Hazrat Shaykh Sayyid Ahmad ar- Rifâi (1119-1182) was born on a Thursday in the first half of the lunar month of Rejab in Hasen, in the Vasit province of Iraq. When he was seven years old, his father Sayyid Sultan Ali passed away in Baghdad. From then on his maternal uncle Sayyid Mansur ar-Rabbani el-Betaihi took him into his care and educated him.
He learnt Quran from Shaikh Abd üs-Semi el-Hurbuni in Hasen, his birthplace. He committed to memory the whole of the Quran when he was seven. During the same year after the death of his father, his uncle Mansur el-Betaihi transferred him and his family to the region of Dikla (Dicle). His uncle send him to Ebul Fadl Ali el-Vasiti who was an expert in the canon law of Islam, a commentator on the Quran and a preacher.
On the other hand, when he was attending dhikr meetings of his uncle Shaikh Mansur er-Rabbani, he was also attending the courses of his other uncle Shaikh Ebubekir who was a major scientific figure at the time. He memorized the book “Tenbih” concerning Fikh (Muslim canonical jurisprudence) of Imam Shafi which belongs to Imam Ebu Ishak Sirazi. He also wrote an interpretation of this book, however, this text was lost during the Mongul invasions.
From the earliest age, he dedicated his entire time to learning the ilm of Islam. When he was twenty, Ebu Fadl Ali (the Sheikh of Wasit) and his teacher awarded him a “Shahadatname” (which represented studies of canonical law and the sciences of tariqah), and a title as the expert of external and interior sciences. His teachers and his Sheikhs agreed on his greatness and impeccability.
He stayed in Nehr-i Dikla for a while, after which he came back to his father’s public house for travellers at Hasen and gradually became very famous. When he was twenty-eight, his uncle Shaikh Mansur bequeathed him to manage the dervish lodge and the Caliphs after his death. He also commanded him to live in the dervish lodge of Shaikh Yahya en-Neccari who was his grandfather from his mother side. It was during this time he began to preach in this dervish lodge. His uncle died in the year of the bequeathing. When he was thirty-five, the number of his murids was over seven hundred thousand.
He never neglected teaching the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (sa) and the Quran to the public as he always believed that the trade of a wise man was to show the way towards Allah and to direct the hearts towards Him.
He give courses in hadith, canonical jurisprudence, religious precepts and commentary on the Quran (tafsir) everyday except for Monday and Thursday. On Monday and Thursday, he preached to the intellectuals and the public.
Every speech, action, behavior and breath of Ahmad ar Rifai were for Allah. He always had a smiling face; he was always very patient, modest and good-tempered. He never became cross with anyone and never asked any help for his own benefit. All his love and his anger was for Allah. He never saw his family and himself superior to other people.
He used to ask people to protect themselves from excesses like overeating and oversleeping. He recommended doing worship during the nights. He also recommended to remain far from people who do not know their limits, who behave in an excessive manner, who see themselves superior to others and who dispute with each other.
He used to do his own housework, carry the firewood prepared for him to the house of other people in need.
He used to care for the orphans, the sick, the blind. He respected old people and recommended respecting them. He always used to say the words of the Prophet Muhammad (sa); “Whoever respects an old Muslim, Allah assigns people to respect them when they are old.”
He used to visit the leprous and the bedridden, wash their clothes, bring their meal, sit and eat with them, and asked them to pray for him. He healed wounded animals, and said that; “Caring for the creatures of Allah is a reason that the human being is close to Allah.”
He showed great mercy to orphans, cried for the poor, was glad with their joy, treated them with modesty, saw himself like one of them.
He used to respect the wise and the scholars of the canon law of Islam and asked everybody to respect them by teaching that; “The wise are the leaders and the fundamentals of the community.”
He never stored any commodity in his life. Although he possessed big wealth, he never had more than two sets of clothes at the same time, neither in summer nor in winter. His movable and immovable property was much more than property of governors and the wealthy men of his time. He used to distribute all the revenue of his estate to the dervishes and the people who come to the dervish convent. He didn’t leave any commodities to his children.”