Scottish-born author Ian Dallas trained at RADA in London and attended the University of London. He became a contracted playwright for the BBC and worked in film with Federico Fellini. He later entered Islam, writing the seminal novel 'The Book of Strangers' based on his experience.His writings cover diverse subjects such as classical music and its politics ('The New Wagnerian'), twentieth century history ('The Ten Symphonies of Gorka König'), chivalry in Tudor England ('The Interim is Mine'), Roman politics ('The Engines of the Broken World'), and the inception of modern democracy in the French Revolution ('The Time of the Bedouin').Under his Muslim name, Shaykh Abdalqadir as-Sufi, he publishes works on Islam, and is the intellectual and spiritual mentor to a large and influential community of Muslims in various parts of the world.