Nuh Ha Mim Keller

Nuh Ha Mim Keller
Reliance of the Traveller translated by Shyakh Nuh Ha Mim Keller
Title	Shaykh
Born	1954 (age 61–62)[1] United States
Ethnicity	American
Era	Modern era
Region	Jordan
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Sunni Islam
Jurisprudence	Shafi'i
Creed	Ash'ari
Main interest(s)	Sharia, Hadith, Tafsir, Sufism
Sufi order	Shadhili

Nuh Ha Mim Keller (born 1954) is an Islamic scholar, teacher and author who lives in Amman. He is a translator of a number of Islamic books,^[2] a specialist in Islamic law, as well as being authorised by Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri as a Sheikh in the Shadhili Order.^[3]

Personal life

Keller studied philosophy and Arabic at the University of Chicago and the University of California, Los Angeles.^[4] Keller converted to Islam from Christianity in 1977.^[5][6] He then began a prolonged study of the Islamic sciences with prominent scholars in Syria and Jordan and was authorised as a Shaykh in 1995.^[4] Currently, Keller lives in Amman, Jordan.^[7]

Books

His English translation of Umdat al-Salik, Reliance of the Traveller, (Sunna Books, 1991) is a Shafi'i manual of Shariah.^[8] It is the first Islamic legal work in a European language to receive the certification of Al-Azhar University.^[4] This translation has led to this work becoming influential among Western Muslims.^[9]

His other works include:

• Sea Without Shore: A Manual of the Sufi Path, an extensive treatment of the science of tasawwuf. It is an expansion of an earlier work entitled Tariqa Notes (of which it has replaced), which comprises the second part of the book. In addition, this work includes biographies of five accomplished Sufis that the author met, along with a series of articles in question/answer format providing answers to contemporary philosophical problems.^[10]
• Al-Maqasid: Imam Nawawi's Manual of Islam, a translation of a concise manual of Shafi'i fiqh.^[11][12]
• Evolutionary Theory in Islam.^[13]
• A Port in the Storm: A Fiqh Solution to the Qibla of North America, a detailed study of the most sound position on which direction North American Muslims should face to pray.^[14]
• The Sunni Path: A Handbook of Islamic Belief.^[11]

In addition to the above, he has produced the following books in Arabic:

• Awrad al-Tariqa al-Shadhiliyya, which is primarily a collection of the most frequently recited litanies in the Shadhili Sufi order, done in a hand-written calligraphic script of which two editions have been published. It also has been produced into a bi-lingual translation entitled "Invocations of the Shadhili Order", which Nuh Keller has himself translated.
• Dala'il al-Khayrat, a classic collection of prayers upon the Prophet Muhammad (commonly known as durood) originally compiled by Muhammad al-Jazuli, which through the comparison of ninety-five different manuscripts, is the most authenticated copy that has been produced in the modern world.^[15] It has also been done in a hand-written calligraphy.

He has also written numerous articles and is a regular contributor to Islamica Magazine and the website masud.co.uk.^[16]

See also

Ahmad al-Alawi List of University of California, Los Angeles people List of University of Chicago alumni Muhammad al-Arabi al-Darqawi Paul Ricœur

Shadhili Syed Waheed Ashraf Hamza Yusuf

References

1. Akbar, Ameen (October 25, 2015). "Becoming Muslim, Nuh Ha Mim Keller".
2. Hewer, C. T. R. (2006). Understanding Islam – The First Ten Steps. SCM Press. p. 209. ISBN 978-0-334-04032-3.
3. Qantara.de: "Sufism in Jordan – A Prism of Spirituality" February 2, 2010
4. Hamid, Sadek (2015-12-30). Sufis, Salafis and Islamists: The Contested Ground of British Islamic Activism. I.B.Tauris. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-78453-231-4.
5. "Interview: Tahir Haqq, YMCA Youth and Community Worker". Church Times. November 14, 2008. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
6. Hamid, Sadek (2015-12-30). Sufis, Salafis and Islamists: The Contested Ground of British Islamic Activism. I.B.Tauris. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-78453-231-4.
7. Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck; Senzai, Farid; Smith, Jane I. (2009). Educating the Muslims of America. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-19-537520-6.
8. Keller, Nuh Ha Mim, ed. (July 1, 1997). "Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law". Amana Corporation – via Amazon.
9. Brandon, James; Hafez, Salam (2008). Crimes of the Community: Honour-Based Violence in the UK. Centre for Social Cohesion. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-903386-64-4.
10. "Sea Without Shore – A Manual of the Sufi Path". Sunna Books. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
11. "SunniPath Online Islamic Academy".
12. Nawawi; Keller, Noah Ha Mim (January 16, 2003). "Al-Maqasid: Nawawi's Manual of Islam". Amana Publications – via Amazon.
13. Keller, Nuh Ha Mim. "Islam and Evolution: a letter to Suleman Ali". Masud. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
14. Keller, Nuh Ha Mim (August 1, 2001). "Port in a Storm: A Fiqh Solution to the Qibla of North America". Wakeel Books – via Amazon.
15. Keller, Nuh Ha Mim. "A New Dala'il al-Khayrat". Retrieved September 15, 2011.
16. Brown, Derek (November 1, 2001). "A Different Perspective: Muslim Websites in Britain – Britain's Muslim Community Is Well Served by Websites Offering News, Opinion, and Religious Interpretation of the West's Response to the Terrorist Attacks on the US, as Derek Brown Explains". The Guardian. Retrieved September 18, 2011.

External links

• A number of articles and audio-lectures by Sheikh Nuh Keller on masud.co.uk
• Sheikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller lectures
• Articles by Sheikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller