Abdalqadir as-Sufi

Abdalqadir as-Sufi
Abdalqadir as-Sufi
Born	Ian Dallas 1930 (age 81–82) Ayr, Scotland
Residence	[[]]
Occupation	Shaykh of Instruction
Title	Shaykh
Religion	Islam (Sufism)
Website
http://www.shaykhabdalqadir.com/

Abdalqadir as-Sufi (born 1930 Ian Dallas in Ayr, Scotland) is a Shaykh of Tarbiyah (Instruction), leader of the Darqawi-Shadhili-Qadiri Tariqa, founder of the Murabitun World Movement and author of numerous books on Islam, Sufism (Tasawwuf) and political theory. Born in Scotland, he was a playwright and actor before he accepted Islam in 1967 with the Imam of the Masjid al-Qarawiyyin (Qarawiyyin Mosque) in Fes, Morocco.

Abdalqadir as-Sufi has worked in spreading Islam since that time and has students all over the world in both Muslim and non-Muslim lands. He continues to write; among his latest publications are The Book of Tawhid, The Book of Hubb, The Book of 'Amal and The Book of Safar, and as Ian Dallas Ian Dallas Collected Works, The Time of the Bedouin – on the politics of power, Political Renewal and The Interim is Mine (2010). His commentary on current events and issues affecting Muslims in different parts of the world can be found on his website.

Early life

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In 1930 Ian Dallas was born in Scotland of a Highland family whose history dates back to 1279. Educated at Ayr Academy, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (R.A.D.A) and the University of London, where he was tutored in Elizabethan social history by Muriel St. Clare Byrne. On leaving R.A.D.A. he wrote his first play, A Masque of Summer, which was presented at the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre. His second play was first presented at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre, and then at R.A.D.A.'s Vanburgh Theatre with Albert Finney in the lead. This led to a BBC TV presentation with Peter Cushing and Mary Morris. Contracted to BBC TV Drama, there followed a series of plays and dramatisations. His adaptation of Conrad's 'Secret Agent' starred Sir Alan Bates, and that of O'Neill's 'Strange Interlude' starred Diane Cilento. With Constance Cox he initiated the first BBC TV classical series with 'Jane Eyre' and 'Vanity Fair'. His original plays on TV included 'Statue of David' with Jill Bennet and 'Light from a Star' with Isa Miranda. After this he travelled extensively in Greece, France and Italy.^[1] In 1963 he starred in Federico Fellini's film 8½ as "Il partner della telepata".^[2]

Conversion

As-Sufi converted to Islam in 1967 in Fes, Morocco as Abdalqadir, witnessed by Abdalkarim Daudi, the Imam Khatib of the Qarawiyyin Mosque, and Alal al-Fasi. He then joined the Darqawi order as a student of Muhammad ibn al-Habib,^[3] who conferred on him the title of as-Sufi. He travelled Morocco and Algeria with his Shaykh and was further instructed in Sufism by Sidi Hamud ibn al-Bashir of Blida and Sidi Fudul al-Huwari as-Sufi of Fes.^[1]

Tariqa

His idhn (authorization) for the Darqawi Tariqa comes through two Shaykhs: Muhammad ibn al-Habib of Morocco, who was his first Shaykh and who made him his Muqaddem (representative), and Muhammad al-Fayturi Hamudah. After returning to Europe from Morocco, he was ordered to Benghazi, Libya, by al-Fayturi, who was a direct inheritor from Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-Alawi. There he was put into Khalwa (retreat). Some time after this, Abdalqadir as-Sufi announced his leadership of the Darqawa.

In this initial period he oversaw an important set of translations of Islamic texts for the first time in English, including Malik ibn Anas's "al-Muwatta", Qadi Iyad's "ash-Shifa", as well as the Diwans of his two Shaykhs and Ahmad ibn 'Ajiba's "Basic Research".

Teaching

Abdalqadir as-Sufi advocates adherence to the original legal school of Islam, the Amal of Ahl-ul-Madinah^[4] as recorded by Malik ibn Anas, since, as discussed at length in his seminal work Root Islamic Education,^[5] he considers this the primal formulation of Islamic society and a necessity for the re-establishment of Islam in the current age. Within this he further advocates and teaches the 'Aqidah of Ash'ari and the Tasawwuf of Imam Junayd Baghdadi.

Abdalqadir has been responsible for the establishment of three mosques,

• Ihsan Mosque, Norwich, England^[6]
• The Great Mosque of Granada^[7]
• The Jumu'a Mosque of Cape Town^[8]

His students are encouraged to recite the Wird^[9] of Muhammad ibn al-Habib and the instructional Qasidas from the Diwans of Muhammad ibn al-Habib and Muhammad al-Fayturi.

Abdalqadir as-Sufi teaches that suicide-terrorism is forbidden under Islamic law, that its psychological pattern stems from Nihilism,^[10] and that it "draws attention away from the fact that capitalism has failed." He has stated that Britain is on "the edge of terminal decline" and that only Britain's Muslim population can "revitalise this ancient realm".^[11] He has written extensively on the importance of monarchy and personal rule.^[12] He also regards the face-veil (or Niqab) of Muslim women as unislamic, ^[13] describing it as an "evil hinduisation of women,"^[14]contrary to the position of any Maliki jurist (past and present) and contrary to any of the other three schools of jurisprudence.

Murabitun World Movement

In the early 1980s Abdalqadir founded the Murabitun World Movement, whose aim is to work towards re-establishment of Islam in its totality. Primary emphasis is placed upon the pillar of Zakat (Islam's obligatory tax on standing wealth) which, as Abdalqadir argues, has been abolished, since being changed beyond recognition by the acceptance of the dominant, non-Islamic financial and political practices. He has argued that the restoration of Zakat necessitates a restoration of the authentic Shari'ah currency, the Islamic gold dinar and silver dirham, in the weights and measures used at the time of Muhammad and recorded by Umar Ibn al-Khatab, the second Caliph of the Muslims. The other major condition of a correct Zakat, he argues, is the existence of personal rule, or Amirate, since Zakat is, by Qur'anic injunction, accepted rulings and established practice, taken by the leader, not given as a voluntary sadaqa.^[15]

His position on the Islamic gold dinar and silver dirham has been expanded upon at length using the sources in the Fiqh, and formulated for modern-day application, by his student Umar Ibrahim Vadillo.^[16]

Dallas College

Abdalqadir founded Dallas College in Cape Town in 2004 as a centre for the education of Muslim leaders.^{[citation needed]}

Authorship

In 2001, the Universiti Sains Malaysia conferred on him an Honorary Doctorate of Literature for his life's writings.

The books he has written over the past 30 years include:

• The Book of Strangers, (State Univ of New York Press, 1972, ISBN 978-0-88706-990-1)
• The Way of Muhammad,^[17] an existential exposition of the pillars of Islam from the perspective of Sufism (Diwan Press, 1975, OCLC 16373203)
• Indications From Signs, (Diwan Press, June 1980, ISBN 978-0-906512-12-8)
• The Hundred Steps, a classic work on key steps in the path of Sufism (Portobello Press, ISBN 978-1-874216-04-9)
• Qur'anic Tawhid, (Diwan Press, 1981, ISBN 978-0-906512-14-2)
• Letter to An African Muslim, (Diwan Press, 1981, ISBN 0-906512-13-1)
• Kufr - An Islamic Critique, (Diwan Press, 1982, ASIN: B0007C6U32)
• Root Islamic Education,^[18] written on the school of the people of Madinah under the leadership of Imam Malik (Madinah Press, June 1993, ISBN 978-1-874216-05-6)
• The Sign of the Sword, an examination on the judgements on jihād in the light of classical works of fiqh, particularly al-Qawanin al-fiqhiyyah of Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi, relating it to the contemporary situation and the global dominance of world banking and usury finance. (Diwan Press, 1984, ISBN 978-1-871207-26-2)
• The Return of the Khalifate, a historical work on the Ottomans, their demise and its causes and an exposition of a route to the recovery of the khalifate (Madinah Press, 1996, ISBN 978-1-874216-21-6)
• The Technique of the Coup de Banque^[19] on the modern age since its inception in the French Revolution. (Kutubia Mayurqa, 2000, ISBN 84-930515-6-X)
• Sultaniyya^[20] is a modern statement on leadership in Islam. Abdalqadir surveys Islam under the chapter headings Deen, Dawla (polity), Waqf, Trade, the Sultan — personal rule — and Tasawwuf. (Madinah Press, Cape Town, 2002, OCLC: 50875888)
• Collected Works (Budgate Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-620-34379-4)
• The Book of Tawhid (Madinah Press, 2006, ISBN 0-620-36126-3)
• The Time of the Bedouin (Budgate Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-620-37366-1)
• The Book of Hubb (Madinah Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-620-39911-1)
• The Book of 'Amal (Madinah Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-620-40463-1)
• The Book of Safar (Madinah Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-620-44110-0)
• Political Renewal (The End of the Political Class/The House of Commons and Monarchy) (Budgate Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-620-44573-3)
• The Muslim Prince (Madinah Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-620-43455-3)
• The Interim is Mine (Budgate Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-620-44110-0)

Students

Some of Abdalqadir's students both past and present and notable people influenced by him include:

• Abdalhaqq Bewley
• Aisha Bewley^[4]
• Umar Ibrahim Vadillo
• Yasin Dutton
• Asadullah Yate
• Idris Mears
• Abdalhasib Castiñeira
• Ali Laraki
• Muhammad Qasbi, Imam of the Great Mosque of Granada
• Mawlana Muhammad Wazani
• Abdassamad Clarke
• Ahmed Thomson
• Anas Coburn
• Abd ul-Ghani Melara
• Abdullah Luongo
• Abd us-Samad Nana
• Fazlin Khalid^[21]
• Abdalbasir Ojembarrena
• Ali Azzali
• Kent D. Palmer
• Hakim Archuletta
• Hamza Yusuf
• Hajja Saba Khalid
• Ibrahim Musa Isa
• Celt Islam^[22]
• Zaim Saidi
• Umar Faruq Abd-Allah
• Abdul Hakim Murad
• Abdu l-Rahman R Rachadi
• Muhammad al-Andalusi del Pozo
• Emir Ahmad Salah as-Sufi

Translations undertaken by his students

• The Noble Qur'an: a New Rendering of its Meanings in English, by Abdalhaqq and Aisha Bewley (Bookwork, Norwich, UK, ISBN 1-874216-36-3)
• The Muwatta of Imam Malik ^[23] translated by Aisha Bewley and Ya'qub Johnson (Bookwork, Norwich, UK, 2001, ISBN 0-906512-17-4, ISBN 0-7103-0361-0)
• Ash-Shifa by Qadi Iyad (published as Muhammad – Messenger of Allah) translated by Aisha Bewley (Madinah Press, 1992, ISBN 978-1-874216-00-1)
• The Letters of Shaykh Moulay Muhammad al-Arabi al-Darqawi (published as The Darqawi Way) translated by Aisha Bewley (Diwan Press Norwich, UK, 1980, ISBN 0-906512-06-9).
• The Foundations of Islam^[24] by Qadi 'Iyad. (ISBN 979-95486-3-2)
• The Seals Of Wisdom^[25] by Muhyiddin ibn al-Arabi translated by Aisha Bewley (Madinah Press, Cape Town 2005, ISBN 978-0-9651209-3-7)
• Sufis and Sufism: A Defence^[26] by 'Abdu'l-Hayy al-'Amrawi and Abdu'l-Karim Murad translated by Aisha Bewley (Madinah Press, Cape Town 2004, ISBN 0-620-31920-8)
• A Madinan View: on the Sunnah, courtesy, wisdom, battles and history by Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani translated by Abdassamad Clarke (Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd, London 1999, ISBN 1-897940-84-X)

Chain of transmission

Gallery

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• 
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• 

  Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib

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  Shaykh Mohamed Al Faytouri

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  Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi

• 

  Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi

Notes

References

• The Collected Works by Ian Dallas, Budgate Press, 2005, ISBN 0-620-34379-6

External links

• Abdalqadir as-Sufi's Official Website

v t e Sufism and Tariqa Ideas Qutb Wali Abdal Fakir Dervish Tazkiah Baqaa Fanaa Haal Keramat Haqiqa Ihsan Irfan Kashf Lataif Manzil Marifa Nafs Noor Sufi cosmology Sufi metaphysics Sufi philosophy Sufi poetry Sufi psychology Sulook Yaqeen Silsila Practices Anasheed Dhikr Haḍra Muraqaba Qawwali Sama Whirling Ziyarat Sufi orders Azeemia Akbarī Alians Ba 'Alawī Bayramī Bektashī Chishtī Galibī Gulshanī Ḥurūfī Idrīsī Jelvetī Jerrahī Khalwatī Kubrāwī Madarī Malāmatī Mawlāwī Mourīdī Naqshbandī Naqshbandi Uwaisī Khalidiyya Nasuhī Ni'matullāhī Nuqtawī Qadirī Qalāndārī Rifa'ī Safāvī Shadhilī Suhrawardī Sunbulī Tijanī Ussakī Uwaisī Zahedī Notable early Sufi saints and mystics Abdul-Qadir Gilanī Abul-Khayr Ahmad Ghazālī Ahmed Yasāvī Al-Ghazālī Al-Hallaj al-Misrī Al-Qāsim al-Qunawī Amīr Kulal Ardabilī Ata Allah Attar Balım Sultan Baha ūd-Dīn Naqshband Bande Nawāz Baqī Billah Bastamī Bhita'ī Bulleh Shah Shah Waliullah Dehlāvī Farīd ūd-Dīn Fozail Gālib Gharīb Nawāz Ghujdawanī Ghulam Farīd Sheik Edebali Gül Baba Hajji Bayram Hajji Bektash Hazrat Mai Safoora Qadiriyya Haddad Hamadānī Hansvī Harabatī Baba Hasan Basri Mahmud Hudayī Hujwirī ibn ʿArabī Jābir ibn Hayyān Jahangasht Jamī Jan-e-Jānāān Jazoulī Junayd Baġdādī Kākī Kaliyarī Karkhī Kharaqanī Kubrā Nāimī Najib al-Suhrawardī Nasīmī Mansur Al-Hallaj Ni'matullāh Nizām ūd-Dīn Nurī Otman Baba Pir Sultan Qutb ūd-Dīn Haydār Rabbānī Rabia Basri Razī Rifa'ī Rukn-e-Alam Rūmī Ibrahim ibn Adham Saadī Salman al-Farisī Sanai Mevlana Halid-i Bagdadi Sarı Saltuk Semnanī Shadhilī Shahāb al-Dīn Suhrawardī Shams Tabrizī Shiblī Shirazī Sultan Walad Surkh Bukhari Taj al-Dīn Gilanī Umar al-Suhrawardī Uwais al-Qarni Yunus Emre Magtymguly Pyragy Zakariya Zarruq Notable modern Sufi saints Auliya Azeemi Nagpuri Meher Ali Sheikh Muhammad Uthman Sirajuddin Qadeer Piya Muhammad Maliki Gohar Shahi Tahir ul-Qadri Tahir Allauddin Taqi Usmani Abdal Hakim Murad Nazim Al-Haqqani Hisham Kabbani Nuh Keller Nooruddeen Durkee Abdalqadir as-Sufi Zaheen Ghulam Mustafa Reshad Feild Ahmad al-Alawi Ashraf Ali Thanvi Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri Omar Shah Haeri Raza Khan Syed Shujaat Pir Zulfiqar Abdullah Naqshbandi Sufi Barkat Ali Hafiz Qamaruddin Saheb Qibla Fultali Feisal Abdul Rauf Osman Nuri Topbaş Sufi studies Aguéli Almqvist Burckhardt Chittick Corbin Ernst Frager Guénon Hixon Lindbom Lings Nasr Schimmel Sells Shah Schuon Topics in Sufism Art Fiction History Music Poetry Shrines Texts Portal