Bilal Philips

Early life Philips was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to high school teachers Bradley Philips and Joyce McDermott. Philips has one brother and one sister, as well as an adopted brother. Philips was raised a Christian, with his mother being an Anglican and his father a Presbyterian. before migrating to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 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. but encountered Islam several times in his travels. The book that won him over was Islam, The Misunderstood Religion by Muhammad Qutb (brother of Sayyid Qutb). He converted to Islam in February 1972, giving Shahada in the presence of Abdullah Hakim Quick. He received his B.A. degree from the Islamic University of Madinah in 1979 and his M.A. in ʿAqīdah (Islamic Theology) from the King Saud University in Riyadh in 1985, Preaching and career Philips taught Islamic studies for a decade at Manarat al-Riyadh School in Riyadh He also lectures at the Ajman University (AU) in the United Arab Emirates. == Views ==

Western culture/civilization Bilal Philips has called himself a "moderate" in protest against allegations that he is an extremist, calling the accusations "appalling" and "baseless". Philips denied this in an interview in the Muslim online magazine MuslimMatters.org, claiming the statement comes from Samuel P. Huntington's ideas in his work the Clash of Civilisations, about the efforts of "globalized western civilization" to "impose" their "culture throughout the world". He is on record as calling Jews "filth", according to the Jewish Chronicle. Philips points out another Sahih hadith where Muhammad states: She must also obey his orders to bath after intercourse, after menstruation or childbirth so as to achieve ritual purity; she must seek his permission before fasting (fasting may weaken her ability to have sex), keep his home "comfortable and pleasant", and not present herself to her husband with "unkempt hair or slovenly appearance". The hierarchy also explains the greater inheritance that men receive according to Islamic law. On the subject of physical discipline of wives, Philips emphasizes that any beating of a wife "must be light" (lashing is forbidden) and quotes a hadith forbidding men from hitting their wife "in her face". Philips explains that the (in his view) the "fragile emotional make-up" of a woman On the subject of women and statecraft, Philips admits that while it is true that there have been some female heads of state, "these cases represent the exception and not the norm which Allah addresses". Despite his emphasis on the importance of women being subordination to men, Philips also condemns the socioeconomic practices "riddled through" Western society that "oppress women". He also mentions a few issues where Islamic law does not require a woman to obey her husband (according to Philips); he must not practice Coitus interruptus without her consent and if he fails to provide her and her children enough support, she is allowed to pilfer from his wealth without his "permission and knowledge". Polygamy Philips is a strong supporter of a husband's right to take up to four wives (polygyny) in Islam and has written a book in defense of this view (Polygamy in Marriage). Philips argues: • that the surplus number of women in society (for example, in one country – the UK – females make up 3% more of the population than males), will lead to a weakening of the "western family structure" from the surplus population of women "unable to fulfill their sexual and psychological needs" unless marriages of more than one wife are allowed; • that denying this right to multiple wives is tantamount to denying "the wisdom of divine decree" (which allows polygyny); • in answer to the question: "If God is good and wishes good for His creatures, why did he legislate something (polygyny) which would be harmful to most women?", Philips replies that "Divine legislation" seeks to benefit "the majority of society", even if this may cause some "emotional harm to a minority" (women). • that the "vehement" opposition to polygyny in Western society comes not from concern for women's rights, but from the "male dominated society" where men would rather be married to one woman and cheat on her, than have multiple wives to satisfy their desires and be faithful to them. Age to marry Traditionally, Islam has favored early marriage, and in recent times Muhammad's marriage to Aysha at the age of nine has been a controversial subject, at least among non-Muslims. Philips writes that Islam "sets the age of marriage at puberty, as it is then natural dividing line between childhood and adulthood. Menstruation indicates that a young girl has reached childbearing age." He also differentiates between Western pedophiles who "are not seeking marriage" and only want to exploit and have sex with children, and Muslim men who marry girls shortly after they reach puberty. Women's modesty Women are advised by Philips to be modest in dress and to cover all of their body "except their faces and hands", and to not wear makeup or perfume, when among men they could possibly marry, (i.e. non-mahram men). "Undue mixing" of non-mahram men and women is "generally prohibited", as is staring at each other. LGBT According to the Counter Extremism Project, Philips has described gay sex as "evil," "dangerous," "deviant behavior," a cause of the dissolution of the nuclear family unit, and deserving of the death penalty. Philips has also complained that the fashion industry "is mostly controlled by homosexuals," and has "promoted the blurring of lines between males and females…" Suicide bombing Phillips had previously stated in a lecture that suicide bombers have been unfairly criticized for committing suicide (which is forbidden in Islam), when in fact they are showing bravery by sacrificing their lives in a military operation. 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. 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". The chairman of the Luton Islamic Centre has said Philips had made some errors in his comments posted on its website and that it should not have been categorized as "suicide bombings" because he was referring to military operations as opposed to harming innocent people. After this controversy, Philips stated in an interview that he believes suicide bombings actually do not comply with Islamic law. Philips has also stated that he is opposed to Al-Qaeda and any type of terrorism in the name of Islam. ==Controversies==

Philips came under criticism in Britain for his statements on suicide bombers. Some civil rights advocates have defended Philips for his actions, claiming that he is being religiously persecuted. Philips has responded to such criticism by stating he is a moderate According to the Counter Extremism Project, one of the men convicted of the World Trade Center bombings, (Clement Rodney Hampton-El, a.k.a. Abdullah Rashid), Philips gave Hampton-El the name of American military fighters who were about to leave the U.S. military and who might be willing to aiding jihadists in Bosnia. Philips had also agreed to provide Hampton-El with funding to recruit non-American Muslims for fighting in Bosnia. However, some of the recruits decided that rather than go to Bosnia, they would to attack targets in the United States, and this led to the unsuccessful plot to bomb the Holland and Lincoln tunnels. Bannings Philips has been banned from entering the United Kingdom, and Kenya, for "inciting and recruiting people to conduct terrorist activities." In 2007 he was banned from entering Australia on the advice of national security agencies. In 2010 Philips was banned from entering the UK by home secretary Theresa May for holding "extremist views". In April 2011, Philips was banned from re-entering Germany as persona non grata. In 2012, Philips was banned from entering Kenya over possible terror links. 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. 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. In September 2014, Philips was arrested 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). Philips denied the charges leveled by Filipino officials and denied links to terrorists groups. Some religious leaders and threatened to kill him for denouncing ISIS. 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. In May 2017, Philips was banned from entering Denmark Intra-Salafi disagreement Within the Salafi community, one Abu Khadeejah has alleged that Bilal Philips has been a "deceitful defender of Ahl ul Bida" (i.e. of innovation in Islam), and a proponent of "Ikhwaanee Manhaj" (i.e. the religious method or interpretation of the Muslim Brotherhood). ==Influence==

According to the publication The 500 Most Influential Muslims, Bilal Philips founded both the first accredited Islamic university in India in 2009: (Preston International College, Chennai), and the Islamic Online University (AKA International Open University or iou.edu.gm), which (as of 2025) has over 300,000 registered students studying accredited English-medium degree courses in Islamic Studies, IT, Business Administration, etc. Philips has been described as one of "the key foundational figures" among African American Muslims who received scholarships to Saudi universities in the hopes that they would "aggressively" spread Salafi Islam when they returned to their home countries. A strong African American Salafi movement did emerged in the 1990s, in many ways a by-product of the efforts of Philips and other Saudi-educated African American Salafi along with the regular networks and relationships they established and maintained with the major Salafi scholars in Saudi Arabia such as Ibn Baz (d. 1999) and al-Uthaymin (d. 2001). Philips help create an indelible connection between Saudi Arabian Salafism and African American Salafis according to Jefrey Diamant: Philips has produced a "formidable" output of books, booklets, and audiovisual materials, several of which have been translated into a number of European languages, such as German, French, and Spanish. As of 2019 he had 670,000 followers on Twitter, over 6 million followers on Facebook, where he makes several posts a day, 40,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel and a considerable presence on Peace TV, Huda TV, and Islam Channel. ==Bibliography==