Shaykh Dr Asim Yusuf was first initiated into the pursuit of Islamic knowledge and spirituality thirty years ago under the guidance and irshad of Hazrat Ghulam Muhyi al-Din Kazi, a Sufi Master of the Chishtiyya Order in South Africa.
He has studied all branches of the Islamic sciences with teachers from across the world, gaining authorisation to instruct and guide students in their own spiritual and intellectual journeys (ijaza al-tadris wa al-irshad).
Shaykh Asim heads the Nur al-Habib Foundation, which has a number of branches including education, publishing, community projects and social outreach.
He began the Winterspring Mawlid which has been running for 12 years in the UK, based on the twelve-night programme for Rabi al-Awwal that his murshid held in South Africa for decades prior to his passing.
He teaches advanced classes in analytical theology, metaphysics, the philosophy of Islamic law and the theoretical study of mystical experience. Since 2014, he has been engaged in a complete reading, commentary and analysis of the Ihya Ulum al-Din of Imam Ghazali, and has to date completed the first quarter of the forty volumes with his students.
Professionally, Dr Yusuf is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Clinical Director for Mental Health Services in the Black Country. He is the author of several books, most notably Shedding Light on the Dawn, as well as being a poet and lyricist better known by his pseudonym Talib al-Habib, with three well-received nasheed albums to his name.
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