Hisham Kabbani

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Muhammad Hisham Kabbani (28 January

1945) is a Lebanese-American Sufi
Muslim. Kabbani has counseled and
advised Muslim leaders to build
community resilience against violent
extremism.[1] His criticism of extremism
has stirred controversy among some
American Muslims. In 2012 the Royal
Islamic Strategic Studies Centre named
him one of the top 500 most influential
Muslims.[2] His notable students include
the world-famous boxer Muhammad Ali
and former Indonesian President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono.

Hisham Kabbani

Born January 28, 1945

Beirut, Lebanon

Residence United States

Spouse(s) Hajjah Naziha Adil

Website HishamKabbani.com
Biography
Kabbani was born in Beirut, Lebanon.

On the order of Shaykh Nazim, Kabbani

relocated to the United States in 1990[3]
where he has developed over a dozen Sufi
centers focused on Islamic spirituality and
cultural enrichment.

He is also the founder/chairman of the

Islamic Supreme Council of
America(ISCA), a non-profit, non-
governmental educational organization
dedicated to teaching personal moral
excellence. ISCA has spearheaded a
number of peace initiatives, hosted
notable conferences, actively engages in
inter-religious dialogue, and promotes
traditional and moderate Islamic views.

He is the author of books includingThe

Prohibition of Domestic Violence, Sufi
Science of Self Realization, Encyclopedia
of Islamic Doctrine and Beliefs, and
Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi
Order.

Activities in Europe, the

Middle East, Africa, and Asia
Kabbani is also a member of the Elijah
Interfaith Institute Board of World
Religious Leaders.[4] Shaykh Hisham
Kabbani has held meetings with numerous
world leaders and has been a key speaker
at various conferences, such as the World
Economic Forum.

Fatwas
In 2011 Kabbani and Homayra Ziad
(Islamic Studies, Trinity College, CT), wrote
a fatwa using Quranic exegesis, a review
of hadith, and linguistic analysis to
determine that the Quran does not
condone domestic violence. According to
the authors of the fatwa, the broader
message of the Qur'an is the promotion of
harmony and affection between husband
and wife so that they may develop
amongst themselves a sacred bond of
love and mercy.[5]

Kabbani has also written a fatwa on the

principles of jihad, which was translated
into Arabic and distributed by the US
military in Iraq.[6]

Controversy and criticism

In 1999, Kabbani came into conflict with
various Muslim groups including the
Islamic Society of North America (ISNA),
the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR), and the Islamic Circle of North
America (ICNA) after he stated that 80
percent of mosques are being run by
"extremist ideologies".[7] Muslim
organizations harshly responded, stating
that Kabbani's remarks "could have a
profoundly negative impact on ordinary
American Muslims".[8][9] Kabbani plunged
into further controversy when he accused
Muslims who advise the United States
about Islam as being "extremists
themselves".[9] When asked during a
conference whether he would name the
Islamic groups he believed were
"extremist", Kabbani answered, "after the
program".[9] When subsequently
confronted with the question during the
end of the discussion, Kabbani refused to
answer.[9] In a joint statement pertaining to
Kabbani's accusations, several Muslim
groups said that "Mr. Kabbani has put the
entire American Muslim community under
unjustified suspicion. In effect, Mr.
Kabbani is telling government officials that
the majority of American Muslims pose a
danger to our society."[9]

Kabbani (left) with Shaykh Nazim (far right) in prayer at

an Islamic conference in 1996.
In his remarks at the State Department
that year, Kabbani had claimed that 80
percent of the Muslim American
population have been introduced to
extremist ideology.[7] His claim was based
on his interviews with religious clerics,
educators, community members and
young Muslims in 114 mosques in the US
over an eight-year period (1991-1999). [10]
Although the "80%" figure has been widely
cited by public officials, and has been
repeated by several other
reports,[11][12][13][14] it has not been
confirmed by a quantitative, peer-reviewed
study.[15]
In his 1999 State Department speech,
Kabbani claimed that while the majority of
Muslim Americans have been exposed to
violent extremist ideologies, "not all of
them agree with it." Later in the question
and answer session he reiterated that the
majority of the Muslim community which
is "peace loving and tolerant" does not
support extremism.[7] In a 2000 interview
with the Middle East Quarterly, he clarified
his position that "the problem of
extremism is not confined to the Muslim
community... Extremism is an
unwillingness to accept any viewpoint but
one's own... Ideological extremism can
result in an act of violence when an
individual pursues his ideas to such an
extreme that he thinks only his ideas are
correct and must therefore be enforced on
everyone else."[16]

In 2001 and 2002 Kabbani was recognized

as one of the few Muslim scholars at that
time to have warned of the threat of
violent extremism.[17][18]

In the April 2016 issue of Dabiq Magazine,

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
declared him a murtadd (or apostate).[19]

Published works
Works published by Kabbani include:
 Remembrance of God Liturgy of the Sufi
Naqshbandi Masters, ISBN 978-1-
871031-58-4 (1994)
The Naqshbandi Sufi Way, ISBN 978-0-
934905-34-3 (1995)
Angels Unveiled, ISBN 978-1-930409-37-
8 (1996)
Fifty Days: the Divine Disclosures During
a Holy Sufi Seclusion, ISBN 978-1-
930409-72-9 (2010)
Ask the graves, the mysticism way (1995)
Love of Auliya and their help for true Sufi

References
1. Di Stefano Pironti, Alexandra (January 4,
2013). "Mystical Islam Deters
Fundamentalism" . Inter Press Service.
Retrieved 17 January 2013.
2. "The World's 500 Most Influential
Muslims, 2012" . The Muslim 500. Retrieved
18 December 2012.
3. "A Sufi Muslim Takes on Wahhabism" .
December 12, 2004,. Islamic Supreme
Council of America. Retrieved 20 March
2014.
4. "Elijah Interfaith, Sharing Wisdom
Fostering Peace #MakeFriends" .
www.elijah-interfaith.org.
5. "The Prohibition of Domestic Violence" .
WORDE. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
6. "Our WORDE Issue Number 7" . Our
WORDE (7). December 2011. Retrieved
17 January 2013.
7. "Islamic Extremism: A Viable Threat to
U.S. National Security" , January 7, 1999
8. Curtiss, Richard (April–May 1999).
"Dispute Between U.S. Muslim Groups Goes
Public" . Washington Report on Middle East
Affairs: 71, 101.
9. "Dispute Between U.S. Muslim Groups
Goes Public – 1999 April-May - WRMEA" .
www.wrmea.com.
10. Goodstein, Laurie (28 October 2001).
"Muslim Leader Who Was Once Labeled an
Alarmist Is Suddenly a Sage" . New York
Times. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
11. Mordechai, Kedar. "Shari'a and Violence
in American Mosques" . Middle East
Quarterly.
12. Ahmad, Akbar (2010). Journey Into
America. Washington DC: Brookings. pp. 5,
254.
13. Ottaway, David (19 August 2004). "US
Eyes Money Trails of Saudi-Backed
Charities" . The Washington Post.
14. Emerson, Steven (March 10, 2011).
"Muslim American groups, not Rep. Pete
King, are the ones fomenting hysteria with
hearings on tap" . New York Daily News.
15. Kessler, Glen (15 March 2011). "Peter
King's claim about radical Muslim imams: Is
it true?" . The Washington Post.
16. Pipes, Daniel (June 2000). "Interview
with Muhammad Hisham Kabbani: "The
Muslim Experience in America Is
Unprecedented" " . Middle East Quarterly.
17. Waller, Michael. "A resounding voice in
traditional Islam: Sheik Muhammad Hisham
Kabbani" . Institute of World Politics.
18. Goodstein, Laurie (28 October 2001).
"Muslim Leader Who Was Once Labeled an
Alarmist Is Suddenly a Sage" . New York
Times.
19. "Kill the Imams of the West" (PDF).
Dabiq 1437 Rajab (April - May 2016).
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (14):
15. Retrieved 2016-04-30. “Other Sūfī
leaders in the West are no different, if not
worse in some respects; like Hisham
Kabbani, ...”

External links
Website of as-Sunnah Foundation of
America
PakNaqshbandi.com
 HishamKabbani.com

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