Mawlana Shaykh ‘Abdu Llāh al-Fa’iz ad-Dāghestānī was the 39th Leader and Shaykh of the Golden Chain of the Most Distinguished Naqshbandī Ṭarīqah. Mawlana Shaykh ‘Abdu Llāh ad-Dāghestānī was born in the North Caucasian region of Dagestan, then part of the Russian Empire. Both his father and elder brother were medical doctors, the latter being a surgeon in the Imperial Russian Army. Shaykh ‘Abdu Llāh was raised and trained by his maternal uncle and Shaykh, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddīn ad-Dāghestānī (1875–1936).
In the late 1890s, Mawlana Shaykh ‘Abdu Llāh’s family emigrated to the Ottoman Empire, following his uncle, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddīn who had emigrated in the 1870s. They settled in the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa and after a year moved to the village of Reşadiye, now known as Güneyköy, in Yalova Province, Turkey. The new village was established on land granted by the sultan and was populated by Daghestani refugees affected by the War of ‘93 and the uprising against the Russian Empire. Shortly thereafter, Shaykh ‘Abdu Llāh’s father died.
In 1910, after merely six months of marriage, Shaykh Sharafuddīn ordered Shaykh ‘Abdu Llāh into a Sufi seclusion (Khalwah) for five years. This practice included severe austerities that were intended to raise his spiritual rank. When Shaykh ‘Abdu Llāh’s seclusion ended, the Ottoman Empire was embroiled in the First World War. Along with many young men of his village, Shaykh ‘Abdu Llāh entered military service and took part in the Battle of Gallipoli. During a firefight he was severely wounded by enemy fire.
In 1921, Shaykh ‘Abdu Llāh was instructed by Shaykh Sharafuddīn to enter another five years seclusion. He completed this and was then granted ijazah to be a Shaykh in the Naqshbandi order. Shaykh ‘Abdu Llāh and his family moved to Syria where he would remain for the rest of his life. He resided for a time in Aleppo, moved to Homs and then finally to Damascus near the tomb of saint Sa’d ad-Din Jibawi. There, he established the first Dergah. In 1943, he moved to a house on Jabal Qasioun (mountain). Shaykh ‘Abdu Llāh passed away on September 30, 1973, in Damascus. This house in Jabal Qasioun is now the site of his Maqam and its adjoining mosque.
Before his passing, Mawlana Shaykh ‘Abdu Llāh appointed Mawlana Shaykh Nāẓim al-Ḥaqqānī as his successor and 40th Leader and Shaykh of the Golden Chain of the Most Distinguished Naqshbandī Ṭarīqah. His student and successor, Shaykh Nāẓim, continued to carry on and spread Shaykh ‘Abdu Llāh’s teachings around the world.
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