Key to Al-Kahf: Challenging Materialism and Godlessness

About the authors

Abdur Rashid Siddiqui: Abdur Rashid Siddiqui (1932-2019) was a British Muslim writer, librarian, and educator whose works aimed to make the Qurʾan accessible to ordinary readers. Born in Bombay, India, he earned degrees in economics, politics, and law at the University of Bombay, then completed postgraduate study in librarianship in London. After a brief period at Liverpool Public Library, he joined the University of Leicester in 1966 as a senior librarian, where he also served as a Muslim chaplain, retiring in 1997. Alongside his professional career he gave decades of service to Muslim institutions in Britain. He was a trustee of the Islamic Foundation in Leicester for more than forty years, serving as its secretary and treasurer and helping shape its governance, and he was involved with the UK Islamic Mission, the Islamic Society of Britain, and the Muslim Council of Britain. His books reflect a lifelong devotion to scripture and self-purification. They include the "Key to" series on individual suras (al-Fatiha, Al ʿImran, al-Kahf), Qurʾanic Keywords: A Reference Guide, Treasures of the Qurʾan, Tazkiyah: The Islamic Path of Self-Development, and Living in Allah's Presence, as well as studies of Muhammad Iqbal such as Man and Destiny and A Treasury of Iqbal. He was remembered for his humility, sincerity, and warm insight into the Qurʾan.

Khurram Murad: Khurram Murad (1932-1996) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar, writer, and one of the most influential organizers of the modern Islamic movement in South Asia and Britain. Born in Bhopal, India, he migrated with his family to Pakistan after Partition. By profession a civil engineer, he earned a degree from the University of Karachi and a master's from the University of Minnesota, and for a time worked on the extension of the Masjid al-Haram in Makka. Alongside his engineering career he became deeply committed to daʿwa, rising to serve as Naib Amir (vice-president) of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan and as a movement leader in what is now Bangladesh. From 1977 to 1987 he was Director-General of the Islamic Foundation in Leicester, where he played a central role in building a body of thoughtful, accessible Islamic literature in English. He also edited Tarjuman al-Qurʾan, the journal founded by Abul Aʿla Mawdudi, and the quarterly Muslim World Book Review. Murad wrote with unusual warmth and clarity. His works, including Way to the Qurʾan, In the Early Hours: Reflections on Spiritual and Self Development, The Qurʾanic Treasures, and Key to al-Kahf, continue to guide readers seeking a living relationship with the Qurʾan. He died in Leicester in 1996, remembered as a teacher who made Islamic learning approachable for English-speaking Muslims.