worldly renunciation

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.

worldly renunciation

Seven Steps for Salvation