Shaykh Nazim Adil al Haqqani al-Qubrusi (born Mehmet Nâzım Adil, April 23, 1922 -), master and spiritual guide of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order, was born in the town of Larnaca on the island of Cyprus, hence the title “Qubrusi” or “Cypriot.” His father's family traces its roots to the famous 11th century Sufi Abdul Qadir Jilani while his mothers lineage goes back to 13th century Anatolian mystic Jalaluddin Rumi. In both his maternal and paternal grandfathers were shaykhs in the Qadiri and Mevlevi orders respectively, and one ancestor was Mahmud Baba, the murshid of a Bektashi tekke on Cyprus. Ultimately he can trace his forefathers back to the Prophet and thus can be called a Sayyid. As a child, the young Nazim showed a propensity towards spirituality. His father sent him to school to study secular knowledge during the day, and in the evening he studied Islam at the local maktab, where he learned the basics of Shari'ah, Jurisprudence (Fiqh), Hadith, and Tafsir.

After completing high school in Cyprus at the age of 18, Nazim relocated to Istanbul in 1940, where two brothers and a sister were living. He studied chemical engineering at Istanbul University. While advancing in his secular studies, Nazim continued his education in Islamic theology and the Arabic language under the tutelage of Shaykh Cemalettin Elassonli (d. 1955 CE). Nazim received a degree in chemical engineering and he excelled among his colleagues, yet he stated, "I feel no attraction to modern science. My heart is always drawn to the spiritual sciences." Shaykh Nazim later came to master not only his native tongue Turkish, but Arabic, English, German and Greek as well.

At some point in his first year of life in Istanbul, Nazim met his first spiritual guide, Shaykh Suleyman Erzurumi (d. 1948), who was a murshid in the Naqshbandi Order. Nazim would attend the gatherings of this particular shaykh that were held in the Sultan Ahmet Mosque to learn the spiritual methods of the Naqshbandi Order, in addition to those of the Qadiri and the Mevlevi. His focus on spirituallity was further reinforced by the unexpected death of an elder brothers. Shortly after attaining his degree Nazim received inspiration to go to Damascus in order to find the famed Naqshbandi master, Shaykh Abdullah Fa'izi ad-Daghestani (1891-September 30th, 1973). He obtained permission from Shaykh Erzurumi to leave Istanbul and in 1944 he arrived in Syria, although the unrest caused by the Vichy French government prevented his entry into Damascus until 1945. Upon meeting with the master, whose tekke is located on the slopes of the Jabal Qasioun, Nazim took his hand in bayat, or initiation. The young Nazim’s mystical faculties were self evident and he advanced along the Sufi path with great speed.

Shortly thereafter Shaykh Abdullah Daghestani ordered Nazim to return to his native Cyprus to deliver spiritual guidance. Shaykh Abdullah also conferred the title of shaykh to Nazim thus giving him the legitimacy to speak on behalf of the Naqshbandi Order.

While in Cyprus Shaykh Nazim came into conflict with pro-Atatürk governing body of the Turkish community of the island. His repeated act of making the adhan in Arabic rather than the prescribed Turkish brought several lawsuits against him and there were some 114 cases lodged against him for crimes against the secular order. Nevertheless all these were dropped shortly thereafter with the coming to power of Adnan Menderes in Turkey, whose government opted for a more tolerant approach to Islamic traditions.

Shaykh Nazim moved back to Damascus in 1952, when he was wed to the daughter of one of the murids of Shaykh Abdullah Daghestani, Amina Adil (1929-2004), whose family came to settle in Syria after fleeing Soviet rule of their native Kazan. From that time Shaykh Nazim took up residence in Damascus, and every year he would visit Cyprus for at least three months. The couple has two daughters and two sons. Shaykh Nazim with his wife, the Late Hajjah Amina in the 1990s. Shaykh Nazim is wearing a sikke, the headgear of the Mevlevi Order of Sufis Enlarge Shaykh Nazim with his wife, the Late Hajjah Amina in the 1990s. Shaykh Nazim is wearing a sikke, the headgear of the Mevlevi Order of Sufis

In the year following the death of his murshid in 1973, Shaykh Nazim began visiting Western Europe, traveling every year from the Middle East to London by plane and returning overland, by car through Yugoslavia, where he often spent time visiting the Muslim communities there. It became his practice to spend the month of Ramadan in the large center established in London. In 2000 this practice was discontinued due to his advanced age.

In 1997 Shaykh Nazim visited Daghestan, the homeland of his murshid, Shaykh Abdullah Daghestani. He also made repeated visits to Uzbekistan were he made the pilgrimage to the tomb of the eponymous founder of the Naqshbandi Order, Shah Baha'uddin Naqshband (d.1388CE)

In 1991 Shaykh Nazim visited the United States for the first time and made a nationwide tour, bringing several hundreds of individuals into the fold of Islam and later, he sent three of his khalifahs, , Shaykh Sayyid Abdul Kerim Hakkani , Shaykh Sayyid Hisham Kabbani, and Shaykh Sayyid Ahmed Amiruddin Jilani to oversee the order’s activities in America. Shaykh Nazim made his last trip to the United States in 2000, during which he was invited to speak at the United Nations.

Shaykh Nazim has had close relations with several notable politicians, notably the late president of Turkey, Turgut Ozal as well as the president of Turkish Cyprus, Rauf Denktash. During his travels in Southeast Asia (which began in 1986) he gave his spiritual blessings to His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, His Highness Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X of Yogyakarta and several members of Malaysia’s royal familes (including His Highness Prince Raja Dato Sri Ashman bin Azlan Shah) have taken initiation into the Naqshbandi-Haqqani Order at his hand. He also traveled on numerous occasions to India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka where he has been received with great fanfare. In the late 1990s he visited South Africa where he established contacts with the Sunni Muslim community. Shaykh Nazim has made the pilgrimage to Makkah (Hajj) some 27 times.

Due to his advanced age, Shaykh Nazim rarely travels abroad nowadays. He currently resides in his famly home in the town of Lefke, Northern Cyprus.