Biography
A life devoted to knowledge and dawah
Shaykh Azhar Iqbal (db) was born and raised in Karachi. He travelled to the United States for his undergraduate studies, earning a B.A. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and went on to graduate studies in Economics at New York University.
Return to the Islamic sciences
He then returned to Pakistan in pursuit of the Islamic sciences — Tafseer, Hadith, Arabic grammar, and Islamic law and jurisprudence — studying under traditional scholars. He attained the eight-year Aalimiyyah degree from Wifaq ul Madaris, Pakistan.
Dawah and teaching
For over two decades, Shaykh Azhar has been actively engaged in dawah, delivering lectures in mosques and in educational and professional institutes. He founded Hidayah Academy, an institute for traditional Islamic studies, and besides heading the institute he teaches courses in Tafseer, Hadith and Fiqh.
The path of purification
The Shaykh is formally authorized in the Naqshbandia Tariqah of Tasawwuf, the path of purification. He has thousands of students across the globe in this field, and has given authorization (Khilafah) to 30 of them. He has authored more than 40 books, in Urdu and English, on Tafseer-ul-Quran and purification (Islaah).
