Ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani

December 6, 2014

The World Gets Topsy-Turvier: Signs of the End Days [2/2]

One of the main themes that runs through hadiths about the End Days is how good will be considered as being bad; and visa versa, how trustworthiness and honesty shall disappear, how the worthless will be raised to positions of rank and respect, and how there will be an increase in disobedience and widespread violation of rights (kathrat al-‘uquq Continue reading

eschatology & the end days

60s Britain, Britain’s cultural revolution, End of Days hadiths, end of the world, fatwa qualifications, Ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani, Ibn Hazm, Ibn Mas’ud, Ibn Taymiyyah, Is Britain still a Christian country?, Islamic ethics, levels of scholars, liberalism, Mahdi, morals in Islam, Muslim extremists, qualifications of a mufti, ruwaybidah, Salafis, sin of speaking without religious knowledge, takfiris, topsy-turviness in the End Times, weakness of the ummah
January 29, 2013

‘Aqidah Comes First! Doesn’t It?

“‘Aqidah comes first” is a phrase which has, over the last quarter of a century, become a slogan in some Muslims quarters. Yet there can be no denying that ‘aqidah or belief (from ‘aqada: to tie, bind, fasten securely; from which comes the idea of tying certain beliefs to one’s heart in utter conviction of them), is the single most important aspect Continue reading

salafism reconsidered, theology

‘aqidah, creed, holistic Islam, Ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani, Islam & ethics, message of Islam’s early revelations, societal obligations
August 28, 2012

Did Abu Hurayrah Have Secret Spiritual Knowledge?

Al-Bukhari records in his Sahih, no.120, that Abu Hurayrah stated: ‘I preserved from the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, two vessels of knowledge. The first I have disseminated among people. If I were to circulate the other, my throat would be slit.‘ Some contend the vessel of knowledge Abu Hurayrah, may God be pleased Continue reading

correctives & clarifications, knowledge & learning

exoticism and esoterims, Ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani, Inward and outward knowledge, spiritual knowledge, Ummayds, Yazid b. Mu’awiyah

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.

Ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani

The World Gets Topsy-Turvier: Signs of the End Days [2/2]

‘Aqidah Comes First! Doesn’t It?

Did Abu Hurayrah Have Secret Spiritual Knowledge?