Shaykh Dr Ridhwan Saleem

Shaykh Ridhwan graduated in Medicine from Kings College London in 1997. During his clinical training, he commenced his pursuit of Islamic knowledge attending the circles of the spiritual master, Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani, and sitting at the feet of the prolific thinker and scholar, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, with whom he completed several texts including the Ajerumiyya in Grammar, Sanusiyya in Aqeedah, and al-Naseeha al-Kafiya of Sidi Ahmad Zarruq. During this time, he also had the blessing of studying some of the Hikam of Ibn `Ata-illah with Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller.
After his graduation and pre-registration training, Shaykh Ridhwan decided to pursue Islamic knowledge full-time and was able to do so with the help of a supportive wife who shared his commitment to Islamis study. They lived for over a year in Liverpool, where Shaykh Ridhwan sat on a daily basis with the hadith-master, 'Allamah Shaykh Siraj al-Islam Chawdry (may Allah protect him), studying Hanafi Fiqh and Tafsir of Quran. Shaykh Ridhwan later asked for Shaykh Siraj's permission to teach which he granted.
Following his sojourn in Liverpool, Shaykh Ridhwan continued his studies for several years in the blessed ancient city of Damascus at the feet of notable individuals. His studies were supervised by the erudite scholar, Sayyid Shaykh Muhammad al-Ya'qoubi al-Hassani, who issued him several written ijaazas (licences) to teach the sacred sciences. During his time in Damascus, Shaykh Ridhwan benefited from private classes with several distinguished scholars, including Shaykh Khaleel al-Sabbagh and Shaykh Mur`i al-Rasheed. He had daily classes with Shaykh Abd al-Wahhab Najib in his small mosque in the old souq of the Maghribi quarter of Damascus.
He had the blessing of being taken by Shaykh al-Yaqoubi to sit with the spiritual giants of Damascus, some of whom have since returned to their Lord Most High. These notables included the late Shaykh Ahmad Habbal, the inheritor of the Kittani house, Sayyid Shaykh Taj al-Deen al-Kittani, and the late Shadhili Master, Shaykh Abd al-Rahman al-Shagouri. He heard the musalsal Hadith al-Rahma from Shaykh al-Shaghouri and received the blessing of the Shaykh holding his subha in his hand along with his own and mixing them together while smiling at Shaykh Ridhwan.
While in Damascus, Shaykh Ridhwan was a regular attendee at the public classes and Friday sermons of the shining beacon of Ahl al-Sunnah in the Arab world, Shaykh Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti. He also met the esteemed Shaykh personally and asked for and was granted his blessing and special supplication for the work of the deen in Britain. Through the grace of Allah subhanahu wa `ta`ala, Shaykh Ridhwan visited the late celebrated scholar of Damascus, Shaykh Adeeb al-Kallas and, for the blessings of his spiritual connection, requested his Ijaza to teach the religious sciences. Shaykh Adeeb immediately granted him this blessing.
During his time in Damascus, Shaykh Ridhwan lived for several months under the shade of the Mosque of Ibn `Arabi which connects to the Shaykh's grave, and when going for prayer in the mosque, he would stop to recite Fatiha for the Shaykh.
Shaykh Ridhwan is a medical practitioner, currently specialising and working in field of forensic psychiatry. His current research interests include the role of multi-faith chaplaincy in mental health settings, comparitive study of mental health legislation in Shariah and English law, traditional and western conceptions of mental illness and possession states, and genetic causes of mental illness. He has published work on the management of dangerous offenders in psychiatric institutions, and is an occasional contributor to the prominent online newsletter, Dissident Voice.

He is the founder and Honorary Principal of the West London School of Islamic Studies and Lady Nafisa School. He continues his specialist Islamic studies periodically in private classes with Shaykh Akram al Nadwi in Oxford. He lives with his wife and four children in Hounslow, West London.