Abu Dhalouf (Arabic: أبو ظلوف, romanized: Abū Ḑalūf) is a town on the north coast of Qatar, in the municipality of Al Shamal. It was demarcated in 1988 and is bounded by Madinat ash Shamal to the immediate east, with Ar-Ruʼays to the immediate east of Madinat ash Shamal.

In Arabic, abu means "father" and, in this context, is used to describe an area with a distinct feature. "Dhalouf" is derived from the Arabic term dhalfa, which refers to the curved ends of saddles used for camel riding. The area was said to be named thus because of a prominent hill that resembled the end of a saddle.

Alternative transliterations of the name are Abu Dhaluf, Abū Ḑalūf, Abu Dhuluf, and Abū Z̧ulūf.

According to oral traditions, Abu Dhalouf was settled by the Al Mannai tribe after they left the nearby settlement of Yusufiyah, where they had earlier constructed a fortress known as Qal'at Al Yusufiyah. That fort, built in 1738, was located west of Ar Ru'ays and featured four towers, three round and one rectangular, according to archaeological traces. It was used for protection against both land and sea raids.

Upon relocating to Abu Dhalouf, the Al Mannai constructed a new defensive fort, commonly referred to as Qal'at Abu Dhalouf or Qal'at Al Mannai. The fort was positioned on the southwestern edge of the village and had four prominent towers, one on each corner. According to oral testimony, the fort included a large central chamber used as a shelter for the women of the Al Mannai during times of attack, while the men took defensive positions in the towers. The fort had two gates, one facing north and the other south. By the mid-20th century, the fort had begun to fall into disrepair. Archaeological remnants of the northern gate reportedly survived into the 1970s.

In the 1820s, George Barnes Brucks was tasked with preparing the first British survey of the Persian Gulf. He wrote down the following notes about Abu Dhalouf, which he referred to as Boodeshoof:

"Boodeshoof, in lat. 26° 7' 50' N., long. 51° 16' E., is on the point nearly opposite Ras Reccan, and is subject to Bahrein, having about fifty men of the Abookara Tribe, mostly fishermen."

Captain Francis Prideaux, who was the British political resident in Bahrain, remarked in 1906 that, although Al Bidda was firmly under Al Thani-rule, the tribes of northern settlements, including Abu Dhalouf, did not pay tribute to the sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, nor did they consider themselves subjects of his. After investigating an act of piracy that took place off Abu Dhalouf, Prideaux learned the tribespeople of the village pledged their allegiance to the sheikh of Bahrain instead, as stated 80 years earlier by Brucks.