life is short

May 16, 2026

The ‘Dream’ World v. the Real World

FOR MUSLIMS, WHILE this world is a theatre of joy and an arena of responsibilities, it is primarily a place of preparation for what is to come. What we believe, say and do here has ultimate consequences for what happens to us in the Final Judgement and the life after which follows. Given the immediacy Continue reading

heart matters, sufism, suluk & spirituality

fleeting nature of life, hereafter compared to this worldly life, life is short, the Afterlife is the most real life

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.

life is short

The ‘Dream’ World v. the Real World