Boko Haram is clear example of ignorance - Bilal Philips

Category: Cover stories

Published on Saturday, 08 March 2014 05:01
Written by Amina Alhassan
Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
.Those against my Nigeria visit mischievous
.Ive never been officially banned from the US

The visa granted to Jamaican-born Islamic preacher Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips by the Nigerian
Government generated some controversies, with some saying he should not be allowed into Nigeria
because he has been banned by the United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany, Kenya
and others. In this exclusive interview with Weekly Trust in Abuja, Bilal Philips, who converted to
Islam in 1972, says those opposed to his visit to Nigeria are ignorant. He also discussed the Boko
Haram crisis, terrorism and the rise of Islam around the world. Excerpts:
Weekly Trust: Your coming to Nigeria has sort of generated a lot of controversies by some.
Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips: (Cuts in) Extremists.
Funny, you call them extremists and they also call you an extremist. What is your opinion on the
controversies it has generated in Nigeria?
I guess it is difficult to identify what really their intentions are as I see them as inevitably ignorant
or they are deliberately mischievous. Reality of cause in terms of what I am about is the farthest
thing about what they claim I am. I speak and teach in a religious institute of over 150,000 students
where I seek to enlighten people about the true teaching of Islam in order to prevent the spread of
extremist ideas that are associated currently with the Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and other extremist
elements that are manipulating the Islamic teachings to justify real or imagined attacks on Islam.
I say real or imagined because in some cases it has to do with just dominance. In reality, Western
civilization dominates the world, culturally, politically, economically etc, so that can be seen and
perceived as a threat. But how do you respond to that? The military response is foolish, it only
creates greater chaos and havoc and destruction. Muslims are not in a military position to fight the
West and if it is an issue of ideology Islam has sufficient ideology to challenge Western thoughts
and globalised civilization. It is the only solution as everything else has been absorbed. So it has its
own power and that is why the West sees Islam as a threat to its own world dominance; that is why
they see as threats people who call on the world to just practice real Islam. This perception has led
them to term as terrorists or extremists preachers who just call on people to practice Islam and be
better Muslims first. They see practicing Islam as a threat.

They feel if you are an American, you should call yourself an American first and not a Muslim
American or a Muslim British, but British Muslim or An American Muslim or a French Muslim.
They want cultural assimilation over religion. We are just speaking about Islam and they are
branding and labeling us as extremists.
Back to the point as I might have digressed a bit, for all the controversies my coming [to Nigeria]
has generated most of it is as a result of ignorance, probably because they do not know what I am
speaking about. They just hear that I have been banned in some countries and I am on the American
blacklist and for that reason I must be whatever America says I am. In reality this is just ignorance
in the sense that Nelson Mandela was also on the American blacklist even while he was president.
He was still on the blacklist all the way until he received his Nobel Peace Prize and at that point
they were now forced to take him off the blacklist. He got the Nobel Peace Prize for the same thing
they put him on the blacklist. So that just tells you what that blacklist is and there are so many cases
like that. The other part is fear, those who fear the rise of Islam and the reality is that Islam is
rising, Muslims are awakening.
The United States label you as an unindicted co-conspirator and banned you from going to the US.
Can you tell us why you are being termed that way and why you were banned from entering in the
US?
To set the records straight I have never been officially banned from the United States. I never tried
to enter the US and was not allowed in. All I know in recent years is that I am on a no-fly list, which
means I cannot get into any plane flying to America. I have never received a document saying I
have been banned or ever been stopped at the airport and told I was banned and could not be
allowed in. The important thing for me here is the word unindicted co-conspirator. What do those
terms mean? I have asked all professors that know and they have not been able to tell what the word
means. First of all, unindicted means no charge has been laid against me, no charge at all. Second,
co-conspirator means we suspect that you may be involved with some people whom we have
charged and put away or whatever, you are known to these persons, they had your phone number in
their books, we saw you shake hands with them in the mosque, and somehow you are connected to
them.
In Britain when they had the train bomb in the subways and they were trying to get information
about one of the suicide bombers, they asked a neighbor of his who said he was always trying to
convince her about Islam and he would give me pamphlets and booklets about Islam and they asked
if she had any of the booklets of pamphlets and she said yes. They picked it up and looked at it and
it read The True Religion of God by Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips and that was it. People started
calling me up and said I was connected to the suicide bomber and all sorts. And I asked how that
was possible. All they had was a pamphlet by me explaining why Islam was the true religion of
God; it had nothing at all to do with suicide bombing. But the fact that the suicide bomber himself
was giving it out to people they assumed that whatever I must have written in there must somehow
have influenced him. But when you look at it in reality it has no connection.
So the kind of connection is one person who was involved in some plan to blow up the Halloween
tunnel in the 80s and someone who was connected to the planner was known to me, my name was
in his telephone book and the list of people he had in his phone book was quite long. The list was
published back in 1995 and there were a whole lot of people there. The question back then was
whose name wasnt on the list? So in his trial when they were trying to pin some other things on
him he was trying to tell them that he was involved in Islamic activities with Bilal Philips. So my
name kept coming up but he did not give them any information that I helped him plan something, so
there was no connection. So the authorities said since you are somehow connected to this person
and so many other persons then somehow there must be something wrong so that is why you are
unindicted even though we have no evidence against you. So it is just a suspicion and that suspicion
has been there from 1993.
In 1991 after the Gulf war I led a team of Islamic brothers and we were involved in giving Dawah
to American troops in the eastern province though with the permission of American authorities.
Praise be to God over 3000 of them accepted Islam then, so my name went on the radar from that

point. Furthermore some of those who accepted Islam when they went back to Bosnia to help the
Bosnians who were being slaughtered by the Serbs and that was unacceptable. It was out of that
struggle that other things came and Bin Laden and the rest were involved with the rest of all that. So
they said since you preached to these people and they left and they did this then you are somehow
involved. When they see so many lines popping up and linking it to your name somewhere along
the line then they think there have got to be something.
Do you by any chance happen to work or know Osama Bin Laden personally?
Never! I did not know him; neither have I ever met him but when I was doing Dawah in the
Philippines his brother-in-law happened to have a Dawah center which I used to go to and give
Dawah, I knew him. So again indirectly I was linked to Osama because I knew his brother-in-law.
But for Osama I have never had anything to do with him, neither have I seen him personally.
Asides the US, Germany also has this ban on you based on what they think are your extremist
views.
In Germany my ban was completely rejected by the courts. A Muslim German lawyer took on my
case after I was banned for life in Germany by the Mayor of Frankfurt and won the case. The court
ruled that the action of the Mayor was completely in error, that he had no evidence and his action
was completely unfair and unjust. He appealed and his appeal was rejected and made him pay all
the court cost that was involved. So what we have in Germany now is a complete reversal.
He [the Mayor] attacked me and got me a ban was because I called for death penalty for
homosexuals. In fact when I came and even lectured there I never even mentioned homosexuality.
So it was something prepared before I even got there, to be banned. The claim is that I said in one
of my lectures in the 90s that the law in Islam says anyone caught in the act be executed. Which is
what Islam says and I went on to explain and defend Islams position. Why does Islam take this
position of execution? Because I opposed the arguments of homosexuals, they said I was calling for
the execution of homosexuals globally. They were like yes you have not said anything but you
might soon, so the fact that you might say something which could influence the youth and raise
them up against the homosexuals, we are going to ban you for life
Nigeria just signed the bill against homosexuality; does this make Nigerians banned from
Germany?
Exactly, if this is the case no Nigerian should be allowed into Germany because Nigeria does not
support homosexuality and even have a penalty if caught in such act. In fact as at the time I was
responding to them I told them I guess they should ban the Saudis and the Saudi Arabian
Ambassador because he supports the same cause of no to homosexuality. That is the law in Saudi
Arabia.
You must be conversant with the security challenges in Nigeria where we have Boko Haram
preaching against western education. What is your opinion on this?
This is the clear example of ignorance, where they have not understood and see western education
as being the downfall of Muslims. When I teach I teach that education and knowledge are from two
basic sources, either they are revealed (revelation from God) or they are acquired by human beings.
Both come from God, this is the philosophy that I follow and I feel that the acquired knowledge in
some instances maybe more important than the revealed knowledge. But as a basic foundation all
Muslims should be aware of the revealed knowledge but the acquired knowledge is necessary
knowledge which a Muslim must have in order to function in the modern world.
My biggest project which I am working on right now in the Gambia is to introduce English,
Mathematics and Science into the madrasa curriculum of the Arabic Madrasa schools of the
Gambia. This has been welcomed by the Ministry of Education as well as the Union of Arabic
Teachers and we are already in the process of implementing the project. So I believe it is
compulsory for Muslims to learn medicine, Engineering and the entire modern field as it is
compulsory for them to know their religion also. So I do not really make a distinction but just that
they should be taught from an Islamic perspective in Islamic schools; Im not saying this has to be
in all schools, but Islamic schools. I have spoken many times against suicide bombings because it is
completely unacceptable in Islam, the religion of Islam does not preach violence.

These countries where you have been banned are considered to be promoters of freedom of speech
for all. Have they lived up to this?
Of course not! Their actions are clear that freedom of speech is of double standards. They have
made Islam the current bad guy and so anything related to it becomes a source of constant attack.
Islam needs to be stopped, crushed, cancelled etc. In America they have passed laws in a number of
states banning Sharia. This is total nonsense because they have no idea what Sharia means and
stands for. Some of the lawmakers I have spoken to, I asked, now you have banned Sharia, what is
Sharia and they said you know it is suicide bombing and killings etc. I am amazed and asked them
who says that? Sharia is praying five times a day, fasting in the month of Ramadan, paying Zakat
and living like a true Muslim; that is Sharia. So it is just ignorance really and is really sad. But I see
it as natural consequence of the rise of Islam.
What is your take on terrorism?
Of course there is general statement that one mans terrorist may be another mans freedom fighter.
So it depends on the perspective on which you are looking. During the American Revolution those
who were loyalists of the British looked at their fellow Americans as terrorists and the Americans
who won at the end were considered freedom fighters as Nelson Mandela was considered a terrorist
and then a freedom fighter.
The United Nations did not agree on the definition of terrorism but if I take according to the
American definition, terrorism is the use of terror in order to strike fear in the hearts of a civilian
population, that am a hundred and ten percent opposed to because Islam forbids it. If you are at war
you fight on the battle field, you do not take the war into civilian circumstances and kill civilians,
we as Muslims are forbidden from doing that.
Have the various bans from different countries affected your family?
Not really, my families are able to travel anywhere without restriction, its just me and for my
personality I have just kept on doing what needs to be done. I do not put too much stress on it. My
reach through the university far exceeds my reach through lectures in various cities around the
world. Normally, if I go to the UK for a lecture maybe there would be a thousand or more people
who may attend but online I have in the UK over 8000 students which is far more than I can reach
in those visits.
Can you tell us briefly why you are in Nigeria?
I was invited by a Muslim group to give some lectures on topics concerning Muslim character, what
Muslims should follow in their lifestyles, following the teaching of the Holy Prophet. My intentions
here also were to interact and develop contacts and affiliations with universities in the country that
have departments of Islamic Studies as well as Islamic universities. My intention also was to meet
up with Nigerians who are students in my university as Nigerians were the largest in terms of
registration in my university last session, to also meet with schools that are seeking an alternative
approach to education and lastly to preach peace.