About Shaykh Zulfiker Ibrāhīm Memon

EARLY YEARS

Shaykh Zulfiker Ibrāhīm Memon was born in Leicester, United Kingdom, on 11 Dhū al-Qaʿdah 1397 (24 October 1977). In his formative years, he was brought up within a Brelwi community, adhering to its practices and cultural framework. Subsequently, he adopted the Deobandi manhaj upon enrolling at Dār al-Cullum Bury (UK), where he commenced the memorisation of the Qurʾān. By the mercy of Allāh, he completed this programme at the age of 14. Thereafter, he sought to advance his studies and relocated to Dabhel, Gujarat, India, in pursuit of his academic and spiritual goals.

JĀMIʿAH ISLĀMIYYAH TAʿLĪM AD-DĪN, DABHEL, GUJARAT, INDIA

During the 5 years at Jāmiʿah Islāmiyyah Taʿlīm ad-Dīn, Shaykh Zulfiker studied multiple books and subjects, including:

• Urdu, Persian, and Arabic Grammar

  • Sharḥ Miʾah ʿĀmil

  • Ḥidāyat an-Naḥw

• Syntax and Etymology (Ṣarf and Naḥwu of the Arabic Language)

  • Sharḥ Ibn ʿAqīl

• Rhetoric (ʿIlm al-Kalām and Manṭiq)

  • Sharḥ Taḥdīb of Ṭaftāzānī & Al-Mukhtārāt

• Hanafī Fiqh

  • Nūr al-idhā

  • Kanūz ad-Daqā’iq

  • Al-Ḥidāyah

• Tafsīr

• ʿAqīdah

  • ʿAqīdat at-Taḥāwiyyah (with the explanation according to the Māturīdī Madhhab)

  • Sharḥ Aqāʿid of Nasafī (with the explanation of Ṭaftāzānī, the primary aqīdah text in the Māturīdī Madhhab)

INFLUENCES

While studying in India at the age of 18, Shaykh Zulfiker was introduced to the works of Imām ʿAbdul Jalīl Samrodi [D. 1392 AH – 1972 CE] , with Zahrat al-Riyāḍ al-Abrār exerting a particularly profound influence upon him. This encounter constituted a pivotal moment in his intellectual trajectory, prompting his adoption of the methodological framework of the Ahl al-Ḥadīth tradition.

RETURN TO ENGLAND

Following his studies at Jāmiʿah Islāmiyyah, Shaykh Zulfiker returned to the United Kingdom, where he was appointed Head of Islamic Studies at the Loughborough Cultural Centre. He held this position for three years, during which time he also undertook a more senior role in overseeing and supporting the memorisation of the Qurʾān among students at the same institution.

FURTHER STUDIES AND ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS:

At the age of 21, Shaykh Zulfiker was accepted at the Islamic University of Madīnah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after a successful application. It was at this turning point in his life that Shaykh Zulfiker dedicated himself to the manhaj of Ahl al-Ḥadīth. During his time at the university, he graduated with distinction in the Arabic language, followed by the completion of a three-year course in the Institute of Islamic Studies and Secondary Education, also with distinction.

He then entered the degree programme and attained a Bachelor's Degree with first-class distinction from the Faculty of Ḥadīth. This was followed by a Postgraduate Diploma with first-class honours and distinction in the Fundamentals and Principles of Daʿwah from the Department of Higher Studies.

He continued his academic path by completing a Master’s Degree at the Islamic University of Madīnah with first-class honours and distinction in 2018.

Shaykh Zulfiker’s Master’s dissertation was titled ‘Uṣūl ad-Daʿwah ʿinda Jamāʿat at-Tablīgh’ (The Foundational Principles of Daʿwah According to the Tablīgh Jamāʿah). The work (which is over 1000 pages), offers a critical analysis of the movement’s methodology in light of the Qurʾān, Sunnah, and the understanding of the Salaf. It has been read and commended by scholars both within and outside of Madīnah.

In 2024, he earned a Higher Diploma in Postgraduate Studies from the Institute of Arabic Manuscripts in Cairo, Egypt. That same year, he completed a second Master’s Degree with first-class honours and distinction from the Department of Oriental Studies (Islamic Studies and Translation) at SOAS in London, UK.

Shaykh Zulfiker’s Master’s dissertation for SOAS was a defence of Imām al-Bukhārī, entitled ‘A Critiqued Appraisal of Selected Narrations from Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī’. As part of his academic projects, he also edited, translated, and commented on a manuscript by Muḥammad bin Mūsā al-ʿImrānī entitled ‘Masʾalah fī al-Qurʾān wa al-Ḥarf wa aṣ-Ṣawt", which deals with the creed of Ahl as-Sunnah.

IJĀZĀT

During his academic career, Shaykh Zulfiker has acquired many Ijāzāt from various credible scholars, thereby cementing his knowledge in the path of Allāh.

Some of his ijāzāt in Qurʾān include:

• Ijāzah in Qurʾān in the narration of Ḥafṣ from ʿĀṣim through the Shāṭibiyyah route from Shaykh Khālid bin Sulaymān bin Muḥammad bin Maḥmūd

• Ijāzah in the Qurʾān according to the recitation of ʿĀṣim, through his narrators, via the Shāṭibiyyah route, from Ḥassānīn Ibrāhīm Ḥassānīn ʿAlī, (This ijāzah is distinguished as one of the highest chains of transmission in the world.)

Some of his other ijāzāt include the following:

• The six canonical books of Ḥadīth

• al-Muwaṭṭaʾ of Imām Mālik

• All the books of Imām al-Bukhārī

• All the books of Imām ash-Shawkānī

• All the books of Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar

• All the books of Shāh Walī Allāh ad-Dehlawi

• Kitāb at-Tawḥīd of Imām ibn Khuzaymah

• Sharḥ as-Sunnah of Imām al-Baghawī

• The famous Ḥanafī texts

• And additional ijāzāt in many other texts

From the Shaykhs that he received ijāzah from:

• Shaykh Wasiullah Abbas

• Shaykh Irshād al-Ḥaqq al-Atharī

• Shaykh Zubayr ʿAlī Zaʾī

• Shaykh Muḥammad Raʾīs Nadwi (Shaykh al-Ḥadīth at Jāmiʿah Salafiyyah, Banaras, India)

• Shaykh Shihāb ad-Dīn al-Jilīlī (through the chain of ʿAllāmah ʿAbd al-Jalīl Samrodi)

• Shaykh ʿAbd al-Wakīl ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Hāshimī al-Makkī

• Shaykh Ḍiyāʾ al-Raḥmān al-Aʿẓamī

• Shaykh ʿAbd al-Salām al-Madanī (Professor of Ḥadīth, al-Jāmiʿah as-Salafiyyah, Banaras)

• Shaykh ʿIzzāz al-Ḥaqq bin Maẓhar al-Ḥaqq al-Rabbānī

• Shaykh Abū Muḥammad Idrīs al-Atharī (student of the eminent Shaykh Sulṭān Maḥmūd)

• Shaykh Maḥmūd Aḥmad Ḥasan, (Shaykh al-Ḥadīth at al-Jāmiʿah as-Sattāriyyah al-Islāmiyyah, Karachi, Pakistan)

• Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf al-Kūnī

• Shaykh Muḥammad Ẓuhayr ad-Dīn ar-Raḥmānī Mubarakpuri

• Shaykh Ḥafīẓ ar-Raḥmān Muḥammad Nuʿmān al-Aʿẓamī al-Madanī

• Shaykh ʿAbdullāh ibn Julm al-ʿUmrī al-Madanī Nepali

• Shaykh ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān Kashmiri

• Shaykh Ghulām Allāh Rehmati

• Shaykh ʿAbd al-Muḥsin ad-Daʿrāwī al-Maghribī

• Shaykh Muḥammad Rafīq al-Atharī

• Shaykh Muḥammad Amīn Muḥammadi

• Shaykh Muḥammad Shujaabādi

• And many other prominent shuyūkh

Some of his close teachers include:

• Shaykh Wasiullah Abbas

• Shaykh Muḥammad Raʾīs Nadwi

• Shaykh Muḥammad Bakhīṭ al-Ḥujaylī

• Shaykh Khālid ar-Radādī

• Shaykh ʿAbd al-Bārī al-Anṣārī

• Shaykh ʿAlī at-Tuwayjirī

• Shaykh Ḥamūd ar-Ruḥaylī

• Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf al-Kūnī

• Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh al-Usaylān

• Shaykh Aḥmad bin Khalaf

• Shaykh Ṣāliḥ Sindī

• Shaykh Zubayr ʿAlī Zaʾī

• Shaykh Ḍiyāʾ al-Raḥmān al-Aʿẓamī

• Shaykh Ḥamīd al-Ḥujaylī

• And numerous other distinguished scholars

Shaykh Zulfiker maintains consistent correspondence with his teachers and actively consults them on various matters. Among them is Shaykh Wasī Allāh ʿAbbās, although he resides in Makkah, Shaykh Zulfiker undertakes regular visits to him, and the two enjoy a particularly close and enduring scholarly relationship.

PUBLISHED BOOKS

In addition to the numerous the numerous qualifications acquired by Shaykh Zulfiker, his zeal to promote the Manhaj of Ahl al-Ḥadīth and to spread his knowledge never stops. Multiple books in the Arabic and Urdu languages have been published under his supervision, such as:

• Irshād al-Qārī, by Ḥāfiẓ Gondalwi (Arabic), an academic critique in Arabic of Fayẓ al-Bārī written by the Deobandi scholar, Anwar Shāh Kashmiri.

• Ziyarat Qabr-e-Nabawi, by Shaykh Bashīr Sahsawani, a refutation of Abd al-Hayy Lucknowi al-Ḥanafī (Urdu)

• Dawama-e-Hadees, by Ḥāfiẓ Gondalwi (Urdu)

• Difa-e-Hadees, by Thanāʾ Allāh Amritsari (Urdu)

• ad-DalĪl Muḥkam fī nafī athar al-Qadam, by Imām Nadhīr Ḥussayn ad-Dehlawi (Arabic)

• Yak Rozi Imam Shah Ismail ad-Dehlawi (translated from Persian to Urdu)

• Majmūʿ Maqālāt, Mufti Raʾīs Nadwī (Urdu)

• Mayār al-Ḥaqq, by Imām Nadhīr Ḥussayn ad-Dehlawi (Urdu)

DAʿWAH AND TEACHING

Shaykh Zulfiker has spent many years actively engaged in teaching and daʿwah, both locally and internationally. With a deep commitment to the manhaj of Ahl as-Sunnah, he has taught extensively across various Islamic sciences and continues to oversee multiple educational and translation projects through his role as the Head of Markaz Sunnah UK. Some of the key projects Shaykh Zulfiker oversees include the translation of Islamic videos and books, classes for new Muslims, Arabic classes for non-native speakers, Qāʿidah al-Madaniyyah classes, as well as many other projects. Among the texts he has taught are:

• Ahle Hadees ka Mazhab, by Thanāʾ Allāh Amritsari

• al-Manẓūmah al-Bayqūniyyah, with the explanation of Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn

• Taʿlīm aṣ-Ṣibyan at-Tawḥīd, by Muḥammad bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb

• Sharḥ of Thulathiyāt al-Bukhārī

• Qawāʾid al-Arbaʿ, by Muḥammad bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb

• Uṣūl ath-Thalāthah, by Muḥammad bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb

• Kitāb as-Siyām of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī with brief notes

• Kitāb as-Siyām of Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim with brief notes

• Waṣīlat an-Najāt, by Shaykh Ṣiddiq Ḥassan Khan

• Qiyām al-Layl, by Shaykh al-Albānī

• Should a Muslim Follow a Particular Madhhab, by Shaykh Muḥammad al-Maʿṣūmī

Some of the books currently being taught by the shaykh:

• Tadwīn as-Sunnah, by Muḥammad az-Zahrānī

• Al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭiyyah, with the footnotes of Shaykh ʿAbd ʿAzīẓ bin Bāz

• Durrar al-Bahiyyah, by ash-Shawkānī

• The Legacy of Imām al-Bukhāri, by ʿAbd as-Salām Mubarakpuri

Currently, the Shaykh also serves as the Director of the Madinah Arabic Program (MAP), a structured and intensive program based within the Islamic University of Madīnah designed to provide students with a solid foundation in Arabic.

Since 2004 Shaykh Zulfiker has been serving in roles that include answering questions and conveying the fatāwā of the senior ʿulamāʾ, particularly near the noble grave of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ. He has also had the honour of serving in the Tawjīh wa-l-Irshād (Guidance and Counselling) department within the Prophet’s Masjid in Madīnah. In this capacity, he was entrusted with guiding visitors, translating, editing and supervising key Islamic literature into English, and advising attendees regarding acts of shirk and bidʿah that are often committed at that sacred site. This work was undertaken under the supervision of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.

Professional and Social Engagements

Shaykh Zulfiker is frequently invited to social and knowledge-based events alongside many prominent shuyūkh. He is well-known and respected not only among the scholars of Madīnah but also among scholars and duʿāt in other countries, including South Africa, Pakistan, the USA, and India.