An open letter to Sheikh Hamza Yusuf

Dear Sheikh Hamza Yusuf

@SheikhHamzaYusuf1

Assalamu Alaikum Wa rahmatullah

May I start my address to you by firstly extending my heartfelt thanks to you for your enormous contribution to the intellectual legacy of the contemporary Muslim and Islamic discourse globally.

Secondly, I would like to also recognise your single-handed effort to synthesise Islamic theology and Muslim practices which are often caught between the material and spiritual polarities. You have offered a very authentic and rational basis for fusing the two. I have certainly enjoyed your work tremendously.

Thirdly, your contribution to normalizing Islam in the western world generally and in the USA in particular, has been second to none. Your work has brought much needed confidence and pride in the hearts and minds of thousands of Muslims in the West, especially for educated, professional and thinking Muslims.

The purpose of my letter to you is a simple one and will be explained well by the following hadith – this is a beautiful Hadith of the blessed prophet of Allah that has inspired me to write to you.

« ﺇِﺫَﺍ ﺿُﻴِّﻌَﺖِ ﺍﻷَﻣَﺎﻧَﺔُ ﻓَﺎﻧْﺘَﻈِﺮِ ﺍﻟﺴَّﺎﻋَﺔَ ‏» ﻗَﺎﻝَ : ﻛَﻴﻒَ ﺇِﺿَﺎﻋَﺘُﻬَﺎ ؟ ﻗَﺎﻝَ : ‏« ﺇِﺫَﺍ ﻭُﺳِّﺪَ ﺍﻷَﻣْﺮُ ﺇِﻟَﻰ ﻏَﻴْﺮِ ﺃَﻫْﻠِﻪِ ﻓَﺎﻧْﺘَﻈِﺮِ ﺍﻟﺴَّﺎﻋَﺔَ ‏» . ﺭﻭﺍﻩ ﺍﻟﺒﺨﺎﺭﻱ

The blessed prophet (May Allah’s peace and blessings be up on him) said, “When trust is broken, you should wait for the final hour (Day of Judgement)!” So we asked, “How will trust be broken?” The blessed prophet responded, “When unqualified and unsuitable people are appointed as leaders, you should await the final hour.”

Dear Sheikh, your recent speech at the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies on Wednesday December 5, 2018 in Abu Dhabi was disappointing and has caused us a great deal of anxiety. It reminded me of the above quoted hadith which is far reaching and has profound forewarning from our beloved prophet of Allah - who has warned us of the curse of unsuitable leaders as one of the signs of the coming of the day of judgment. Yet you have not said a single word of criticism to a regime that is unelected, unaccountable, despotic, ruthless and corrupt and who are bankrolling your peace forum in the UAE! I would be extremely grateful if you could explain your reasons for the silence.

You have described the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a country that champions civil society and is "committed to tolerance". This is far from the truth and you know this already. They neither have the grasp of the concept called “civil society” nor do they understand the word “tolerance”. Civil society by definition 'is the third sector where a safe, free and democratic public space is used between the state, the market and the ordinary people to discuss, debate, propose and carry out actions. It is where all sections of the society can interact independently and away from the government’s interference because the overall makeup of the society is democratic and there is freedom of speech and association, an independent judiciary to protect all people and directly elected and accountable government to rule on behalf of people.

Dear Sheikh Hamza, please tell us where in UAE does the regime offer freedom to its citizens to partake in freedom of expression or association and allow ordinary people to participate democratic governance?

They do not understand tolerance either. While you were in the UAE and addressing the international crowd on global peace, if you tried to criticize the rulers of UAE for their role in the war in Yemen where their bombs have mass murdered innocent Yemeni children, women and men and their silence on the Palestinian people’s plight or their role in corruption, I can guarantee you intolerance. They would lock you up with absurd charges; if you are lucky and your US government intervenes they may pardon you and release you but they will permanently ban you from their fiefdom. Dear sheikh, Is this your definition of a tolerant society?

They are not tolerant of anything except those that serve their interest. They tolerate rituals of Islam in its most mundane and rudimentary forms to be practiced by their citizens as long these citizens do not demand social and political change. They promote and support Muslim scholars who are happy to be bought by dollars and who can issue fatwas that would sustain their grip on power. Dear sheikh Hamza, please tell us how the UAE is in any shape or form tolerant?

They are not only intolerant, they are also racist. Maybe you should ask the thousands of non-Arab workers who live and work like slaves in the UAE, I am sure they would enlighten you on how very tolerant the UAE has been towards them. Domestic workers, daily labourers and construction workers suffer everyday misery and humiliation at the hands of their UAE employers. Most of these workers are brought over to UAE as cheap labourers and offered peanuts in return.

They have a pecking order in the UAE; if you are white and British or Americans or European you receive different treatment to those are brown or black from the same region. White privilege always precedes any notion of equality amongst humans in that society. If you are Asian from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan or Afghanistan you have very little rights. You are treated like dirt and often called derogatory names by the UAE nationals. They demonstrate nothing remotely resembling your description of "committed to tolerance". They do not tolerate the other, but humiliate them using race and ethnicity. I am saddened that you have given legitimacy to their evil and racist intolerant attitudes.

Dear sheikh Hamza, you have praised them for being committed to tolerance and I believe that is totally false. As the most influential Muslim scholar in the western world, your words carry huge weight. You have assigned legitimacy to the unelected rulers of United Arab Emirates by endorsing them. Let me remind you again of what the blessed warned us about the coming of the hour – unsuitable people will be trusted with authority. Can you please enlighten us about how the rulers of UAE, your sponsor and patron, have come to assume power and how their infinite right to rule is legitimate? What qualification can you offer us for these rulers’ suitability to power and authority? They are not accountable to anyone and they only serve the interest of their personal family and make their own fortune. How could you utter those words knowing what they have done over decades - they have used the land and its natural resources as their personal asset.

Their shopping habits and wastefulness is legendary. I have heard so many lectures about the evil of greed and wastefulness from your own mouth, yet you are praising such a regime. They have used the money of the people to purchase football clubs, racecourses and casinos, built skyscrapers and palaces and buy palatial homes in Europe and America and luxury yachts while people in UAE living in abject poverty and desperation. Let us not forget their obsession with luxury and sports cars, drugs fuelled parties and love of alcohol. Dear Sheikh Hamza, Is this your idea of suitable leaders for a Muslim majority country?

Dear sheikh, you said, "The Emirates...is a country that is committed to tolerance; they [even] have a Ministry of Tolerance,". Did you say this because you have assessed this regime objectively using Islamic principles or did you say this to safeguard your personal position as the forum's vice president. Money and power can be intoxicating, and I fear perhaps these two corrupting elements may have affected your objectivity.

You are right that they have a Ministry of Tolerance but their job is not to create tolerance. It has been deliberately created as PR stunt to twist the truth and create a smokescreen to cover their evil and wanton decadence. A good befitting description of the UAE’s Ministry of Tolerance is found in the words of the famous George Orwell, "The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture and the Ministry of Plenty with starvation. These contradictions are not accidental, nor do they result from ordinary hypocrisy: they are deliberate exercises in doublethink." Ministry of Tolerance in the UAE is only for spreading intolence. Dear sheikh Hamza, your Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies is part of the same deception masterplan – they are using you for their own PR and when you are no longer useful to them, they will just dispose of you!

This country’s despotic regime has launched continuous and sustained assaults on freedom of expression and association. UAE residents who have spoken about human rights issues are at serious risk of arbitrary detention, imprisonment, and torture. Many are serving long prison terms or have left the country under pressure. We do not have to look very far to find glaringly obvious examples of this including the Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the daughter of Dubai's ruler.

In March, Princess Latifa fled the UAE and a video was circulated online in which she made allegations of abuse at the hands of her father. She was abducted and taken back to the UAE and nothing has been heard from her ever since. Most people fear that she is either dead or dying in a solitary confinement somewhere in the UAE.

Dear Sheikh Hamza, this is not the example of a tolerant regime - rather they are intolerant and authoritarian brutal despots. Why would you praise them when you know they have systematically abused human rights of their own people and foreigners working there? They have been busy funding and exporting human rights abuse in other Arab countries including Egypt. The dictator General of Egypt Al-Sisi has been given huge financial aid and political support for his role in destroying the legitimate and democratic election of Morsi and subsequently massacring thousands of protestors at Raba’a, arbitrarily arresting members of The Muslim Brotherhood, torturing them in prison and police custody, holding them in solitary confinement and running kangaroo courts, which have been dishing out death sentences en mass. UAE, along with its partner in crime Saudi Arabia have bankrolled the extermination of the Arab Spring.

Dear sheikh Hamza, these rulers are clearly oppressors (Dhallimoon) and your support for this regime makes you a complicit to all of these evil. For this, both and your friends will pay a huge price, in this dunya (world) and most certainly in the akhira (hereafter). Let me remind you of the hadiths that clearly state how the oppressive rulers will be deprived of the shade of Allah on the day of judgment, how they will be brought in chains and thrown in the pit of hell. Your praise of this regime makes you a partner to their crime.

Dear Sheikh Hamza, you went further than any other scholars in giving credibility to this regime. You said, "This is a country that is committed to civil society...it is one of the safest countries on the earth, and so at essence, the Emirati people are committed to that message." According to human rights activists, “The UAE arbitrarily detains and forcibly disappears individuals who criticise the authorities within the UAE's borders. Emirati residents who have spoken out critically are at serious risk of arbitrary detention, imprisonment, and torture." Many people have disappeared or are serving long prison sentences for simply expressing their disagreement with the regime.

Emirati people are desperate for freedom. They are eagerly waiting for the opportunity to cast these tyrant rulers in the depth of prison but your words of support for this regime destroys their dream of freedom. Emirati people are not free to choose who would rule them, they are not free to stand for elected office and they are not free to take their rulers to task for their failures. How can such a country have any prospect of civil society or be committed to tolerance or safety?

Dear sheikh Hamza, if you cannot speak the truth it is better to stay silent. This is the advice of our beloved prophet; May God’s peace and blessings be up on him. Politics is not your real strength and we have noted that often your political comments or involvements have been counterproductive. You are best suited to helping people find spirituality and polish their soul for achieving their higher purpose in life. You are amazing in inspiring people to focus on the akhira, not just the dunya, and your speeches on the evil of materialism are awe inspiring. It is best that you leave political comments and activities in the hands of the more suitable Muslim scholars and experts.

And finally, dear sheikh Hamza, I would like to remind myself first and then you the following saying of the blessed prophet – “Beware of the supplication of the oppressed, for there is no barrier between it and Allah.”

I fear your support for the most corrupt and oppressive regimes may earn you the curse of the oppressed. If they make du’a against you for legitimizing and offering credibility to unelected, dictatorial, ruthless, brutal and illegitimate regimes, you will be stuck on the day of judgment!

Dear sheikh Hamza, are you prepared to take responsibility for every person who has suffered at the hands of these regimes, for every person who have been tortured in their prisons, for every person who has been killed at their hands? If the answer is yes, then carry on supporting and praising them, but if the answer is no, then please retract your statement, apologise to the victims of oppression and repent to Allah to forgive you.

I pray to Allah to open your eyes, give you the power to see the evil of these regimes and strength to abandon them. And most importantly to practice the best form of jihad as stated by our beloved prophet –

أَنَّ رَجُلًا سَأَلَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَيُّ الْجِهَادِ أَفْضَلُ قَالَ كَلِمَةُ حَقٍّ عِنْدَ سُلْطَانٍ جَائِرٍ

A man asked the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, “What is the best jihad?” The Prophet said, “A word of truth in front of a tyrannical ruler.”

Please forgive me if I have hurt you inadvertently with my words. That was never my intention. My intention is to bring to your attention what I consider to be the truth.

Thank you

Your brother in Islam

Ajmal Masroor
United Kingdom