Yasir Qadhi (born January 30, 1975),
is an American preacher, theologian, and imam. Since 2001, he has served as Dean of Academic Affairs at the
Al-Maghrib Institute, an international Islamic educational institution with a center in
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
. He also taught in the Religious Studies department at
Rhodes College
Rhodes College is a private liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee. Historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), it is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges a ...
in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
. He is currently the resident scholar of the
East Plano Islamic Center
The East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC) is a mosque located in Plano, Texas. The current building of the masjid opened in July 2015, although the mosque started a decade earlier. The current Imam is Nadim Bashir, and the current resident scholar is ...
in
Plano, Texas
Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.
Hist ...
.
Qadhi has written books and lectured widely on Islam and contemporary Muslim issues.
A 2011 ''
The New York Times Magazine
''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...
'' essay by Andea Elliott described Qadhi as "one of the most influential conservative clerics in American Islam."
[
Elliott, Andrea (April 17, 2011)]
"Why Yasir Qadhi Wants to Talk About Jihad"
, ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. Writing in 2017, journalist
Graeme Wood called him "one of the two most prominent Muslim scholars in the United States today." He has also consistently been listed in
The 500 Most Influential Muslims
''The 500 Most Influential Muslims'' (also known as ''The Muslim 500'') is an annual publication first published in 2009, which ranks the most influential Muslims in the world.
The publication is compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies C ...
, most recently in 2022.
Qadhi was previously affiliated with the
Salafi
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
movement but has since left the movement and now only identifies himself as a
Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
.
Early years
Qadhi was born in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
to Pakistani parents.
[
] His father, a doctor by profession, founded the first mosque in the area, while his mother is a microbiologist, both from
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
in Pakistan.
When he was five, the family moved to
Jeddah
Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...
,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, where he attended local schools. By 15 he had
memorized the Qur'an and graduated from high school two years early as class valedictorian.
He returned to the United States, where he earned a
B.Sc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
in Chemical Engineering at the
University of Houston
The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...
.
Professional career
After a short stint working in engineering at
Dow Chemical
The Dow Chemical Company, officially Dow Inc., is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world.
Dow manufactures plastics ...
, in 1996 Qadhi enrolled at the
Islamic University of Medinah in
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
, Saudi Arabia. There, he earned 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 its College of
Dawah
Dawah ( ar, دعوة, lit=invitation, ) is the act of inviting or calling people to embrace Islam. The plural is ''da‘wāt'' (دَعْوات) or ''da‘awāt'' (دَعَوات).
Etymology
The English term ''Dawah'' derives from the Arabic ...
.
Qadhi returned to the United States after working and studying for nine years in Saudi Arabia.
He completed a
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
in
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
.
Qadhi taught in the Religious Studies Department of
Rhodes College
Rhodes College is a private liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee. Historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), it is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges a ...
, in
Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
, Tennessee. He previously was the Dean of Academic Affairs and an instructor for the
AlMaghrib Institute
AlMaghrib Institute is an Islamic studies institute founded in Houston, Texas, by Muhammad AlShareef in 2002.Asef Bayat, Linda Herrera, ''Being Young and Muslim: New Cultural Politics in the Global South and North,'' p 170. AlMaghrib provides c ...
.
[
] This is a seminar-based Islamic education institution founded in 2001. The instructors travel to teach Islamic studies in English. He moved to the Dallas metropolitan area in early 2019, becoming the resident scholar of the
East Plano Islamic Center
The East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC) is a mosque located in Plano, Texas. The current building of the masjid opened in July 2015, although the mosque started a decade earlier. The current Imam is Nadim Bashir, and the current resident scholar is ...
. He is currently the Dean of Academic Affairs at The Islamic Seminary of America.
Qadhi notes that some of the practices he endorses are similar to those practiced by
conservative Christian groups and
Orthodox Jew
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on ...
s in the United States. For instance, he says that each group observes dietary laws (which sometimes cover acceptable drinks), stresses family values, and requires modest dress for women.
Qadhi was a guest subject on an episode of Harvard professor
Henry Louis Gates
Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. (born September 16, 1950) is an American literary critic, professor, historian, and filmmaker, who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African Am ...
's television genealogy series ''
Finding Your Roots
''Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'' is a documentary television series hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. that premiered on March 25, 2012, on PBS. In each episode, celebrities are presented with a "book of life" that is compiled with ...
'' on PBS.
Views
Jihad
Qadhi has presented papers on ''
jihad
Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...
'' movements. In 2006, at a conference at
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
, Qadhi presented a 15-minute analysis of the theological underpinnings of an early militant movement in modern Saudi Arabia headed by
Juhayman al-Otaibi
Juhayman ibn Muhammad ibn Sayf al-Otaybi ( ar, جهيمان بن محمد بن سيف العتيبي; 16 September 1936 – 9 January 1980), was a Saudi terrorist and soldier who in 1979 led the seizure of the Great Mosque of Mecca, Saudi Arabia' ...
. The movement had gained international attention when it held the
Grand Mosque of
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
hostage in 1979.
In September 2009, he presented a paper at an international conference at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
on understanding ''jihad'' in the modern world. He discussed how the specific legal ruling (''
fatwā
A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...
'') of the 13–14th century theologian
Ibn Taymiyya
Ibn Taymiyyah (January 22, 1263 – September 26, 1328; ar, ابن تيمية), birth name Taqī ad-Dīn ʾAḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn ʿAbd al-Salām al-Numayrī al-Ḥarrānī ( ar, تقي الدين أحمد بن عبد الحليم ...
on the
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...
has been wrongfully used in the 20th and 21st centuries by both ''jihadist'' and pacifist groups to justify their positions. The paper has been critiqued by some
Salafi
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
commentators, who argue that they in fact didn't revise the definition of
Jihad
Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...
.
Sufism and veneration of the saints
Qadhi believes that the practice of some Sufi Muslims visiting the graves of Sufi saints and calling upon Muhammad and calling upon them for help or guidance is not
shirk (polytheism) but said it is
haram
''Haram'' (; ar, حَرَام, , ) is an Arabic term meaning 'Forbidden'. This may refer to either something sacred to which access is not allowed to the people who are not in a state of purity or who are not initiated into the sacred knowle ...
, sinful, an evil innovation, and called it a stepping stone and gateway to shirk but not shirk in and of itself. Qadhi has also stated that these Muslims should still be regarded as Muslims, though misguided. He believes that questioning whether veneration of Sufi saints at gravesites can be called shirk is highly problematic because that would mean accusing many Muslim scholars who hold affirmative views towards it of committing shirk and being out of the fold of Islam.
He has said it is not shirk in and of itself unless they believe they are calling out to a god, intend to worship or believe in the saints to have independent powers in and of themselves. He also believed that Sufi Muslims that participate in the practice do not believe in the saints to be gods and don't intend it to be worship when calling upon them nor believe they have independent powers.
Views on social issues
Yasir Qadhi has criticized progressive Muslims like Moiz Khan that interpret Islamic law as supporting homosexual relations, saying these teachings contain "very little Islam".
In regards to religious liberties, Qadhi believes that Islamic teachings don't support or require that Muslim business owners discriminate or refuse service to LGBTQ individuals. Nonetheless, Qadhi expresses concern that Islamic institutions may face issues if they speak in a vulgar manner and employ or fire employees that don't conform to conservative beliefs regarding sexual behaviors.
Death threat by Islamic State of Iraq and the Syria
In the April 2016 issue of ''
Dabiq Magazine,'' the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...
declared Qadhi, along with
Hamza Yusuf
Hamza Yusuf (born: Mark Hanson; 1958) is an American Islamic neo-traditionalist, Islamic scholar, and co-founder of Zaytuna College. He is a proponent of classical learning in Islam and has promoted Islamic sciences and classical teaching metho ...
,
Bilal Philips
Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips (born Dennis Bradley Philips; July 17, 1947), is a Canadian Islamic teacher, speaker, author, founder and chancellor of the International Open University, who lives in Qatar.Gerard McManus. (2007-4-4)Radical sheik refuse ...
,
Suhaib Webb
Suhaib Webb is an American Muslim imam who converted from Christianity to Islam in 1992. He has previously been the imam of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC).
Biography
Early life
He was born William Webb in 1972 in Oklah ...
and numerous other Western
Islamic speakers, as
murtad
Apostasy in Islam ( ar, ردة, or , ) is commonly defined as the abandonment of Islam by a Muslim, in thought, word, or through deed. An apostate from Islam is referred to by using the Arabic and Islamic term ''murtād'' (). It includes no ...
s (or apostates). It threatened to kill them for denouncing ISIS and the shooting attacks in Paris on the ''
Charlie Hebdo
''Charlie Hebdo'' (; meaning ''Charlie Weekly'') is a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. Stridently non-conformist in tone, the publication has been described as Anti-racism, anti-racist, sceptica ...
'' offices.
Controversies
In January 2010, the British ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'' reported that in 2001 Qadhi had described the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
as a hoax and false propaganda, and had claimed that "
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
never intended to mass-destroy the Jews." The following year, ''The New York Times'' recounted his claim that most Islamic studies professors in the United States are Jews who “want to destroy us.”
Qadhi denied stating that the Holocaust was a hoax or that it was false propaganda, but in 2008 admitted that he had briefly held mistaken beliefs about the Holocaust, and had said "that Hitler never actually intended to massacre the Jews, he actually wanted to expel them to neighboring lands". Qadhi acknowledged that his views were wrong and said "I admit it was an error".
[ Qadhi added that he firmly believes "that the Holocaust was one of the worst crimes against humanity that the 20th century has witnessed" and that "the systematic dehumanization of the Jews in the public eye of the Germans was a necessary precursor" for that tragedy.][
] More generally, he has admitted that he "fell down a slippery slope", expressing anger at actions of the Israeli government in the form of anti-Semitic remarks he later recognized as wrong.
In July 2010, Qadhi was selected to participate in an official delegation of eight U.S. imams and Jewish religious leaders to visit the concentration camps at Auschwitz and Dachau. The imams subsequently released a joint statement condemning anti-Semitism and labeling Holocaust denial as against the ethics of Islam.
''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' newspaper reported that British Charity Commission regulators contacted three Islamic charities about Qadhi's 2015 tour, where he allegedly made controversial comments and told students that "killing homosexuals and stoning adulterers was part of their religion.
Works of Yasir Qadhi
Research papers
Reconciling Reason and Revelation in the Writings of Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728/1328): An Analytical Study of Ibn Taymiyyah’s Dar' at-ta’aarod
PhD Dissertation, 2013, Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
.
The Unleashed Thunderbolts' Of Ibn Qayyim Al-Ǧawziyyah: An Introductory Essay
,
Oriente Moderno
' vol. 90, no. 1, 2010, pp. 135–149.
A Christian Islamist?
,
Political Theology
', vol. 14, issue 6, 2013, pp. 803–812.
*
Salafı-Ash'arı Polemics of the 3rd & 4th Islamic Centuries
"
The Muslim World
', 2016.
Translations
* Sunan Abu Dawud - first 2 volumes
See also
*Dawah
Dawah ( ar, دعوة, lit=invitation, ) is the act of inviting or calling people to embrace Islam. The plural is ''da‘wāt'' (دَعْوات) or ''da‘awāt'' (دَعَوات).
Etymology
The English term ''Dawah'' derives from the Arabic ...
* Islam in the United States
*List of Da'ees
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*Islam in Dallas
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qadhi, Abu Ammaar Yasir
1975 births
Living people
Muhajir people
University of Houston alumni
Islamic University of Madinah alumni
Yale University alumni
American Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
American academics of Pakistani descent
21st-century Muslim theologians
Dow Chemical Company employees
American expatriates in Saudi Arabia