Shaykh Ahmad Ali

Born in Azad Kashmir in 1971 Shaykh Ahmad Ali came to the U.K. at the tender age of 6. Coming from a moderately practicing family, the odds were always stacked against him, but even as a young boy Shaykh displayed a yearning for deen.

His stubborn determination resulted in him completing the memorisation of the Holy Quran at the age of 14 under the supervision and guidance of his teachers at the local mosque, Masjid Quba. Having completed this great feat, the thirst for furthering his Islamic knowledge could no longer be quenched in the confines of the local mosque. Searching for more in 1986 Shaykh enrolled at Darul Uloom Al Arabiya Al Islamiya, Bury, the main nucleus of Islamic study in Europe at the time.

During his time in Darul Uloom, Shaykh excelled in his studies undertaking an intensive study of many Islamic sciences including Arabic, Quranic Tafseer, Hadeeth, Fiqh and Aqeedah under the supervision of Hadhrat Yusuf Motala Sahib.

After graduating from Darul Uloom Al Arabiya Al Islamiya in 1993 realising that the there was much more to be gained from the beauty of the Quran and Hadeeth, his insatiable hunger for knowledge still not satisfied, Shaykh left the confined borders of the United Kingdom and headed towards the Middle East, Madina. Here he studied at Al Jamiiyah al Islamiyah.

Following this 1n 1994 Shaykh moved on to the world famous Azhar University in Egypt, specialising in Hadeeth. Having journeyed through many lands in order to substantiate this zeal for knowledge, Shaykh returned to the U.K. in 1996. A chapter closed.

Now were the beginnings of many new chapters. In 1999 he was appointed second Imam at his local mosque, Masjid Bilal. From here Shaykh devoted almost all of his time and efforts to the work of dawah, initially to his immediate community, and then further afield nationally and internationally.

In the field of Dawah for Shaykh Ahmad Ali there have been no boundaries. His desire to build on his dawah work has always been foremost and was the main tool that instigated the establishing of Al Ma’hadul Islami (The Islamic Academy) in Bradford, England. This institution to this day has been providing Islamic counselling, education and guidance to the youth and elders alike.

A combination of his vast knowledge and an unreal talent of capturing the hearts of listeners with his effervescent words took Shaykh Ahmad Ali across four continents to convey the teachings of Allah (swt) and his Beloved Prophet (saw).

Apart from his international work touring various countries delivering dynamic lectures and speeches, by the grace of the Almighty, Shaykh continued to work from his base Al Ma’hadul Islami to establish further institutes that would inshallah benefit the community and ummah on a whole.  2003 saw the beginnings of a Muslim Secondary school for girls, The Fountain where students benefit from the alimiya classes as well as secular studies.

Throwing aside any barriers that were placed before him, Shaykh’s determination to inculcate deen in our young then led him to purchase and renovate a building in order to set up Crystal Gardens Primary School in 2005, catering for Muslim children from the ages of 5 to 11.

Shaykh begins to work selflessly and has only just completed the renovation of his new school building purchased in 2007. Eternal Light Secondary School for Boys currently has 40 boys on the register and will insha’Allah expand gradually. Boys undertake the hifz (memorization of the Holy Quran and Alim classes as well as their secular education.

Over the years Shaykh Ahmad Ali has worked very closely with the charity organization, Lifecare U.K. Products of his work with the charity have been helping to build an orphanage, hospital and school, for the under privileged, close to his birth town in Azad Kashmir.

Shaykh Ahmad Ali’s listed speeches found on audio tapes and c.d,s currently number in the region of 80. He has also authored many books; Major Signs of The Day of Judgement, The Prophet Jesus, Imam Bukhari, The Wisdom of Imam Abu Hanifa,’ of the Pious to list just a few.

A selection of Shaykh Ahmad Ali’s beneficial lectures and lessons will be available for downloading in the near future(website currently under construction) from the www.almahad.co.uk website. Some other talks can be heard online from the Shaykh Ahmed Ali youtube channel.

No doubt Shaykh Ahmad Ali will, Allah willing, continue to strive towards his purpose in life, a mission to serve his Creator. May Allah (swt) always grant him and those associated with him the ability to do this selflessly. The Ummah can only benefit from the work of such auspicious people.

May Allah (swt) grant Shaykh a long prosperous life so that we may continue to benefit from his lessons and knowledge, and may Allah (swt) accept all his efforts and make them a means of salvation for him and his loved ones. Ameen.

Stories of the Pious by Shaykh Ahmad Ali

Introduction

All praise is due to Allah, The Most Beneficent and The Most Merciful. We praise Him, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and the mischief of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides cannot be misguided and whomsoever Allah misguides cannot be guided. Peace and blessings be upon the final messenger, Muhammad (SAW), upon his family and his noble companions Ameen.

Whilst on a visit to Darul-Uloom AI-Arabiya, Lancashire; in search of material for a lecture, by chance I came across a very beautiful piece of work. It was the book ‘Rawdur-Ryyahen Fee Hikaayaat as-Saliheen’ written by a master of the 7th century. The book contains around 500 beautiful stories about the pious, their experiences and their karamaat (miracles). Having read this book I was very intrigued, and realizing that the author had compiled these stories because of his love for the Awliya; immediately the thought of translating the book and benefiting the English speaking Muslims came to mind. However, fearing that I may not be able to complete the translation of the whole book I decided finally to at least translate a few stories to express my love for the Awliya. I hope one day Allah will give tawfiq to somebody to translate the whole book.

The author of the original work, which consists of around 600 pages and 500 stories, was Afifud-Din Abdullah bin As’ad Al- Yamani al- Yafi’ee as-Shafi’ee. Born 696AH near Aadan, Yemen; he was a man of great capability which began to show at a very early age. He benefited from, and studied under, Qadi Najmuddin at-Tabri; Radi -ud- din at- Tabri; Salih Mohammed bin Ahmad al Bassal; Shaykh Sharfud Ahmad bin ali al-Harazi. Acknowled and praised by his teachers he was a great scholar who spent his life serving the deen and his 44 works bear witness to this. His most famous work was ‘Rawdur-Raiyaheen’. He died in 768AH (May Allah grant him paradise).