Imam al-Haddad’s Beneficial Counsels

About the author

Abdallah ibn Alawi al-Haddad: A scholar, Sufi master, and poet of the Hadramawt valley in Yemen, al-Haddad (1044–1132 AH / 1634–1720 CE) was born and lived his whole life in the town of Tarim, where his tomb is still visited. He descended from the Prophet through the Ba ʿAlawi sayyids of Hadramawt, followed the Shafiʿi school in law and the Ashʿari creed, and is widely regarded as the renewer (mujaddid) of the twelfth Islamic century. Though he lost his sight in childhood, he became one of the most influential teachers of the Ba ʿAlawi tradition, drawing on al-Ghazali and the earlier masters of Tarim. He wrote with a clarity that made deep matters accessible, and several of his books are still read daily. Landmark works include al-Nasaʾih al-Diniyya wa al-Wasaya al-Imaniyya (Counsels of Religion), al-Daʿwa al-Tamma wa al-Tadhkira al-ʿAmma (The Complete Summons and General Reminder), Risalat al-Muʿawana (The Book of Assistance), al-Fusul al-ʿIlmiyya, and a Diwan of mystical poetry, alongside his collected letters. His litanies, especially the Ratib al-Haddad and the Wird al-Latif, are recited across the Muslim world. His legacy endures in the living spiritual tradition of Tarim and in English translations that have carried his counsel to new readers.