The Humble I

Knowing, Doing, Becoming

politics & society

October 29, 2012

To Progress or Drift Dangerously Downstream?

Progress signifies a movement forward. But it tells us nothing about the actual nature of the movement. Is it downstream or upstream? Is it hurtling to danger or marching to safety? Is it a descent or an ascent? Is it a fall from Grace or a lifting of the Spirit? The fact that something marches forward progressively doesn’t… Continue reading

contemporary concerns, modernity & muslimness, politics & society

Gai Eaton, Islam and progress, liberal Islam, liberalism, must Islam modernise?, reforming Islam
October 4, 2012

Islam’s Social Vision: Braving the Steep Road

Islam’s vision of society, as has been so admirably stated by Tim Winter (a.k.a. Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad), ‘is rooted in immediate and sincere concern for human welfare under a compassionate God.’ One of the prophetic statements which best encapsulates this outlook is found in the following hadith: ‘O people! Spread [the greetings of] peace,… Continue reading

activism, contemporary concerns, ethics & morals, politics & society

being peace-makers, charity, conflict resolution, family as society’s backbone, Islam’s social teachings, keep ties of kin, nurturing piety
September 27, 2012

Golden Rule for Muslim Activists

This is a companion-piece to the post, Basic Rules for Religious Activism which may be read here. In Islam, change isn’t sought for itself, but rather to improve an existing situation. If change does not lead to a greater good, or if it brings about a greater harm, then to bring about such change would… Continue reading

activism, fiqh & usul al-fiqh, politics & society

activism, commanding good, forbidding evil, Islamism, quietism
September 25, 2012

Basic Rules for Religious Activism

Truth be told, I have never liked the term “activism” as applied to Islam or Muslims, not least because it is unclear and nebulous and cobbles together many disparate thoughts, activities and people under a single umbrella. Nevertheless, since the term “activism” tends to refer to the efforts to promote or to direct social, political,… Continue reading

activism, contemporary concerns, politics & society

enjoining good and forbidding evil, government scholars, political activism, religious activism, rules for enjoining good, scholars of the state, seeking social change, the types of ulema, true scholars
September 17, 2012

Insulting Islam: What Should Our Response Be?

The latest provocation against Islam takes the form of a crude film personifying and vilifying the Prophet, peace be upon him. A trailer of this otherwise unknown movie was posted on YouTube in July, attracting very little attention until last week when a version dubbed into Arabic was posted on the same YouTube channel, after… Continue reading

activism, contemporary concerns, politics & society

insulting the Prophet, Islamic response to insults, law of consequences, mocking Islam
September 11, 2012

Egos, Earrings & Atomic Bombs: What of Hiroshima?

While many will be commemorating the 11th anniversary of September 11, 2001, let us also recall a tragedy of far greater magnitude: August 6th, 1945. Around 10:30am on August 6th, 1945, without any warning or precedent, an American plane dropped a single atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The blast annihilated more than four… Continue reading

activism, politics & society

Arundhati Ror, glorifying nuclear terror, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, nuclear war, nuclear warfare
August 31, 2012

With the Inbreak of Truth, Comes the Outbreak of Violence

Ibn Mas‘ud – an early convert to Islam, who went on to become one of the most learned scholars from the Prophet’s Companions – said of the Prophet ﷺ when the latter sustained an injury during the battle of Uhud: ‘I can see myself looking at the Prophet ﷺ as he said about one of the prophets of old… Continue reading

politics & society

Abrahamic monotheism, attacks on mosques, extremism, islamophobia, Marwa El-Sherbini, nurturing patience, opposing the face veil, the Far Right

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.