The order is one of the most widespread of the Sufi orders in the Islamic world and can be found in India, Pakistan, Turkey and the Balkans and much of East and West Africa. Some famous Qadiri Sheikhs include Sheikh Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza'iri who led the Algerian resistance to French colonialism and Sheikh Usman dan Fodio whose followers Islamized much of West Africa and established the Caliphate of Sokoto in Northern Nigeria. The Chechen people are also mostly followers of the Qadiri Sufi order as was the famous traveller and writer Isabelle Eberhardt.
The Qadiriyyah has not developed any distinctive doctrines or teachings outside of mainstream Islam. They believe in the fundamental principles of Islam, but interpreted through mystical experience. As a result, even opponents to Sufism such as the Hanbali Sheikhs Ibn Taymiya, his student Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn Rajb al-Hanbali were all followers of the Qadiri Sufi order and spoke highly of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani.