[4] Abd al-Qadir[5] was a grandson of Abu l-Mahasin Yusuf al-Fasi (d. 1604), the founder of the first Zawiya al-Fassiya in Fes.
[6] He was born in Ksar el-Kebir, and moved to Fes to study under Abd al-Rahman al-'Arif al-Fassi (his grand-uncle, not to be confused with his son).
[7] After the latter died, he took over the second branch of the Zawiya al-Fassiya located in the Qalqliyin neighbourhood while becoming a disciple of Muhammad al-Ma'an.
Abdelkader's learning and influence grew, however, and he came to be regarded as a reformer and reviver of Sufism in Fes during a troubled period for the city in the early reign of Moulay Ismail (ruled 1672–1727).
[citation needed] His teachings included a critical perspective on the political elites of his time (who nonetheless admired him) and an emphasis on intellectual or scholarly Sufism which was inherited by the generations of Sufis in Fes after him.