who are the ahl al-sunnah

January 8, 2018

Revisiting the Sensitive Question of Islamic Orthodoxy

For much of Islamic history, the question of who embodies the majoritarian orthodox path of ahl al-sunnah wa’l-jama‘ah has been rather contentious. One view holds that it is only the Atharis [Salafis] that are orthodox, with the Ash‘aris and Maturidis being the closest of the heterodox Muslim sects to ahl al-sunnah. Another view is that Continue reading

orthodoxy & ahl al-sunnah, short texts for reflection, theology

al-Safarini al-Hanbali on who is ahl al-sunnah, are Ash’aris the saved sect or the Salafis?, who are the ahl al-sunnah
February 16, 2017

Fitnah: Coming to a Sin-e-World Near You! (Part 2)

The first part of this blog (here) discussed the fitnah or tribulation of wealth, civil war and men’s weakness for women. The second and final part of the blog discusses three more fitnahs – that of callers to misguidance, spreading of inverted understandings of Islam, and the question of governments seeking to domesticate Islam and its scholars. And Allah’s help is sought. ♦ 4 – Continue reading

contemporary concerns, fiqh & usul al-fiqh, politics & society, theology

amman message, definition of bid’ah, fitnah of callers to misguidance, fitnah of entering upon rulers, governments compromising Muslim scholars, inverted understandings of Islam, is it lawful for Muslim scholars mixing with rulers?, protection against fitnah, protection against trials snd tribulations, RAND report of 2007 and Muslims, seventy-three sects in Islam, trials and tribulations in Islam, what to do in times of trials and fitnah?, who are the ahl al-sunnah, who is the saved-sect

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.

who are the ahl al-sunnah

Revisiting the Sensitive Question of Islamic Orthodoxy

Fitnah: Coming to a Sin-e-World Near You! (Part 2)