The Humble I

Knowing, Doing, Becoming

nurturing piety

October 4, 2012

Islam’s Social Vision: Braving the Steep Road

Islam’s vision of society, as has been so admirably stated by Tim Winter (a.k.a. Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad), ‘is rooted in immediate and sincere concern for human welfare under a compassionate God.’ One of the prophetic statements which best encapsulates this outlook is found in the following hadith: ‘O people! Spread [the greetings of] peace,… Continue reading

activism, contemporary concerns, ethics & morals, politics & society

being peace-makers, charity, conflict resolution, family as society’s backbone, Islam’s social teachings, keep ties of kin, nurturing piety

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.

nurturing piety

Islam’s Social Vision: Braving the Steep Road