Canadian Muslim scholar and Salafist (born 1947)
Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips (born Dennis Bradley Philips; July 17, 1947[1]) is a Jamaica-born Canadian Islamic teacher, speaker, author, founder and chancellor of the International Open University, who lives in Qatar.[4]
He has written, translated and commented on over 50 Islamic books and has appeared or presented on numerous national and satellite television channels, including Saudi TV, Sharjah TV, Ajman TV, Islam Channel, Huda TV, and Peace TV.[1][5][6]
Biography
Early life
Philips was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to high school teachers Bradley Philips and Joyce McDermott.[7] Philips has one brother and one sister, as well as an adopted brother.[citation needed] Philips was raised a Christian, with his mother being an Anglican and his father a Presbyterian.[7]
Philips spent the first 11 years of childhood in Jamaica,[8] before migrating to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[9] He attended Jarvis Collegiate Institute for junior high and Northview Heights Collegiate Institute for high school from 1962 to 1965. Philips moved with his family to Sabah, East Malaysia in 1964, as his parents were part of the Colombo Plan.[8][10]
Education
Philips attended Simon Fraser University in Vancouver from 1967 to 1970, where he took biochemistry.[7] Philips had encountered Islam several times in his travels, but the book that won him over was Islam, The Misunderstood Religion by Muhammad Qutb.[11] He converted to Islam in February 1972, giving Shahada in the presence of Abdullah Hakim Quick.[10][citation needed]
He received his B.A. degree from the Islamic University of Madinah and his M.A. in ʿAqīdah (Islamic Theology) from the King Saud University in Riyadh, then to the University of Wales, St. David's University College (now University of Wales, Trinity Saint David). There at the Lampeter Campus he completed his 1993 PhD thesis, Exorcism in Islam.[12]
Preaching and career
Philips taught Islamic studies for a decade at Manarat al-Riyadh School in Riyadh[10] and was an Arabic and Islamic studies teacher in the American University of Dubai for 10 years as well.[2][13] He also lectures at the Ajman University (AU) in the United Arab Emirates.[14] Philips set up an Islamic Studies department of Preston University in Ajman in 2002 and set up the Islamic Studies Academy in Qatar in 2007.[1]
During the First Gulf War, Philips organized Islamic religious revival meetings for U.S. troops stationed in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, during which (according to Philips) over three thousand soldiers converted to Islam.[15] According to counter-extremism author J.M. Berger, some of the US military men and women who participated in his revival program were later recruited as volunteer trainers in the 1992-95 Bosnian War.[15] Philips founded and taught at the Islamic Information Center in Dubai, under the Dar al Ber Society, and in Qatar he was an Islamic consultant and lecturer for the Islamic Information wing of Sheikh Eid Charity.[1]
Islamic Online University
Philips founded the Islamic Online University in Qatar in the year of 2001.[2][16][17]
Views
Regarding his statement "Western culture, led by the United States, is the enemy of Islam," he has explained in an interview in Austrolabe that it was taken out of context, and that he was quoting Samuel P. Huntington’s famous statement on the clash of civilisations.[18] When asked in an interview with author Berger about his statement, he explains that he opposes the effort by "globalized western civilization" to "push ... secular democracy ... down the throats of the rest of the world."[15]
Philips has stated that there is no such thing as rape in marriage in Islam:[19][20]
[In] Islam, a woman is obliged to give herself to her husband and he may not be charged with rape. Of course, if a woman is physically ill or exhausted, her husband should take her condition into consideration and not force himself upon her.[21]
Phillips had previously stated in a lecture[22] and in one of his books[23] that suicide bombers are unfairly criticized as they are not really committing the suicide that is forbidden in Islam, but are showing bravery in committing a military operation. However he would later state in a 2010 interview that he believes suicide bombings actually do not comply with Islamic law.[15]
When you look at the mind of the suicide bomber, it's a different intention altogether ... The [enemy] is either too heavily armed, or they don't have the type of equipment that can deal with it, so the only other option they have is to try to get some people amongst them and then explode the charges that they have to try to destroy the equipment and to save the lives of their comrades. So this is not really considered to be suicide in the true sense. This is a military action and human lives are sacrificed in that military action. This is really the bottom line for it and that's how we should look at it.[22][19]
Philips' ideas on suicide bombing made news after the website of Luton Islamic Centre, where a suicide bomber had worshipped, was found to carry a link to a lecture by Philips in which he made "comments used to justify suicide attacks, and material expounding antisemitism and homophobia".[22] The chairman of the Luton Islamic Centre has said Philips' comments that were posted on its website contained errors and that it should not have been categorized as "suicide bombings" because he was referring to military operations as opposed to harming innocent people.[22]
In an interview in Austrolabe, republished in Muslim Matters, Philips calls himself a "moderate" and the claim that he is an extremist "baseless".[18] He has also stated that he is opposed to Al-Qaeda and any type of terrorism in the name of Islam.[24]
Controversies
Philips came under criticism in Britain for his statements on suicide bombers.[19] Some civil rights advocates have defended Philips for his actions, claiming that he is being religiously persecuted.[14] Philips has responded to such criticism by stating he is a moderate[18] who does not endorse terrorism or the use of suicide bombings in Islam.[24][15]
Bannings
Philips has been banned from entering the United Kingdom,[22] Australia,[25] Denmark[26] and Kenya,[27] banned from re-entering Germany,[28] ordered to leave Bangladesh,[29] because of his extreme views[19] and arrested in and deported from the Philippines[30] for "inciting and recruiting people to conduct terrorist activities."[31]
In 2007 he was banned from entering Australia on the advice of national security agencies.[25]
In 2010 Philips was banned from entering the UK by home secretary Theresa May for holding "extremist views".[22][32]
In April 2011, Philips was banned from re-entering Germany as persona non grata.[28]
In 2012, Philips was banned from entering Kenya over possible terror links.[27][33][34]
Philips was named by the US government as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He has stated that this allegation was not factual hence he was not arrested.[35][36]
In 2014, the publisher of a book authored by Philips entitled "The Fundamentals of Tawheed" was arrested by armed officers during a raid of Islamic institutions in Prague. 20 people were detained during Friday Prayer at a mosque and a community center.[19] Law enforcement officials claimed Philips' book "incites xenophobia and violence" and insisted it was racist. Philips "vehemently" defended his book, denied it condoned racism, noting that millions of copies had been published in Muslim communities around the world, and stated that any action against the book could "constitute an attack on Islam itself."[19]
In June 2014, the Bangladeshi intelligence service ordered Phillips, who had come to Dhaka to give lectures, to leave the country.[29][37]
In September 2014, Philips was arrested[30] in the Philippines for "inciting and recruiting people to conduct terrorist activities."[31][24] He had been expected to be deported by Philippine immigration authorities after police arrested him in southern Davao City.[24][38] The director of the Philippine National Police in Southern Mindanao, said Philips was questioned for his possible links with terror groups including the ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria).[30] He was deported from the Philippines back to Canada.[39][40] Philips denied the charges leveled by Filipino officials and denied links to terrorists groups.[41] Some religious leaders[27] and civil rights advocates have defended Philips and criticized his deportation from the Philippines, arguing that he has not done anything wrong and that he has been a victim of religious persecution.[14]
In the April 2016 issue of Dabiq Magazine, The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, declared Philips to be a murtadd (or apostate)[42] and threatened to kill him for denouncing ISIS.[43][44][45]
One of Philip's works entitled "The Fundamentals of Tauheed" has been described as "extremist" by the United Kingdom prison service. As a consequence, this book has now been removed and banned from prisons.[46]
In May 2017, Philips was banned from entering Denmark[26] for two years along with other preachers including Salman al-Ouda and Terry Jones.[47]
