tawhid

April 12, 2022

Learning Tawhid in Ten Minutes Or Ten Years?

By the late eighties, or maybe the early nineties, ‘‘Aqidah comes first’ started to become something of a slogan in certain Muslim quarters here in Britain. It can’t be dismissed that ‘aqidah, ‘creed’ or ‘belief’ (from ‘aqada: to tie, bind, fasten securely – out of which comes the idea of tying certain beliefs to the heart in utter conviction of Continue reading

contemporary concerns, knowledge & learning, salafism reconsidered, theology

can tawhid be learnt in five minutes?, false salafism and blinkered tawhid, Islamic monotheism, learning iman before Quran, nurturing the realities of faith, tawhid
March 16, 2013

Seven Steps for Salvation

The Qur’an says: Whoever is removed from the Fire and admitted into Paradise has surely triumphed. The life of this world is nothing but the comfort of illusion. [3:185] Contrary to shallow-minded people – whose measure of success is determined by the size of their wallets or houses, or how far they’ve climbed up the Continue reading

sufism, suluk & spirituality

dhikr, God-conciousness, guarding the tongue, piety, salvation in Islam, tawhid, worldly renunciation, zuhd

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.

tawhid

Learning Tawhid in Ten Minutes Or Ten Years?

Seven Steps for Salvation