10 REASONS WHY ‘IMAM’ SUHAIB WEBB SHOULD BE AVOIDED
So it seems as though Suhaib Webb, or ‘Imam Will’ as he likes to call himself these days, is going back on his word and planning a tour of the UK. Whereas previously he expressed distaste for the British Muslim scene, presumably due to their greater reluctance to be as amenable to his modernist preaching compared to his American audiences, it seems after sending his female counterpart, Yasmin Mogahed, to test the waters earlier this year, the brave man himself will attempt to preach his brand of ‘American Islam’ on this side of the pond. Whether he succeeds or not in his mission of preaching what is now nothing less than completely watered down, modernist Islam will depend much on how well both the proposed hosts and the audience understand just how much this individual has changed, and ultimately how detrimental to our youth it would be to bring him over.
“So what exactly is the issue with Suhaib Webb? I remember him speaking back in 2006 and he was ok!”
This is precisely the problem. The memories we have of him are of yesteryear when by all accounts he preached with sincerity. Sure, he’s always been a bit confused, one minute in the Sufi corner at Sunnipath, then after unceremoniously being kicked out of there, claiming to be an Athari and switching to the Salafis at Al-Maghrib, before doing yet another volte-face and now claiming to be a “Sufi-Ashari-Azhari”.
Irrespective of group affiliation or aqeedah, at least he always stood by some of the basic tenets and morals of what is clearly halal and haram in Islam, basic boundaries accepted by all the different sects. Surely he hasn’t change that much right? I mean no way does this Imam we remember support gay marriages, no way is that picture of him in a bar real, and no way he’d ever say anything that may further propagate the persecution of Aafia Siddique right?
Wrong.
A lot can, and has, changed over the last half a decade.
Here are ten reasons why allowing this ‘Imam’ to preach here in the UK would be tantamount to poisoning the minds of our youth:
1. AMERICAN ISLAM
What exactly is ‘American Islam’?
Quite simply, it’s the attempt to distort every aspect of Islam that doesn’t conform to American values. A desperate attempt to paint a hazy picture of what used to be accepted as haram to now ‘debateable’ or an ‘iktilaaf’ issue. Doesn’t matter that the Quran, Hadith, vast majority of scholars or even all four madhabs may oppose a particular issue – if this issue doesn’t sit well with the all American lifestyle, then American Islamists, with Suhaib Webb as their protagonist, will do their utmost to blur the lines between haram and halal.
What is the aim of American Islam? And what has Suhaib Webb got to do with it?
The aim of ‘American Islam’ is sadly very clear to those discerning enough – quite simply to please the watching American media and politicians. Whether Webb is actually on the US government’s payroll or not has long been debated and is a contentious issue. What is quite clear, however, is that Suhaib Webb is at the forefront of preaching this shameless and corrupted version of Islam, something he has made no secret of, often dedicating entire khutbas and talks for the cause.
Allah guides and Allah misguides whom he pleases.Usama Hasan, Taj Hargey, Majid Nawaz are all examples of Islamically educated yet shameless sell outs here on our shores. Individuals who would be celebrated as ‘progressives’ in America, but thankfully marginalised in the UK by the more discerning British Muslim audience. If Suhaib Webb resided here, he would undoubtedly be at the top of that list.
Read more about the ugly face of American Islam here:
http://forums.islamicawakening.com/f20/exposing-shaming-notion-american-islam-greatest-threat-65535/
2. SUPPORTING HOMOSEXUALITY AND GAY MARRIAGES
“Webb tweeted that he had made “mistakes” (re homosexuality) and, in an interview last week, said he had rethought the gay marriage issue. Even if Islam regards homosexuality as a sin, Webb said the constitution guarantees the rights of everyone to get married.” Boston Globe, May 2013.
Islam complete and utterly forbids the abhorrence known as homosexuality. The American way of life promotes and support it. Remember that definition of American Islam mentioned above? The blurring of what is halal and haram to please the watching non-Muslim audience? Well here’s a prime example of how far Suhaib Webb will go.
According to his Wikipedia page:
“In 2007, Webb wrote an article calling homosexuality an “evil inclination” and told a gay would-be convert to Islam to seek treatment for his “problems.” Webb also gave a public speech where he encouraged his congregation to speak out against gay marriages. He says (in 2013) he has since re-thought the issue and no longer opposes gay marriages. Webb has also had homosexuals join his team and contribute to his website.”
Suhaibwebb.com now hosting homosexuals:
“At a Muslim conference in Long Beach last year, he suggested that mosques adopt a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward gays. Afterward, he was accosted by a local Imam who accused him of poisoning Muslim youth.” – LA Times, May 2011.
As with many issues, Webb uses ambiguous wording in a forked tongue attempt to please two different audiences. To the American media you’ll see headlines of ‘Imam Webb supports gay marriages’ – to which he not only does not object to, but even reposts on his own fan pages. And to his Muslim audiences he claims, ‘I was only affirming the right of the US government to support gay marriages’. Oh really. The US government needs Suhaib Webb’s affirmation to do what they do? Give us a break. All Webb is looking for is headlines and approval from his American masters, whilst desperately trying to cling on to his increasingly suspicious Muslim following.
We have over 500 British and European Imams standing in unison, having the fortitude to step up for what we all know to be correct and oppose gay marriages:
And we’re now going to invite and promote Mr ‘lets affirm and support gay marriages’ to our shores to poison us with the very disease for which Allah has destroyed entire nations?
3. BLATANT LIES ABOUT THE SUNNAH
Watch the following clip:
Yes, you heard it right. Mr Imam Will, the same Imam who forever blows his own trumpet as to what a rich and extensive Islamic education he’s supposedly had, Azhar this, Azhar that, who are you to question me etc etc. makes the quite astonishing claim in public that the thobe is not a sunnah!
Quite a dumbfounding claim given that within hours of this being uploaded onto YouTube, both laymen and students of knowledge over at sunniforum produced a whole plethora of evidences to prove what we already knew – that the thobe is, without doubt, a sunnah:
4. BLATANT LIES ABOUT SCHOLARS
Again, watch the following video:
Suhaib Webb says: “And that’s why I have a problem with converts taking social fatwas from Islam Q&A. I mean look at one of the fatwas Shaykh Bin Baaz gave. He said that it’s allowed for you to marry an American woman for a green card (American visa) and then dump her…now if you were to ask a local Mufti in America, there’s no way he would give such a fatwa.”
What a blatant lie:
Again, crystal clear. As the clip says you don’t have to be a ‘Salafi’ to realise just how dangerous Suhaib Webb has become. If he can lie so blatantly about one scholar, he can lie about others. He bumbled some half baked response in his usual defiant, arrogant manner but somehow still claimed he said the right thing even though Shaykh Bin Baaz’s fatwa clearly proved Webb to be lying once again.
Perhaps it’s time we implemented one of SW’s own tweets given his blatant slander against the scholars:
5. LACK OF SUNNAH APPEARANCE
Sure, the external physical appearance isn’t the most important factor in the world. But there are a few reasons when this is actually relevant. Firstly, many scholars and laymen hold and expect that a knowledgeable person, an ‘Imam’ or ‘Shaykh’ should at least have some resemblance to our beloved Prophet (saw). But here we have again, the all American Imam, clean shaven, suited and booted, the archetypal mr ‘american islam’. It becomes more of an issue to ponder over when you remember that Imam Suhaib Webb inspired many of us Brits back in the day because of his adherence to the sunnah. Tall, slim, beautiful long beard and thobe…and now?
To be quite blunt, what we have now represents everything that is wrong with ‘American Islam’ – a morbidly obese, stubble at best, suit clad ‘Imam Will’ with foremost on his mind ‘how much will CNN approve of me?’ as opposed to what kind of message he is sending to our Muslim youth. Everyone can understand a revert, or a previously non-practicing Muslim, taking their time in adopting certain aspects of the deen. The hijab, the beard etc or never quite having the courage to grow a full length beard. But seriously, how pathetic do you have to be to go from adorning a full sunnah beard and always wearing a beautiful thobe for years (as Suhaib Webb used to), to chopping it all off and, worse than that, actually going out of your way to now make fun of people who wear the thobe?
Finally, the external appearance genuinely does become all the more relevant when it clearly becomes a manifestation of the interior and ties in with the development of deviant positions such as supporting gay marriages and declaring fellow Muslims as non-Muslims (see below), amongst his many other such Islamically unethical behaviours.
6. CONSTANTLY PROMOTING MUSIC
‘There will be people of my Ummah who will seek to make lawful; fornication, wine-drinking and the use of musical instruments’
Muhammad (saw) Sahih Bukhari
Let’s get one thing clear – Western music as played on the TV, radio stations etc is haraam. No ifs, no buts. Forbidden by the Quran, Sunnah, all four madhahibs etc etc Those who like to claim Imam Ghazali, Ibn Hazm etc really need to go and read their works before commenting. A great book on this topic is ‘Slippery Stone’ by Khalid Baig which addresses all of these issues. At the very most, even the most lenient of scholars allowed only certain music with very strict regulations – use of duff only, at weddings, in battle, no-one under 40 listening and certainly never of music sung by the opposite gender and with lewd content.
Whether Deobandi, Salafi or Brelevi, the British scholars and Imams pretty much all sing from the same hymn sheet (no pun intended) when it comes to the issue of music. Even those with modernist tendencies are respectful of the fact that parents have spent many years advising their children to avoid music and to turn to Quran or other productive activities instead.
And what of our Mr Webb? It appears if he’s going to leave this world having achieved only one goal, that would be to poison the minds of the Muslim youth with the concept that music is permissible. That he considers haram music as permissible and even recommended is no secret. Worse still, the manner in which he goes about promoting certain filth has become increasingly disturbing. An LA Times feature on Suhaib Webb, which he himself proudly uploaded onto his website:
“If Mary J. Blige made the call to prayer, I’d go to the mosque; I’d be in the front row.” Suhaib Webb, LA Times, 2011.
If you don’t know who this Mary Blige is, then may Allah bless you. You only have to google her name to realise how abominable the above quote from a so called learned Imam is.
And more recently spreading lies about Imam Abu Hanifa, insinuating he had two varying opinions on the issue of music:
So lets say you’re reading this and you are from one of the more modern groups that believes music to a certain extent is permissible. Are you then ok to go to a pub too? Do you want your younger siblings or children influenced by this kind of ‘Imam’:
Seriously, need we say anymore? An Imam in a bar? And worse still, being proud of his exploits and putting it as his facebook profile picture? That sort of semi-kufr, hybrid filth may ‘fly’ in America, but this is NOT the kind of guy we want over here for our younger siblings, our children and relatives to be corrupted by.
And now, music concerts and clubbing are not only all kosher, but attended by the great American Imam himself. Such is his delusion that he even perceives ‘noor’ (lit. light or guidance) at these clubs:
7. THE SHEER ARROGANCE OF THE MAN
“Hey why don’t you advise him personally first? He always claims to want to engage in discourse and different points of views!”
Firstly, we have. Many of us have tried to advise him or even politely enquire about some of his queer stances. He didn’t reply to our emails and on facebook/twitter he simply deletes and blocks people. “WHO DID YOU STUDY WITH??!” is the usual, arrogant retort, boomed out by the big, unfriendly giant with his fly shoes n all.
A sign of a true Mu’min is his humility with others. The sheer, almost two faced level of arrogance of this so called Imam has bewildered many. If you don’t post something completely in support of whatever he posts on his website/facebook/twitter, he’ll simply delete your comments and block you. So much for his ‘let’s engage in discourse, exchange different views with love and understanding’. All for the watching audience once again. Many individuals have asked him legitimate questions in a respectful manner, yet they simply get blocked by someone who is clearly just trying to build up an online fan-club.
Parody of how Suhaib Webb responds to being advised to:
8. SCANT REGARD FOR ISLAMIC POSITION ON FREE-MIXING AND SEGREGATION
We’ll just let the pictures do the talking for this one…
‘On a hot day last year, Webb walked into Chicago’s Marquette Park, where dozens of artists were gathered for a Muslim music festival. At this one, called “Takin’ It to the Streets,” women in shorts, tank tops and tattoos mingled with men in traditional robes. During the headlining performance by Grammy-nominated rapper Mos Def, Webb watched as couples danced and people near him smoked pot…After Mos Def’s performance, Webb hugged him, saying, “Don’t let the community make you feel guilty about what you do.”’
LA Times, 2011.
9. RESTARTING THE ‘TAKFIR’ TREND.
So what exactly is takfir? It’s the declaration of another Muslim as a non-Muslim. For the most part, a very serious and dark practice. Back in the 90s we witnessed an ugly trend of takfir and takfiri Imams, mainly from the extreme Salafis. Alhamdulillah after years of debating, focusing on what unites most of us and generally just growing up, such declarations of takfir have gradually faded away.
Yet lo and behold, it reared its ugly head again earlier this year. However, this time it was not the extreme Salafis, but none other than our Imam Modernist when he declared the Tsarnaev brothers – the Boston SUSPECTS – as non-Muslims.
“Let’s say the attacker is Muslim. I won’t consider him to be a Muslim,” Webb said. “I’m not going to defend him or represent him.”
Take a minute to think about this. No-one can, and no righteous Muslim will, ever condone what happened in Boston, just like no-one can condone the day to day killing of civilians by American drones in Yemen, Pakistan and Iraq (incidentally ordered by US President Obama of whom SW recently said he was ‘proud’ of). Yet until this day, even the likes of Fox TV acknowledge the two brothers are merely suspects. There has been no trial, no guilty verdict, just a lot of media speculation. Yet before any of these, before these brothers had even been caught on suspicion of causing the Boston bombings, our dear please the American media Imam Suhaib Webb declared them as non-Muslims and as ‘savages’.
Perhaps the more disturbing aspect of his declaration of takfir is that, unlike other issues mentioned above, both the Islamic and American legal systems adhere to (or in the case of the latter, claims to adhere to) the same axiom of, ‘innocent until proven guilty’. Yet, despite this, Suhaib Webb felt the need to really put himself out there, calling the two brothers non-Muslim savages even before they were arrested, let alone any trial or guilty verdict, and grabbing a few extra headlines in the process.
Even if it does turn out, after a fair and legitimate trial (is there really such a thing for Muslims in America?), that the Tsarnaev brothers were indeed guilty, then they are no doubt abhorrent criminals, have innocent blood on their hands and, as mentioned, no decent human being can ever condone such actions. But to declare them as non-Muslims? There is absolutely no Shariah basis for that and to date Webb has been unable to provide any Islamic evidence whatsoever for his takfir, just a mish mash of emotional, pro-American diatribe.
A few words on the issue from Webb’s fellow American, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf:
On a side point, much respect to Martha Mullen, a Christian lady, who arranged the burial of Tamerlan Tsarnaev after Suhaib Webb again cowardly hid at the ISBCC refusing to offer janazah or the burial (despite the death occurring in Boston), no doubt fearful of his image being tarnished in the eyes of the American media:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/11/woman-tsarnaev-burial/2152931/
10. BETRAYAL OF AAFIA SIDDIQUE
Last but not least, and perhaps his most despicable act to date in his hypocritical path of trying to please his masters at the White House, is Suhaib Webb’s betrayal of Aafia Siddique. If you don’t know who Aafia Siddique is, you probably shouldn’t even be reading this article. Our sister Aafia is someone dear to Muslims worldwide, her persecution representing the very epitome of everything corrupt and heinous about both the American government and their military. The injustices committed against Aafia and her young children by the American army until this day bewilders and rages millions of Muslims and non-Muslims worldwide.
Millions worldwide took to the streets at the persecution of Aafia Siddique.
Mauri Saalakan, from the Justice for Aafia Campaign, who has faught tirelessly against Aafia’s perecution, expressed in Boston: “we have an obligation to respond to our sister’s unjust and brutal imprisonment”
Surely Suhaib Webb, like all other Muslims and even many non-Muslims would support the campaign against such abohorrent and brutal injustice of one of our sisters right? I mean pretty much even all the other American Imams such as Zaid Shakir and the Zaytuna have stood up in support of Aafia, so surely Suhaib Webb would at least do the same and support her, right? Wrong. So what are you saying, a public Muslim figure such as Webb actually stayed silent on the issue? (A stance in itself cowardly enough).
Nope, wrong again. Not only did Suhaib Webb cowardly distance himself from the Aafia Siddique campaign by declaring ‘we don’t agree with that speech (on the campaign against Aafia Siddique’s persecution)’, he then specifically ordered for the Justice for Aafia Coalition to remove all their campaign material and leave the premises. Mauri Saalakhan, from the Justice for Aafia Coalition, expressed his disgust and shock at Suhaib Webb’s behaviour:
“Why did you (Suhaib Webb) feel the need to come behind me that evening and state to the audience, “We don’t agree with that speech!” The points I made about Aafia’s case are now widely known to be established facts… The words: “We don’t agree with that speech!” was like a sledgehammer to the chest! I immediately wondered – as I first looked at him in disbelief and disgust, and then looked over at Imams Faaruuq and Siraj – what was there not to agree with?
Let me also note, for this record, that the only reason why I didn’t stand up and challenge Imam Webb on the spot was because of Imam Abdullah Faaruuq’s health. Shortly after our contending remarks, I was requested to take down our display table of books, cds and advertisements in the lobby area (which included a large poster calling for the release and repatriation of Aafia) and to remove them from the premises! I was a guest of Imam Faaruuq. It was his community’s program. Don’t you think that was a tad disrespectful of this fellow imam (who also happens to be your senior)!”
Read the full story here: http://www.justiceforaafia.org/articles/articles/961-an-open-letter-to-imam-suhaib-webb-and-the-isbcc
Dark forces colluding: Suhaib Webb receiving Ijazah from his mentor, the ‘Butcher of Egypt’ Ali Gomaa.
CONCLUSION
There has to be some serious thinking and discourse as to what benefit – and more importantly what potential harms – inviting Suhaib Webb and all that he preaches, will bring to the UK. The Suhaib Webb we remember from yesterday is not the same individual today.
As Muslims who believe in standing by everything that is true to our religion, it is imperative upon us to not allow such a toxic and clearly agenda driven individual to preach his pro-American propaganda to our youth. May Allah forgive Suhaib Webb, may Allah guide him and may Allah protect us all from constantly falling into the traps of shaytaan.
References:
1. Exposing and shaming the notion of “American Islam” – the greatest threat to Islam in the US today: http://forums.islamicawakening.com/f20/exposing-shaming-notion-american-islam-greatest-threat-65535/
2. Homosexuals join Suhaib Webb: http://www.suhaibwebb.com/ummah/community/gay-muslims-the-elephants-in-the-prayer-room/
3. Suhaib Webb affirms rights of gay marriages: http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/05/11/imam-william-suhaib-webb-emerges-face-boston-muslim-community-time-crisis/Kd8v0O48vkHSZAnOpYCqOI/story.html
4. More than 500 British Imams in landmark gay marriage protest: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10066730/More-than-500-imams-in-landmark-gay-marriage-protest.html
5. Is the thobe really just cultural and a dawa deterrant? http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?105264-Is-the-thobe-really-just-cultural-and-a-dawa-deterrant
6. Imam teaches Islam with a distinct U.S. style: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/27/local/la-me-american-imam-20110527
7. Christian woman has no regrets over Tsarnaev burial: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/11/woman-tsarnaev-burial/2152931/
8. An open letter to Suhaib Webb and the ISBCC: http://www.justiceforaafia.org/articles/articles/961-an-open-letter-to-imam-suhaib-webb-and-the-isbcc
muslimmodernists 