The Humble I

Knowing, Doing, Becoming

Islam and liberalism

January 4, 2015

Footprints on the Sands of Time 2

‘Modernity is simply our context,’ wrote Dr Sherman Jackson, ‘We must never allow it to become our excuse.’ As various global forces currently conspire against the call to Abrahamic monotheism, here are a few more Footprints exploring the nature of Islam, Muslims and modernity (the first set of Footprints can be read here): ♦ On humility: The mark of those who… Continue reading

sufism, suluk & spirituality

a cause of extremism, can modernity bring human fulfilment?, gender differences, how to achieve harmony in marriage, inward serenity, Islam and liberalism, Islam and modernity, islamophobia and homophobia, liberalism’s challenge to Islam, spiritual company, war on hijab, war on traditional morality
December 5, 2012

The Juggernaut of Modernity

Islam is an inherently conservative tradition, in the sense that a cardinal tenet of such a tradition is to conserve and preserve revealed truths, defending them against attack. Pivotal to this preservation are the ‘ulema or religious scholars. One hadith says: ‘This knowledge will be carried by the trustworthy of each generation. They shall rid… Continue reading

modernity & muslimness, politics & society

Islam and liberalism, Islam and modernity, Islam and progress, Muslim conservatism, must Islam modernise?

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.

Islam and liberalism

Footprints on the Sands of Time 2

The Juggernaut of Modernity