Al-Biladi was born around 1857 CE (1274 AH) in the old village of Al-Bilad (now Bilad Al Qadeem in northern Bahrain. Al-Biladi moved with his mother to Qatif, another Saudi city, after his father died in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia in ca. 1864 (1281 AH) on Hajj to Medina. Around ca. 1867 (1284 AH), the time of the move, many Bahraini dignitaries moved or were relocated there, including Hakim Ali ibn Khalifah Al Khalifa (the ruler forced to abdicate and exiled by the British for maritime piracy). Qatif’s large Shia population made it a common destination for those on the island of that faith.
Ahmed Al-Taan had previously come from Bahrain to Qatif with his family and hosted Al-Biladi and his mother, who died two years later, becoming Al-Biladi’s tutor and godfather in Islamic studies. Al-Biladi trained thus in Arabic grammar, rhetoric, and fiqh (jurisprudence).
Afterwards, he went to Najaf to complete his madrasa study with such illustrious colleagues as Muhammad Husayn Kazimi, Muhammad Taha Najaf, Murtaza Mahdi al-Kashmiri al-Najafi, Mahmoud Dhahab al-Najafi, and Hassan bin Matar al-Jazaery.[2]
