humility in battle

February 20, 2014

Uhud & Hunayn: Lessons from the Frontline

In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien puts these words into the mouth of the brave though modest Faramir (younger brother to the brave but impulsive Boromir): ‘War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the Continue reading

activism, fiqh & usul al-fiqh, politics & society, sirah & sacred history, theology

Arab spring, battle of Uhud, conspiracy theories, disobedience is a cause for defeat, gaining God’s help, humbleness before God, humility in battle, Ibn al-Qayyim, jihad, Prophet’s attitude to war, sins remove God’s blessings, warfare in Islam

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.

humility in battle

Uhud & Hunayn: Lessons from the Frontline