Salam
Its raining in Madinet Zayed today, Imam al-Nawawi in his al-Adhkar mentioned that the time of rain descending is one of moments when supplications are answered. The following was written a while back, based on the article by Sh. Bandar Abdullah al-Mulla:
Scholars of the al-Mulla family
The al-Mulla family has produced a number of distinguished scholars of hanafi fiqh over the last five centuries. A brief mention will be made of some of them:
1- Sh. Ali bin Hussein al-Waaiz al-Mulla: He is the ancestor of the al-Mulla family, he was a Qadi in al-Ahsa in the latter half of the tenth century
2-Sh. Muhammad bin Ali al-Waaiz al-Mulla: One of the distinguished scholars of the eleventh century. He authored a number of legal verdicts (fatawa). The ruler of al-Ahsa Ali Pasha al-Bariki endowed him with the Madrasa al-Qubah in the al-Koot area in order to teach in the year 1019.
3-Sh. Muhammad bin Imad bin Abdullah al-Mulla: He was a Qadi in al-Ahsa at the end of the tenth and beginning of the eleventh century
4-Sh. Abd al-Malik bin Abdullah bin Ali al-Waaiz al-Mulla: One of the scholars of the eleventh century
5- Sh. Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Mulla: A scholar of the eleventh century, he was the Imam of the Muhammad Ali Pasha masjid located in the castle/fortress in al-Koot. It is known today as Jami al-Shuyukh, the masjid was established in the year 1044.
6- Sh. Umar bin Ahmad al-Mulla: One of the distinguished scholars of the family, he established a masjid in the al-Koot area and linked endowments (awqaf) to it. He made his son Sh. Abd al-Rahman the overseer of the masjid and endowments.
7- Sh. al-Qadi Abd al-Rahman bin Umar al-Mulla: He passed away in 1237, he was a Qadi in al-Ahsa in the thirteenth century.
8- Sh. al-Mufti, al-Qadi Muhammad bin Umar al-Mulla: He took on the responsibility of issuing legal verdicts (fatwa) in al-Ahsa and judgeship in al-Qatif in the year 1244.
9- Allamah Sh. Abu Bakr bin Muhammad bin Umar al-Mulla: One of the greatest scholars of his age, he passed away in Makka in 1270. He authored many works in topics such as Tawhid, hadith, fiqh and the Arabic language.
10- Allamah Sh. Abdulah bin Sh. Abi Bakr al-Mulla: He passed away in 1309, one of the notable scholars of the family. He taught, preached and guided, whilst authoring a number of works.
11- Al-Qadi al-Mufti Sh. Abd al-Latif bin Abd al-Rahman al-Mulla: He took on the role of Qadi and issuing legal verdicts in al-Ahsa for more than thirty years. He passed away in the year 1339. He has a number of legal verdicts (fatawa) and authored some works on fiqh.
12- Sh. Abu Bakr bin Sh. Abdullah al-Mulla: One of the notable scholars of the 14th century, he took on the role of teaching and preaching in a number of madaris and masjids belonging to the family. He also enjoyed great respect amongst the people in both the Ottoman and Saudi periods. He passed away in 1366.
13- Sh. Ahmad bin Sh. Abd al-Latif al-Mulla: He took knowledge from his father and the other scholars of his city. He took on the role of Qadi for a short period of time. He enjoyed great respect amongst the people with his home being a calling point for all people wishing to benefit from his knowledge, especially that of history and genealogy. Likewise he was Imam of Masjid al-Mulla and taught and preached in madrassa al-qubbah. He passed away in 1402.
14-Sh. Muhammad bin Abi Bakr al-Mulla: He took knowledge from the scholars of his city and scholars of Makka. After his graduating he busied himself with teaching and preaching in the Masjids and Madaris belonging to the family. He paid special attention to the poor and needy. He passed away in 1395.
15-Sh. Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Bakr al-Mulla: The jurist and scholar of hadith, he took knowledge from the scholars of his city and then from the scholars of Makka. He taught in al-Ahsa and in Makka, he passed away in 1421.
These are some of the more distinguished of the scholars of the family from the past. Presently a number of the family have devote themselves to knowledge, some of them being:
16- Sh. Abdullah bin Abd al-Rahman al-Mulla: Born in the year 1330, he took from the scholars of al-Ahsa, then studied in India at Dar al-Ulum Deoband. After graduating from Dar al-Ulum Deoband he taught at the al-Amiriyah madrassa in al-Ahsa. He also opened a bookshop named ‘Maktaba al-Tawun al-Thaqafi.
17- Sh. Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Abi Bakr al-Mulla: He passed away in 1422. He had a circle of knowledge in is masjid called al-Qanbari in al-Koot area. A number of the students of knowledge in al-Ahsa benefitted from him.
18- Sh. Yahya bin Sh. Muhammad bin Abi Bakr al-Mulla: He has sought knowledge from a number of scholars in al-Ahsa, he studied at Dar al Ulum Makka, Madinah and al-Azhar. He graduated from the faculty of Shariah of Ibn Saud University in the year 1405. He has a number of circles in his masjid in the al-Koot area. He is currently focussed on publishing the works of the scholars from his family, publishing a large number of them, alongside the teaching of the hanafi madhab.
Apart from the above mentioned names there are other advanced students of knowledge and hanafi scholars in al-Ahsa. I have not yet met all of them, however special mention should be made of Sh. Rayed al-Mulla and Sh. Murad al-Mulla, both are grandsons of Sh. Abd al-Rahman mentioned above, they have studied with the scholars of the al-Mulla family and currently teach some of the circles and are also involved in the editing and commentary of various texts for publication.