Abu Madyan Shuʿayb ibn al-Husayn al-Ansari al-Andalusi (Arabic: ابو مدين شعيب بن الحسين الأنصاري الأندلسي; c. 1126 – 1198 CE), commonly known as Abū Madyan, was an influential Andalusian mystic and a great Sufi master.

Devoted to the fervent service of God, he helped introduce looking into oneself and harmonizing internal occurrences with the external observances through asceticism.

During his time in the Orient, he became familiar with the works of Al-Ghazali, one of the most prominent theologians, philosophers, and mystics of Sunni Islam regarded as one of the renewers of the religion.

[4] Abu Madyan went to Mecca where he met the great Muslim saint, Jilani, and completed his spiritual training under him.

The sheer amount of fame and influence that Abu Madyan evoked raised serious concern from the political powers of the time.

Upon his summoning to Marrakech, Abu Madyan was taken ill and died before he reached his destination in 594/1198, near the river of Ysser (يسر).

Many monuments, a good number of them still well preserved, were built in his honor next to his tomb by the Marinid kings, who controlled Tlemcen in the 14th century.

Along with sharing his knowledge and ideas with his disciples, Abu Madyan wrote many poems and spoke in proverbs in order to connect with the masses and not just the intellectuals.

There are very few surviving writings from Abu Madyan, and of those that do still exist, there are mystical poems, a testament (wasiyya) and a creed (akida).

He encouraged the free expression of emotions rather than rigidity, but also made known his support of asceticism complete devotion to God and a minimalist lifestyle.