Concept
Abdul-Rahman al-Tha'alibi (Abū Zayd ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Makhlūf ath-Tha‘ālibī) (1384 CE/785 AH – 1479 CE/875 AH), was an Arab Scholar, Imam and Sufi wali. He was born near the town of Isser 86 km south east of Algiers. He was raised in a very spiritual environment with high Islamic values and ethics. He had great interpersonal skills and devoted his entire life in service of the most deprived, to dhikr of Allah, and to writing of over 100 books and treatises. He has become a symbol of Algiers, which has become known as the "city of sidi Abder Rahman." Abdul-Rahman al-Tha'alibi was born in the year 1384 CE/785 AH in Isser in modern-day Boumerdès Province into a pious family with a lineage going back to Ja'far ibn Abi Talib. His Arab Maqillian Bedouin tribe, the Tha'aliba, had long dominated several regions of Algeria from 1204 CE to 1515 CE. In 1378 CE, their nomadic dominance had been brooken up by Abu Hammu II, the Sultan of the Kingdom of Tlemcen. His full lineage is Abu Zaid Abdul Rahman bin Muhammad bin Makhlouf bin Talha bin Amer bin Noufal bin Amer bin Mussour bin Muhammad bin Saba'a bin Makki bin Thalabah bin Musa bin Saeed bin Mufaddal bin Abdul Bar bin Fisi bin Hilal bin Amer bin Hassan bin Muhammad bin Ja'far ibn Abi Talib. When 15 years old, Abdul-Rahman, with his father Mohamed Ben Makhlouf, went to Morocco for studies where he met the Muslim scholar Mohamed Ibn Marzoug Al Adrissi. In 1392, he made another trip to Bejaia (200 km east of Algiers) seeking knowledge where his father died. He stayed in Bejaia for 7 years studying Islamic sciences. There he learned from disciples of Abdurrahman El-Waghlissi (d. 1383 CE), such as Abû al-Husayn al-Mangalâtî. Then 24 years old, he travelled to Tunis in 1406 where he stayed for eight years. He met the sheikhs Mohammed Ibn Khalf al-Ubay and Abû al-Mahdi al-Ghabrînî (d. 1413 CE) who introduced him to Sufism and tafsir. He then traveled to Cairo in 1414 where he stayed with Walî Eddîn al-'Irâqî (d. 1422 CE).