Faith First: A Guide to Awakening Iman

Dr. Magdy al-Hilali is an Egyptian-American Islamic scholar and Senior Fellow at the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, where he leads research and writing on tarbiya (spiritual cultivation), the science of the heart, and the practical inner life of the believer. He received his Islamic formation in Egypt and has been associated for many years with the broader American Muslim Brotherhood-leaning intellectual tradition associated with figures including the late Hassan al-Banna and the wider literature of Islamic spiritual renewal. He has worked as an Islamic educator and writer in the United States across community programs, study circles, and online platforms.

Al-Hilali's published essays and lectures focus on the cultivation of iman, the relationship between the heart and the Qur'an, the science of inner servitude (ubudiyya), and the spiritual disciplines of supplication, charity, night prayer, and remembrance of Allah. His Quranic Reflections series at QuranReflect.com has accumulated a substantial body of accessible meditations on individual verses and themes of the Qur'an, written in a deliberately simple and spiritually direct register. His Yaqeen contributions and translated articles have been widely circulated among English-speaking Muslim readers seeking the inward dimension of the tradition.

Specific biographical details — birth date, formal credentials, and complete publication list — remain unevenly documented in publicly available sources. His distinctive contribution lies in translating the substantial Arabic literature of tarbiya and the interior life into accessible, lived English-language reflections for Muslim readers across cultural and methodological lines.