The Author Imam 'Abdulwahhab ibn Ahmad ash-Sha'rani was born on 27th Ramadan 898AH/1493CE near Cairo, Egypt. He studied all four schools of Islamic jurisprudence, as well as all the major scholars on the various sciences who had preceded him. However, his primary objective was to bring people back to the essence of putting Islamic teachings into practice, and thus he focussed on tasawwuf (Islamic spiritual behaviourism), relying heavily on the instructions of his teachers and spiritual guides. Imam ash-Sha'rani's zawiyah (spiritual and academic centre), financially and politically independent, was a centre of academic and spiritual excellence, popular with students and disciples and a retreat for the tired and hungry. Imam ash-Sha'rani passed away on 12th Jumada al-Ula, 973AH/1565CE and was buried inside his zawiyah.