how knowledge of Islam is preserved

February 24, 2020

Guardians of Sacred Knowledge & Spiritual Growth

The core of this article centres on Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali’s discussion about the hadith that describes the three kinds of heart in respect to knowledge and guidance. Ibn Rajab also gives us a window into how revealed knowledge has been safeguarded for us – both its content and its meanings – throughout the ages, by Continue reading

knowledge & learning, orthodoxy & ahl al-sunnah, sufism, suluk & spirituality

authentic knowledge of Islam, how islamic knowledge is preserved and authentically transmitted, how knowledge of Islam is preserved, Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali explaining authentic Islam, Islamic orthodoxy is in following the trustworthy ones, status of the Companions in Islam, three types of heart in terms of knowledge and guidance

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.

how knowledge of Islam is preserved

Guardians of Sacred Knowledge & Spiritual Growth