About the Author

Peace be With You

I am a student of knowledge who continues to broaden his perspective as he learns.

I am a Muslim American. I join the millions of Muslim Americans and Muslims around the world in condemning the all too many acts of terror done by the hands of professed Muslims. These acts, beliefs, and perpetrators of terrorism are far away from the true Islam that I know and adhere to. 

As an American, I enjoy the Freedom of Religion granted to me by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, and I am very grateful for that. I believe that the Qur’an when it states ‘no compulsion in religion’ that it too teaches Muslims that all individuals are free to choose what they believe and practice.

I sincerely believe the Muslim world and the religion of Islam is misunderstood.

I join the many Muslim organizations in their FATWAH against terrorism.

I am a member of the Muslim Debate Initiative – http://thedebateinitiative.com. However my views do not necessarily represent the organization or any other member of that organization. I support the cause of that organization and wish to contribute to its agenda in defending Islam and Muslims.

As an apologist, I’ve had the privilege to engage with renowned Christian theologians and apologists. Dr. James White, Professor David Wood, Dr. Nabeel Qureshi, Tony Costa, Sam Shamoun, Mary Joe Sharp, Dr. Mike Licona and Pastor George Saieg are some of the individuals I’ve engaged with on an individual level as well as on an academic stage. I’m also proud to call some of them my friends. I was born and raised as an Ahmadi (a denomination) but I renounced my faith in Ahmadiyya and converted to mainstream Islam at the age of seventeen.

Regarding Aqeeda (creed):

I believe, declare, and bear witness - There is nothing worthy of worship except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad (sa) is the Messenger of Allah.

I advocate AGAINST sectarianism and division and am open to ALL schools of thought. I promote unity of Muslims. This is a commandment of Allah (swt), to hold on to the rope of Allah and be not divided (3:103). There is no excuse in disobeying this commandment of Allah (swt). We MUST agree on the fundamentals and agree to disagree on what is susceptible to interpretation.

I am a student of Kalam and the Mu’takalimeen – those who engage in speculative theological debate. Ilm al-Kalam, the science of theological debate and Ijtehad, the science of independent reasoning, have both been abandoned by the majority traditionalist Muslims. However, the sciences have survived and been revived among many Muslim thinkers and philosophers throughout history. These Mu’takalimeen and Mujtahideen pursue intellectual satisfaction and are skeptical of blind faith based on tradition that is passed down from generation to generation. The idea that one must rationally justify one’s perspective and that there is no conflict between reason and revelation is key to this approach. Although I consider myself as taking this approach, I am totally open minded and consider and embrace tradition and the traditionalist perspective and I do this in order to be truly unbiased, to identify myself as a student of knowledge (not an authority), and because I am in genuine pursuit of nothing but the truth for the sake of my soul.

Additionally, I believe that any such dogma, be it theological or philosophical dogma is absolutely secondary and significantly inferior to spirituality. Erroneous of what our limited minds may cognitively process, any such comprehension of concepts, right or wrong, means very little. I believe that it is our genuine intentions, our sincere efforts, our pursuit of God, and our relationship with God that dictate our prosperity, both in this life and in the next. This is how different theological opinions (backed by scholarly evidence) are a mercy for mankind, in order that available perspectives and interpretations might satisfy the hearts and minds of many different types of people with different qualities, experiences, and intellectual capacities, all in order to help the individual embrace the more important, fundamental picture. Affiliation with dogma is therefore insignificant whereas spirituality is practically everything. Although I don’t belong to any tareeqa (methodology) of Sufism, I do believe that Tasawwuf (spirituality) by way of purifying ones qalb (heart) and bringing discipline to ones nafs (ego) is instrumental for individual and collective prosperity.

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It seems as though that the individual may choose to seek both spiritual AND intellectual satisfaction, and it is my view that these sciences (not denominations), known as Tasawwuf (spirituality) and Kalam (rationality) are essential to reach such satisfaction.

I look at the spirit of the text and not the letter. I am not a literalist, and therefore am open to metaphorical implications of scripture. I also prefer to look at the context and situation of any incident or divine instruction that is described by scripture. The doctrine of abrogation within the scope of our theological framework recognizes that there are situations and contexts. Exegesis however, could be difficult given the fact that there were clear biases and agendas during the compilation of our history and tradition – as would be the case for any documentation of any history and tradition by any people throughout time. This is primarily caused by free-will and fallibility that is inherent in us as a species. The solution is a collective rationale (ijma) via the aforementioned processes (Kalam and Ijtehad).

I believe there are some things that are absolute, such as God’s existence, essential truths that are universal, the fundamental requirements to be Muslim etc. but most things are relative. Relativism is the philosophical position that all points of view (in this case, for what is susceptible to interpretation) are valid and that the truth of any such matter is relative to the limited capacity and knowledge of humanity as a whole.

I accept and am open to the Ahadith and Sunnah compiled by both the Sunni and Shia schools of thought. I feel that tradition and any documentation of history is valuable.

I believe that Prophet Muhammad (sa) is the last and final Prophet, and that this is a fundamental belief that can have no alternative opinion.

Finally, I am a proud Muslim and a proud American simultaneously. I advocate peace and harmony between all human beings regardless of their creed or religion.

Why am I involved in apologetics?

I feel that I have an obligation to be a Muslim voice against extremism and terrorism. I also feel that Islam is misunderstood by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. As a philosopher and student of knowledge I ask questions and evoke thought. As a psychologist, I observe and evaluate behavior. As an apologist, I defend the image of the world view I proudly profess. At a time when inhumane things are being done in the name my religion, I feel that I have an obligation to do something about it. On the other hand, because more and more people are leaving Islam (and more will leave Islam) and likewise many non-Muslims from numerous backgrounds are opposing Islam more vigorously than ever, I feel that on an academic stage, that we need more moderate voices to defend our world view. Our arguments for what we believe is the true light of Islam must be heard and we must be able to articulate a case for why we take our perspective. My agenda is to counter extremism within the Muslim world and also to answer the objections against Islam from the outside world. I am interested in theological and rational justification and discourse.