Jawziyyah Institute

June 8, 2021

Nurturing Love for God

The above is the first in a series of “Qur’an Reflections” which aims to explain (in visual format) some of the ideas, practical wisdoms and subtleties that are found and embedded in the Holy Qur’an. This first one expresses eight practical ways in which we can actualise the reality of the above verse, based upon Continue reading

consider Islam, qur’an, tafsir, tadabbur, visual qur’an reflections

Jawziyyah Institute, Qur’an reflections, quranic reflections, surkheel sharif, visual Qur’an reflections
November 28, 2017

Pressures to Water Down Faith

This short video is about the demand being placed on Muslims to make their religious teachings align with the liberal orthodoxies of the age, and what our response to such pressures ought to be. Should we, as some are now doing, be watering down our faith teachings to make our religion more palatable to a wider Continue reading

modernity & muslimness

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July 19, 2014

Laylat al-Qadr: Standing at the Surge of Serenity

As the last ten days of Ramadan greet us, Muslims the world over shift into a higher gear of spiritual ambition and striving. What is the reason behind this intensification? In one of the odd nights of these last ten days (21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th) lies laylat al-qadr – the illustrious Night of Power, Influence and Decree – which, as the Continue reading

ramadan & fasting, sufism, suluk & spirituality

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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.

Jawziyyah Institute

Nurturing Love for God

Pressures to Water Down Faith

Laylat al-Qadr: Standing at the Surge of Serenity