Yasir Qadhi: Difference between revisions
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| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1975}}<ref name=finding_your_roots_profile>http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/profiles/yasir-qadhi/</ref> |
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1975}}<ref name=finding_your_roots_profile>http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/profiles/yasir-qadhi/</ref> |
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| nationality = [[United States|American]]<br/> |
| nationality = [[United States|American]]<br/> |
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| education = [[Master of Arts (postgraduate)| |
| education = Hafidh-Memorized Quran<br/>. Madrasah<br/><br/>[[Master of Arts (postgraduate)|M.A.]] Islamic Creed<br/>[[B.A.]] Islamic Sciences<br/>[[Associate's degree]] Arabic Lang.<br/>. [[Islamic University of Madinah]]<br/><br/>[[D.Phil]] Islamic Studies <br/>[[M.Phil]] Islamic Studies<br/>. [[Yale University]]<br/><br/>[[B.Sc]] Chemical Engineering<br/>. [[University of Houston]]<ref name=hch/><br/><br/> |
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| alma_maters = [[Islamic University of Madinah]]<br/>[[Yale University]]<br/>[[University of Houston]]<ref name=hch /><br/> |
| alma_maters = [[Islamic University of Madinah]]<br/>[[Yale University]]<br/>[[University of Houston]]<ref name=hch /><br/> |
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| occupation = Instructor |
| occupation = Instructor |
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Revision as of 03:01, 29 April 2013
Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1975 (age 48–49)[1] |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Hafidh-Memorized Quran . Madrasah M.A. Islamic Creed B.A. Islamic Sciences Associate's degree Arabic Lang. . Islamic University of Madinah D.Phil Islamic Studies M.Phil Islamic Studies . Yale University B.Sc Chemical Engineering . University of Houston[2] |
| Occupation | Instructor |
| Title | Dean of Academic Affairs, AlMaghrib Institute |
| Website | MuslimMatters.org |
Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi Al Amreeki (ياسر قاضي), also known as Yasir Kazi, is an American Muslim writer and Islamic instructor for the Al-Maghrib Institute. He has written a number of books and has lectured on Islam and contemporary Muslim issues.[2][3]
Biography
Qadhi was born in Houston, Texas, to parents of Pakistani origin,[2][4] but Qadhi has also stated that he hails from Lucknow, India.[citation needed] He completed his primary and secondary education in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, graduating as valedictorian of his class. He returned to Houston to complete a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from the University of Houston. When asked why he chose a secular degree instead of an Islamic one first, he remarked:
- "As a Muslim child growing up in America, you are expected to become an engineer or a doctor. It is just understood."[4]
After a short stint at Dow Chemical, he went to the Islamic University of Madinah in Madinah, Saudi Arabia to attain a bachelor's degree in Arabic from the university's College of Hadith and Islamic Sciences and a master's degree in Islamic Theology from the College of Dawah.[3][4][2]
He returned to the United States in 2005 after nearly ten years in Saudi Arabia.[4] As of April 2012, he teaches in the Religious Studies Department of Rhodes College, in Memphis, TN. Additionally, he has completed a doctoral in theology at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.[2][3]
Qadhi describes himself as a "revivalist" in the Islamic sense, and likens some of the practices he endorses similar to those practiced by conservative Christian groups and Orthodox Jews in America, particularly with regard to dietary laws, family values, and modest dress for women.[4]
Activities
Qadhi was recently featured in a front-page NY Times Magazine article by Pulitzer Prize winner Andrea Elliott[5] shedding light on Qadhi's activities and biography.
He is the Dean of Academic Affairs and an instructor for the AlMaghrib Institute,[3] a double weekend-based seminar that he and other American Muslims instructors run. The instructors travel to designated locations in the US, UK and Canada (and more recently, Malaysia) to teach Islamic studies in English.[4] He gives regular sermons and lectures, and also appears on a number of Islamic satellite channels: (Islam Channel in England; Huda TV in Egypt; Al-Fajr Channel in Egypt; and Peace TV in India, the UK, and the U.S), where he teaches theology, Seerah, Tajweed and other topics. He is also one of the founding members and Islamic specialists at MuslimMatters.org, a blogzine for American Muslims. Qadhi appeared on PBS' TV series "Finding Your Roots" in an episode that premiered on April 15, 2012. The episode highlighted his family's migration to America, his genealogical history, and the presence of Muslims in America. During the episode, it was revealed to Qadhi that he shares a common ancestor with Barbara Walters and that he is related to Ashkenazi Jews.[1]
Holocaust remarks and reversal
The Daily Telegraph reported that, in 2001, Qadhi (whom the newspaper characterized as a "hard-line conservative preacher") described the Holocaust as a hoax, and claimed that "Hitler never intended to mass-destroy the Jews", and "All this [the Holocaust] is false propaganda".[6] The telegraph also reported that Qadhi later retracted his statements, stating that he had been misled.[6] Faced with the charges, Qadhi, acknowledging that he had briefly held mistaken beliefs about the Holocaust, wrote that even in the 2001 lecture he did not deny "the actual occurrence of the Holocaust, or express any support or admiration for Hitler, or claim that all Jews were worthy of being despised or hated". He called it a "one-time mistake", stating that "I firmly believe that the Holocaust was one of the worst crimes against humanity that the 20th century has witnessed."[7]
In July 2010, he was selected to participate in an official delegation of US imams and religious leaders to visit the concentration camps at Auschwitz and Dachau. The Imams subsequently released a joint statement condemning anti-Semitism and labelling Holocaust denial as against the ethics of Islam.[8]
Views on Jihad
Yasir Qadhi has presented papers on jihad movements. In 2006, at a conference at Harvard Law School, Qadhi presented a 15-minute analysis of the theological underpinnings of an early militant movement in modern Saudi Arabia headed by Juhayman al-Otaibi. The movement had gained international attention when it held the Grand Mosque of Mecca hostage in 1979.[9] In another paper, presented in September 2009 at an international conference at University of Edinburgh on understanding jihad in the modern world, he discussed how a specific legal ruling (fatwā) of the medieval theologian Ibn Taymiyya was used both by jihadist and pacifist groups to justify their positions.[10] The paper has been critiqued, however, by Salafi commentators.[11] Qadhi has been involved in de-radicalization efforts in the US, and was a participant in the U.S. Counter-Radicalization Strategy conference organized by the National Counterterrorism Center in the summer of 2008.[12]
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/12/30/terror.suspect.seminar/ "Terror suspect attended 2008 Islamic 'knowledge summit' in Houston"], CNN, December 30, 2009, accessed February 2, 2010</ref> Qadhi said of Abdulmutallab, who attended some of the classes that he taught, "He was a very quiet individual, tight-lipped and shy, and he did not ask a single question during the discussions. He barely interacted with the other students at the conference.".[12] Qadhi recalled speaking to Abdulmutallab, and remembered that he was "very reserved in his responses."[12] Abdulmutallab also attended two seminars organized by the AlMaghrib Institute in London in the months before the event in Houston. After the Houston event, Qadhi added, Abdulmutallab did not sign up for further AlMaghrib events, perhaps an indication that extremist ideas were beginning to influence him.[12]
In 2006, Qadhi, noting that Muslims are routinely detained and questioned at airports and other ports of entry, said that the main problem the Muslim community has "is the presumption of guilt. It is the singling out of people just because of their looks or their identity." Qadhi said he himself was on a secret watch list, but had no idea how he got on the list.[13] His name has since been cleared from that list.
Works
Books authored or co-authored
- Riyaa: Hidden Shirk, 103 pages, Abu Ammaar Yasir Al-Qathi, Dar-al-Fatah, 1996, ISBN 8172317530
- An introduction to the sciences of the Qura̓an, Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi, Al-Hidaayah Pub., 1999, ISBN 1-898649-32-4
- An Explanation of the Four Principles of Shirk, 60 pages, Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd al-Wahhāb, Yasir Qadhi, Al-Hidaayah, 2000, ISBN 1-898649-52-9
- Du’a : The Weapon of the Believer, Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi, Al Hidaayah Publishing & Distribution, 2001, ISBN 1-898649-51-0
- 15 Ways to Increase Your Earnings from the Quran and Sunnah, Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi, Al Hidaayah Publishing & Distribution, 2002, ISBN 1-898649-56-1
- An explanation of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's Kashf al-Shubuhat: a critical analysis of shirk, Abū Ammaar Yasir Qadhi, Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd al-Wahhāb, Al-Hidaayah, 2003, ISBN 1-898649-62-6
See also
References
- ^ a b http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/profiles/yasir-qadhi/
- ^ a b c d e f Dooley, Tara (October 8, 2005). "A Changing World; American and Muslim; Islamic scholar, a Houston native, brings cultural insight to lectures on his religion". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 2, 2010.
- ^ a b c d Murphy, Caryle (September 5, 2006). "For Conservative Muslims, Goal of Isolation a Challenge". Washington Post. Retrieved February 2, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f O’Leary, Mary E. (January 4, 2009). "An American Muslim envisions a new kind of learning". New Haven Register. Retrieved February 2, 2010.
- ^ Andrea Elliott (2011-03-17). "Why Yasir Qadhi Wants to Talk About Jihad". New York Times.
- ^ a b Sawer, Patrick, "Detroit bomber's mentor continues to influence British mosques and universities," The Daily Telegraph, January 2, 2010, accessed February 1, 2010
- ^ Yasir Qadhi (2008-11-10). "GPU '08 with Yasir Qadhi: When Islamophobia Meets Perceived Anti-Semitism".
- ^ "U.S. Muslim group denounces 'historic injustice of the Holocaust'". CNN.
- ^ "V International Conference on Islamic Legal Studies; “Lawful and Unlawful Violence in Islamic Law and History”, Islamic Legal Studies Program, Harvard Law School, September 8–10, 2006, accessed February 2, 2010
- ^ "Rethinking Jihad: Ideas, Politics and Conflict in the Arab World & Beyond; Programme", University of Edinburgh, September 7, 2009, accessed February 2, 2010
- ^ Did Modern Salafi Scholars Invent the Notion of 'Istihlal'? A Critique of Yasir Qadhi's Paper
- ^ a b c d "Terror suspect attended 2008 Islamic 'knowledge fest' in Houston - CNN.com". CNN. December 31, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
- ^ Staff, Richard Vara, "Muslims vent frustrations at forum / They share tales of being detained at airports, other points of entry", Houston Chronicle, August 8, 2006, accessed February 2, 2010
External links
- MuslimMatters bio (where Qadhi blogs)
- Qadhi Audio and Books
- Qadhi Video and Audio Lectures from Halal Tube
- Qadhi on the Deen Show
- Qadhi on the Doha Debates
- Doha Debates participant
- Video of Qadhi's talk "Perfect Justice: Debunking the Male Bias Myth", April 22, 2006
- Video of Qadhi's talk at Global Peace and Unity Conference, 2006
- Video of Qadhi's talk at Global Peace and Unity Conference, 2008
- Kilday, Anne Marie, "'For the benefit of all mankind'; Local conference highlights Quran's teachings about the importance of honoring animals", Houston Chronicle, December 23, 2006