Shaykh Abu Bakr al-Aydarus al-Shadhili

Shaykh Abu Bakr ibn Abd Allah al-Shadhili, known as al-Aydarus, to whom "Shadharat al-Dhahab" attributes the invention of the coffee made from the coffee bean brought from Yemen. He died in 909 AH (converted by derivation: 1503/1504 CE). ²

"Shadharat" says that the origin of his taking it was that, on his travels, he passed by coffee bushes left neglected though plentiful, and he found in it a drying of the brain, a means of keeping awake, and an invigoration of worship. He took it as food, drink and nourishment, and guided his followers to it. ²

Coffee then spread in Yemen, then the Hijaz, then Syria and Egypt, then all the other lands. ²

In the early tenth century the scholars differed over coffee. A group held it to be forbidden, among them the book names Shihab al-Din al-Aythawi al-Shafi'i, al-Qutb ibn Sultan al-Hanafi and Ahmad ibn Abd al-Haqq al-Sanbati. The majority held it lawful. The book quotes al-Najm al-Ghazzi in "al-Kawakib al-Sa'ira" that consensus was formed on this after them. ²

What is not covered here: the arguments of each side, and what other writers than Ibn al-Imad say of the origin of coffee. This needs an additional source.