[1][2] Abdullahi in the early 20th century had business ties with the Zeila, Aden, and various other trading routes south of the red sea, where he built his wealth.

[3] He was an orphan whose Treasury inheritance Rites have been restored from the Barkhlay guardian and gained the confidence by the Abyssinian Emperor Menelik II and was sent as an envoy to leader of the Dervish state, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan.

Dervish State at the time had revolted on the British and this concerned UK about the role Abdullahi was playing.

[7] Abdullahi was also accused of being an international pan Islamic conspirator against the British empire, evidenced by his attempts to reach out to the Emir of Afghanistan.

According to professor Haggai Erlich Abdullahi was one of the key figures fostering ties with the Ottoman empire to bring Ethiopia into World War I on the side of the Central Powers.