ghumari was born on the 27th of ramadan in 1320 according to the islamic calendar, corresponding to december 26, 1902 gregorian. he was the older brother of fellow clerics abdullah al-ghumari and abd al-aziz al-ghumari. as a child, he studied in morocco's traditional madrasa system, memorizing the entire qur'an by heart, in addition to traditional islamic texts such as alfiya, ajārūmīya and bulugh al-maram.