Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi, family name Ian Dallas, is a Shaykh of Tarbiyah (Instruction), leader of the Darqawi-Shadhili-Qadiri Tariqa, founder of the Murabitun Worldwide Movement and author of numerous books on Islam, Tasawwuf and political theory. Born in 
Scotland in 1930, he was a playwright and actor before he accepted Islam in 1963 with the Imam of the Qayrawiyyin mosque in Fes, 
Morocco.
Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi has been actively 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', `Ian Dallas Collected Works' and `The Time of the Bedouin – on the politics of power' (as Ian Dallas). His commentary on current events and issues affecting Muslims in different parts of the world can be found on his website, www.shaykhabdalqadir.com [1]. He currently resides in Cape Town, 
South Africa where he holds regular gatherings of Dhikr and instruction in the Islamic sciences.
Early Life
In 1930 Ian Dallas was born in Scotland of a Highland family whose history dates back to 1279. Educated at Scotland’s oldest school, Ayr Academy (founded 1233, Royal Charter 1798), he went on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and London University, 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 ever 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]
Entering Islam
In 1963 in Fes, Morocco, he entered Islam as Abdalqadir, witnessed by Shaykh Abdalkarim Daudi, the Imam Khatib of the Qarawiyyin Mosque, and Alal al-Fasi. He then entered the Darqawi-Tariqa as a student of Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib [2], 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.[2]
Tariqa
His Idhn (authorization) for the Darqawi Tariqa comes through two Shaykhs: Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib of Morocco, who was his first Shaykh and who made him his Muqaddem (representative), and Shaykh Muhammad al-Fayturi Hamudah. After returning to Europe from Morocco, he was ordered to Benghazi, 
Libya by Shaykh al-Fayturi, who was a direct inheritor from Shaykh Mustafa al-Alawi. There he was put into Khalwa (retreat). Some time after this, Shaykh Dr. 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 Imam Malik’s ‘al-Muwatta’, Qadi Iyad's 'ash-Shifa', as well as the Diwans[3] of his two Shaykhs and Ibn Ajiba's ‘Basic Research’.
Teaching
Shaykh Abdalqadir as-Sufi advocates adherence to the original legal school of Islam, the Amal of Ahl-ul-Madinah [3] as recorded by Malik ibn Anas, since, as discussed at length in his seminal work ‘Root Islamic Education’[[4]], 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 ‘Aqida of al-Ash'ari and the Tasawwuf of Imam Junayd al-Baghdadi.
Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi has been responsible for the establishment of two mosques, the Great Mosque of Granada [5] and the Jumu‘a Mosque of Cape Town.
His students are encouraged to recite the Wird [4] [6] of Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib and the instructional Qasidas from the Diwans of Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib and Shaykh Muhammad al-Fayturi.
Murabitun World Movement
In the early 1980s Shaykh Abdalqadir as-Sufi founded the Murabitun Worldwide Movement, whose aim is to work towards re-establishment Islam in its totality. Primary emphasis is placed upon the the pillar of Zakat (Islam’s obligatory tax on standing wealth) which, as Shaykh Abdalqadir argues, has been abolished, since 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 the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessing be upon him) and recorded by Umar Ibn al-Khatab, the second Khalif 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 and established practice, taken by the leader, not given as a voluntary sadaqa. [5]
His work 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 [6]
Dallas College
Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi founded Dallas College in Cape Town in 2004 as a centre for the education of Muslim leaders.[7]
Authorship
The books he has written over the past 30 years include:
- The Book of Strangers, SUNY Press 1972
- The Way of Muhammad,[7] an existential exposition of the pillars of Islam from the perspective of Sufism (Diwan Press, 1975, ASIN: B0000D74TC)
- 'Indications From Signs
- The Hundred Steps, a classic work on key steps in the path of Sufism (Portobello Press, ISBN)
- Qur'anic Tawhid
- Letter to An African Muslim
- Kufr - An Islamic Critique
- Root Islamic Education,[8] written on the school of the people of Madinah under the leadership of Imam Malik (Madina Press, June 1993, ISBN)
- 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 1874216215)
- The Technique of the Coup de Banque (available in PDF here [9]) on the modern age since its inception in the French Revolution.
- Sultaniyya (available in PDf here:[10]) is a modern statement on leadership in Islam. Shaykh Abdalqadir surveys Islam under the chapter headings Deen, Dawla (polity), Waqf, Trade, the Sultan — personal rule — and Tasawwuf.
Students
Some of Shaykh Abdalqadir's as-Sufi students both past and present and notable people influenced by him include:
- Abdalhaqq Bewley
- Aisha Bewley [11]
- Umar Ibrahim Vadillo
- Dr. Yasin Dutton
- Dr. Asadallah Yate
- Abdalhasib Castiñeira
- Shaykh Ali Laraki
- Hamza Yusuf Hanson [12]
- Shaykh Muhammad Qasbi, Imam of the Great Mosque of Granada
- Mawlana Muhammad Wazani
- Abdassamad Clarke
- Ahmed Thomson
- Anas Coburn
- Abdelghani Melara
- Abdullah Luongo
- Abdus Samad Nana
- Fazlin Khalid [13]
- Dr Abdalbasir Ojembarrena
- Dr Ali Azzali
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 [14] translated by Aisha Bewley and Ya'qub Johnson (Bookwork, Norwich, UK, 2001, ISBN 0906512174, ISBN 0710303610)
- Ash-Shifa by Qadi Iyad (published as ‘Muhammad – Messenger of Allah’ by Madinah Press, 1992, ISBN 1 874 216 262)
- The Letters of Shaykh Moulay Muhammad al-Arabi al-Darqawi (published as ‘The Darqawi Way’ by Diwan Press Norwich, UK, 1980, ISBN 0906512069).
- The Foundations of Islam (available here as a PDF [8]) by Qadi 'Iyad. ISBN 979-95486-3-2
Chain of Transmission
Isnad (Chain of Transmission)
Gallery
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File:Saq5.jpg
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Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib
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Shaykh Mohamed Al Faytouri
Shaykh Mohamed Al Faytouri
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Shaykh Ahmed Ibn Mustafa al-Alawi
- 'The Collected Works' by Ian Dallas, Budgate Press, 2005, ISBN 0-620-34379-6
- The Website of Shaykh Abdalqadir as-Sufi (http://www.abdalqadir.com)
