prophetology

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?
March 19, 2018

Deepening Our Love for Allah’s Beloved ﷺ

Filmed in the warm and friendly setting of Chapters Coffee Corner, Goodmayes; London, this short talk discusses how a believer may nurture and deepen his or her love for the Prophet ﷺ. The video can be viewed here. Continue reading

prophetology, sufism, suluk & spirituality

deepening our connection to the Prophet ﷺ, growing in love of Allah and His Prophet, love of the Prophet Muhammad
June 1, 2016

The Prophet ﷺ & Salafi Love

No doubt, there can be a fine line between veneration and idolisation; reverence and idolatry. The Qur’an is at pains to stress the mortalness of the Prophet ﷺ and that he possesses no aspect of divinity: Say: ‘I say not to you I possess the treasures of Allah, nor that I know the Unseen; and I say not Continue reading

prophetology, sufism, suluk & spirituality

Imam Malik venerating the Prophet, love and reverence of the Prophet, Qadi ‘Iyad and prophetic veneration, revering the Prophet
August 3, 2015

The Sunnah’s Inner Beauty

The Qur’an says: To Allah belong the most beautiful names. [7:180] In a sahih hadith we read: ‘Allah is beautiful and loves beauty.’1 Now these aren’t statements about feelings, impressions or sentimentality, they’re statements about the very nature of the Divine Reality! Imam al-Munawi comments upon Allah’s beauty (jamal): ‘He is the possessor of absolute and perfect Beauty. From this Beauty, Continue reading

prophetology, theology

al-Munawi explaining divine beauty, Al-Sa’di explaining concept of beauty in Islam, Allah is beautiful and loves beauty, beauty in Islam, common mistakes when following the Sunnah, don’t ignore the Sunnah’s inner beauty, Gai Eaton on the framework of beauty, God’s essence; attributes; and acts are all beautiful, How is God beautiful?, inner and outer beauty, inward beautification is the essence of faith, religion is the recognition of Beauty, The beauty of God, the Sunnah and beauty, the Sunnah is shield against ugliness, the Sunnah leads to beauty
January 23, 2014

Celebrating the Prophet ﷺ

There have been times throughout history whereby the heavens have opened and the celestial light cleansed certain human souls who, as a result, were divinely invested with prophethood (nubuwwah) – the highest condition possible for any human being. For a prophet is a bridge, as it were, between heaven and earth; Creator and creation, helping us to recall our Continue reading

prophetology, short read

celebrating the Prophet’s birthday, fasting on monday, honouring the Prophet, milad al-nabi, prophethood, the mawlid, the Prophet is Allah’s greatest gift
December 25, 2013

Were it Not for You, I Would Not Have Created Creation

In his catalogue of hadith forgeries, Mulla ‘Ali al-Qari cites a spurious report alleging that Allah informed His beloved Prophet, peace be upon him: ‘Were it not for you, I would not have created the universe (law laka lama khalaqtu’l-aflaka).’1 But having cited the hadith, al-Qari says that although the hadith is forged (mawdu‘), ‘its Continue reading

prophetology, theology

creation created because of Muhammad, Ibn al-Jawzi on purpose of creation, Ibn Rajab on the Prophet’s rank and status, Ibn Taymiyyah on the Prophet’s rank, law laka hadith, Prophet is purpose behind creation
October 24, 2013

The Prophet’s Character ﷺ

This is a short piece translated from Ibn Qudamah’s Mukhtasar Minhaj al-Qasidin. It distills a picture the Quran and hadiths build up of the Prophet’s virtues and character, peace be upon him: integrity, honesty, steadfastness, courage, kindness, compassion, courtesy, and other qualities too numerous to list. To say the Prophet’s is a life well documented Continue reading

ethics & morals, prophetology

character traits of the Prophet Muhammad, Ibn Qudamah, love for the Prophet, loving Allah’s Beloved, Prophet’s description, shama’il, venerating the Prophet
April 28, 2013

Seven Rights of the Prophet ﷺ

To travel through any Muslim land is to see tall, graceful towers – minarets – studded across the landscape from which, five times a day, the muezzin punctuates communal life by calling believers to prayer (salat). This stark, yet simple call serves to remind the community that in their day to day life – with its Continue reading

prophetology

meaning of salat on the Prophet, Muhammad the final prophet, Prophet Muhammad in the eyes of the Muslims, rights of the Prophet, seal of the prophets, the final prophet, The seven rights of the Prophet Muhammad, veneration of the Prophet
January 18, 2013

The Prophet ﷺ and His Lovers

Believing men and women down the centuries have not just affirmed the Prophet Muhammad’s prophethood and teachings, they experienced him as an intimate and intensely beloved presence in their lives too. ‘None of you truly has faith,’ said the Prophet, peace be upon him, ‘until I become more beloved to him than his father, son and Continue reading

prophetology, salafism reconsidered

al-Dhahabi on veneration of the Prophet, exaggeration about the Prophet, limits of love and veneration, loving the Prophet, obligation to revere the Prophet, venerating the Prophet
December 11, 2012

Yearning for the Prophet ﷺ

The Prophet said, peace be upon him: ‘Among those of my nation (ummah) that most fervently love me will be a people who shall come after me, and who would give up their family and property in exchange for being able to see me.’1 The lady ‘A’ishah related: A man came to the Prophet, peace be upon Continue reading

prophetology, salafism reconsidered

Al-Dhahabi, date-palm tree, Hasan al-Basri, Imam Ahmad, love of the Prophet, relics of the Prophet, the Prophet’s hair

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.