Abdur-Rahman al-Mu'allimee al-Yamani

Abu `Abdillah `Abd al-Rahman ibn Yahya ibn `Ali al-Mu`allimee (Arabic: عبد الرحمن بن يحيى المعلمي) was a recent Sunni Islamic scholar who specialized in hadith and biographical evaluation. He was born in Yemen, then under Ottoman control, then spending time as an editor in India before returning to the then nascent Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where he was head of the main library in Mecca. He was responsible for editing numerous classical religious works primarily in his field of specialization. For his efforts, he has been lauded as "the al-Dhahabi of the era", referring to the prominent medieval scholar of history.

Family
Al-Mu`allimee's father Yahya ibn `Ali was raised in the village of al-Tufan in the Automah district of Dhamar, Yemen. He relocated for a period of five years to pursue religious studies before returning and marrying. He married al-Mu`allimee's mother who was from one of the Yemeni tribes. She bore him one daughter and three sons: Fatimah, Muhammad, `Abd al-Rahman and `Atiyyah. Al-Mu`allimee - `Abd al-Rahman- was born in 1894 in the village of al-Mahaqirah in the vicinity of al-Tufan. Yahya also married Fatimah bint Ahmad al-Mu`allimee who also bore four children.

After some time in al-Tufan, he moved with his family to a village in al-Rimah, building a house atop a terraced mountain - Jabal al-Wali- that had been abandoned previously. This house came to be known as Bait al-Rimi. He split his time between teaching the local children, leading the Friday and `Eid prayers, farming and teaching his own children. He died in 1941 when al-Mu`allimee was 59 years old.

Education
Al-Mu`allimee began studying the Quran with his father and another family member, writing and memorizing it systematically. Before completing the Quran, his father moved with him to Bait al-Rimi where he continued to teach his son. Al-Mu`allimee then moved to al-Hajariyyah in the Ta'izz region with his brother Muhammad who was employed as a clerk in the Shariah court there. He studied Quranic recitation, math and the Turkish language while a student at a public school. Upon visiting his son, Yahya was dismayed to learn of his slow progress in studying Arabic grammar. Upon his father's encouragement, he then progressed in his grammar studies and upon returning to Bait al-Rimi focused his studies in the company of a local scholar. He also studied jurisprudence and inheritance before being appointed a judge.

Al-Mu`allimee read Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim in the audience of `Abd al-Qadir Muhammad al-Siddiqi at the college of al-Jami`ah al`Uthmaniyyah in Hyderabad, India. He was also authorized by him to narrate the Six Canonical Books: Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan al-Nasa'i, Sunan Abi Dawood, Sunan al-Tirmidhi and Sunan Ibn Majah, in addition to Al-Muwatta by Imam Malik.

Teachers
From his teachers are the following:
 * 1) His father Yahya
 * 2) His elder brother Muhammad
 * 3) Ahmad ibn Sulaiman al-Mu`allimee
 * 4) Muhammad ibn `Ali al-Idrisi
 * 5) `Abd al-Qadir Muhammad al-Siddiqi
 * 6) Salim ibn `Abd al-Rahman Basihi

Death
On Thursday, May 27, 1966, al-Mu`allimee prayed the morning prayer at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Afterwards, he returned to the library in which he was working and died in his bed.