heart matters

February 12, 2020

The Soul of Islam is a Vigilant and Mindful Heart

Revelation tells us that muraqabah, vigilance of Allah, is one of the sublimest spiritual stations. We are told too that habituating our heart to such vigilance requires training the heart gradually and step-by-step. Masters of the heart instruct us to accustom ourselves to being mindful and shy of Allah, even if it be for short periods at a time… Continue reading

consider Islam, heart matters, short read, sufism, suluk & spirituality

being mindful of Allah, cultivating a mindful heart, divine vigilance, God is closer to us than our jugular vein, heart of Islam, muraqabah, spiritual vigilance, the soul of Islam is muraqabah, vigilance of God
December 16, 2019

Worldly Detachment & the Path of God’s Love

Crack-consumerism is the collective substance abuse that we as a nation now partake in. The remedy for this greed, avarice, hyper consumption and predatoriness is the forgotten Islamic virtue of zuhd – ‘renunciation’ or ‘worldly detachment.’ Speaking of such detachment, Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal said: ‘Zuhd is of three degrees. Firstly, to shun the forbidden;… Continue reading

heart matters, short read, sufism, suluk & spirituality

guarding against the forbidden is great pillar of spiritual practice, how not to be consumed by consumerism?, Imam Ahmad and Zuhd, practical zuhd in our daily life, Shaykh Jalil Ahmad Akhoon and avoiding the haram, three degrees of zuhd, three levels of worldly detachment
April 30, 2019

A Brief Word On Sufis, Sufism & Spiritual Wayfaring

Far from being foreign to Islam, sufism – the science of spiritual excellence (‘ilm al-ihsan) and purification of the soul (tazkiyat al-nafs) – is a central aspect of the religion. In fact, it is its very core or heart. This is especially true when such sufism reflects the spirit of the early traditionalists or ahl… Continue reading

correctives & clarifications, heart matters, salafism reconsidered, short read, sufism, suluk & spirituality

al-Dhahabi on sufism, balanced approach to tasawwuf, Ibn Taymiyyah on sufis and sufism, orthodox sufism, place of sufism in Islam, reality of sufism
January 11, 2019

Allah Knows Us, Cares for Us and Understands Us

Three core ingredients go into making up the religion of Islam, and they are expressed in three simple words: iman – the ‘faith’ or ‘belief’ one must have in Allah, His Prophets and the Afterlife; islam – outward ‘submission’ to Allah in terms of things like prayer, fasting, avoid the forbidden, and moral uprightness; and… Continue reading

heart matters, mental health & psychology, short read

Allah cares for us, being understood by God, inner need, meaning of repentance, only Allah can fulfil our deepest, our relationship with God, the need to be known
May 8, 2018

Satan’s Deceit, Adam’s Slip & the Tree of Immortality

This read starts with the question: Does it matter how one sins? To answer it, it explores the deeper layers of the story of Adam, Satan and the divine command to not eat from the Tree of Immortality, in order to understand why it is that at the end of the story Adam is bathed… Continue reading

heart matters, prophetology, qur’an, tafsir, tadabbur, short read, sirah & sacred history, sufism, suluk & spirituality

Are God’s prophets infallible?, It’s not just the sin but the way that you sin it, story of Adam and Iblis, story of Adam and Satan, Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah on sins, The Prophet Adam’s love for God, true lovers of God, Why did Adam eat from the Tree of Life?
April 12, 2018

The Male Lust, the Female Form & the Forbidden Gaze

Allah ﷻ informs in the Holy Qur’an: Made beautiful for mankind is the love of desires for women and offspring, of hoarded heaps of gold and silver, of branded horses, cattle and plantations. [3:14] Although such things are elsewhere spoken of positively in the Qur’an, as blessings for which people should be thankful, here they are… Continue reading

contemporary concerns, ethics & morals, heart matters, marriage, family, gender

fitnah of women, gender ethics in Islam, harms ion the lustful gaze, how the heart is enslaved, Ibn al-Qayyim on the forbidden gaze, levels of love and infatuation, spiritual significance of lowering the gaze
January 22, 2018

Best Moisturiser for Dry Hearts

In the 1970s, there was an advert on TV for a popular brand of moisturising cream.1 The advert sought to show how great the cream was by first showing us a dry autumn leaf which, upon being scrunched in the palm of the hand, crumbled into pieces. Next came another dry leaf, this time the… Continue reading

heart matters, sufism, suluk & spirituality

heart dies without God’s remembrance, Ibn Taymiyyah on dhikr, importance of dhikr
February 3, 2016

Teaching & Purification: the Two Prophetic Tasks

The Prophet ﷺ once said: ‘I am the prayer of my father Abraham and the glad tidings [proclaimed by] Jesus to his people, and the vision of my mother who, while pregnant with me, saw a light issue forth from her which lit up the castles of Syria.’1 The good news of Jesus, referred to above, is mentioned in the… Continue reading

heart matters, knowledge & learning, sufism, suluk & spirituality

abdal hakim murad, action is the goal of knowledge, al-munawi, Islamic teaching, knowledge as means, politics subordinate to purification in Islam, purification of the soul, purification through action, tazkiyah in Islam, the two prophetic tasks
July 12, 2015

Should I Stop Making Dhikr If My Heart Isn’t In It?

‘I’m remembering Allah, but my heart’s not in it; what’s the point’ is a typical anguish for many of us? ‘When I make dhikr, my heart doesn’t have focus, it’s all over the place. Is there any use’ is another one? So should we stop making dhikr because out heart lacks focus on Allah; because there isn’t any hudur al-qalb… Continue reading

correctives & clarifications, heart matters, short read, sufism, suluk & spirituality

dhikr of the tongue, dhikru’Llah, hudur al-qalb, Ibn al-Qayyim, Ibn al-Qayyim and the three levels of dhikr, Ibn Ata’illah, presence of heart, remembrance of God
March 24, 2015

7 Rights of the Heart: What Are They?

Writing about the marvels of the human heart (‘aja’ib al-qalb), al-Ghazali states: ‘The honour and excellence of man, by which he outstrips all other creatures, is his ability for knowing God, transcendent is He. It is man’s beauty, perfection and glory in this world, and his provision and store in the world to come. He is… Continue reading

heart matters, sufism, suluk & spirituality

Imam al-Ghazali, importance of the spiritual heart, remembrance of Allah, rights of the heart, seven right of the heart, spiritual diseases, what is a sound heart?

About Me

My name is Surkheel Sharif (aka Abu Aaliyah). Born and raised in London, England, I began my more formal, but gradual studies of the Islamic sciences around the late 1980s (just a few years after having quit my degree in Astrophysics). I also gained an MA in Islamic Studies from Birkbeck College, University of London, in 2009.

I’ve translated a few Islamic works from Arabic into English; one of them, a short text on Muslim spirituality, called The Exquisite Pearl (2000). I have also authored a few books, including: More Fish Please & the Earth’s Complaint (2011); Fussing Over the 15th of Sha’ban & the Golden Rule of Differing (2011); A Muslim’s Guide to Modernity (2025); and Salafism Reconsidered (forthcoming)

I am the founder and current Director of the Jawziyyah Institute (est. 1999): a non-profit organisation dedicated to cultivating an Islam true to its time-honoured tradition, relevant to its current context, and of benefit to wider society.