilgrimage that year, made his wuqūf (standing) at ʿArafah while in ihrām (pilgrim's state), and passed away on the evening of ʿArafah day. He was washed, shrouded, and carried around the Kaʿba, then buried next to the grave of Fudayl b. ʿIyāḍ, where he had drawn and indicated with his stick during his lifetime. When the people of Baghdad heard of his death, they gathered to perform the funeral prayer in absentia. Such a large congregation assembled that if he had died in Baghdad, no larger gathering could have been formed. May Allah have mercy on him.