tazkiyat al-nafs

October 17, 2013

The Greater Jihad: Is it Just a Myth?

Muslim scholars have long identified two types of jihad (lit. “striving” in God’s cause): an outer form of jihad and an inner one. The outward jihad refers to state-sanctioned military force (i.e. armed combat), which is waged defensively to protect both religion and realm; or offensively to combat tyranny, or protect the innocent and defenceless Continue reading

correctives & clarifications, salafism reconsidered

ego, greater jihad, jihad al-nafs, lesser jihad, nafs, spiritual struggle, tasawwuf, tazkiyat al-nafs, warfare in Islam
October 23, 2012

Know Your Soul, Grow Your Soul

Many verses in the Qur’an extol the significance of the soul or nafs. In one celebrated passage, it states: By the soul and Him that formed it, then inspired it with its wickedness and God-fearingness. He is truly successful who purifies it, and he is indeed ruined who corrupts it. [Q.91:7-10] The Qur’an also offers Continue reading

psychology & mental health, short read, sufism, suluk & spirituality

al-Jurjani, degrees of the soul, how to purify the soul, inward voyage, lower self, Muslim spirituality, purification of the heart, purification of the soul, sufism, tasawwuf, tazkiyat al-nafs, the ego, three types of soul
August 14, 2012

How Can Hearts be Softened?

This following piece by Ibn al-Jawzi (d.597H/1200CE) – Hanbali scholar, famous preacher, prolific author – is from his book Sayd al-Khatir. Part meditative, part autobiographical, part exhortational, the book is a rather frank account of his life, works, experiences, achievements, disappointments, hopes, burdens and aspirations. Since it was written over a period of twenty years, Continue reading

heart matters, short texts for reflection, sufism, suluk & spirituality

detachment from the world, Hanbali, ibn al-jawzi, purification of the heart, softening the heart, sufism, tazkiyat al-nafs, 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.

tazkiyat al-nafs

The Greater Jihad: Is it Just a Myth?

Know Your Soul, Grow Your Soul

How Can Hearts be Softened?