Egypt (Alexandria)
Contemporary scholar — Present
Ahmad Farid Biography
Shaykh Ahmad Farid is an Egyptian Salafi scholar, preacher, and writer based in Alexandria, whose works on the spiritual purification of the soul, classical Sunni creed, and the lives of the early Muslim generations have circulated widely in English translation through Darussalam Publishers and other major Salafi presses. He received his Islamic education in Alexandria, studying under and alongside the founding figures of the Egyptian Salafi da'wah, and has been associated with the city's traditional study circles and religious institutes for several decades.
Farid's published works combine traditional Salafi methodology — heavy reliance on the Qur'an, the Sunna, and the practice of the salaf — with an emphasis on the classical literature of spiritual purification (tazkiyat al-nafs), particularly drawing on the works of Ibn al-Qayyim. His best-known titles in English translation include The Purification of the Soul, an accessible synthesis of classical writings on spiritual purification; 60 Biographies from al-Hayat fi al-Hadith, a series of concise biographies of the Companions and early Muslims; Three Imams of Hadith, profiling Bukhari, Muslim, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal; and shorter works on creed, the Prophets, and Islamic ethical conduct.
Farid's accessible writing style and consistent grounding in classical Salafi sources have made his books widely used as introductory and intermediate texts in English-language Salafi study circles, dawah tables, and Islamic schools. His works continue to be reprinted internationally, and his translated titles remain among the more consistently stocked entries from Egyptian Salafi authors in English-language Islamic bookstores.