Bilal Philips

Early life

Philips was born in Kingston, Jamaica but grew up in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Education

Philips had encountered Islam several times in his travels, but the book that won him over was Islam, The Misunderstood Religion by Muhammad Qutb, the younger brother of Sayyid Qutb.

He received his B.A. degree from the Islamic University of Medina and his M.A. in ʿAqīdah (Islamic Theology) from the King Saud University in Riyadh, then to the University of Wales, St. David's University College (now University of Wales, Trinity Saint David). There at the Lampeter Campus he completed his 1993 PhD thesis, Exorcism in Islam.

Preaching and career

According to his website, Philips was a teacher of Islamic studies in an Islamic High School in Riyadh Saudi Arabia (Manaret Riyadh) for ten years after earning his BA in Medina. For ten years after that his site states he was a lecturer of Arabic and Islamic studies in the American University in Dubai, UAE. Following that he spent seven years in Qatar. He has been an "Islamic consultant and lecturer for the Islamic Information wing of Sh. Eed Charity". His sites states that he founded and headed a number of Islamic studies departments, schools and Islamic centers, such as the Islamic Information Center in Dubai and the Islamic studies department of Preston University, Ajman, UAE.

During the First Gulf War Philips organized Islamic religious revival meetings for U.S. troops stationed in Saudi Arabia, during which (according to Philips) he converted thousands of soldiers to Islam. According to counter-extremism author J.M. Berger, some of the US military men and women who participated in his revival program were later recruited as volunteer trainers in the 1992-95 Bosnian War.

Islamic Online University

Philips founded the Islamic Online University in Qatar in 2001, On his website Philips writes that distance learning is becoming an effective tool by which ordinary Muslims may learn their faith.

Views

His views on marriage, spousal rape, killing of apostates from Islam have also been noted and criticized by some in non-Muslim media.

Regarding his statement “Western culture, led by the United States, is the enemy of Islam,” he has explained in an interview in Austrolabe that it was taken out of context, and that he was quoting Samuel P. Huntington’s famous statement on the clash of civilisations. When asked in an interview with author Berger about his statement in an earlier lecture that "he did believe in the `clash of civilizations,` and that America was the enemy of Islam" he explains that he opposes the effort by "globalized western civilization" to "push ... secular democracy ... down the throats of the rest of the world."

Philips has stated that there is no such thing as rape in marriage in Islam:

[In] Islaam, a woman is obliged to give herself to her husband and he may not be charged with rape. Of course, if a woman is physically ill or exhausted, her husband should take her condition into consideration and not force himself upon her.

While favoring Hudud punishments for crimes such as apostasy from Islam, drinking alcohol, theft, and forbidden sexual practices, he reassures readers that when properly executed the punishment of thieves by cutting off their hand would mean:

The right hand is surgically removed at the wrist and not hacked off by a meat cleaver or a chain saw, as media reports seem to imply. The left foot at the ankle is removed on the second occasion and on the third occasion he may be executed as incorrigible.

In speeches he has stated that the death penalty is an option for punishing homosexuals and adulterers.

Philips strongly supports the killing of ex-Muslims, arguing they have committed treason, since "Islaam is not merely a religion but a complete system of life", with rules that "shape the basic laws and public order in the Muslim state", so that apostasy "is an act of treason against the state”.

In lectures and writings he has maintained that suicide bombers are unfairly criticized as they are not really committing the suicide that is forbidden in Islam, but are showing bravery in committing 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".

In an interview in Austrolabe, republished in Muslim Matters, Philips calls himself a "moderate" and the claim that he is an extremist "baseless". J.M. Berger, describes him as an example of a preacher and opinion leader of the Muslim world "who clearly believes and preachs in often stirring terms that Western civilization exists in sharp conflict with Islamic civilization, but who ... stops short of openly endorsing violence."

Bannings

Philips came under criticism in Britain for his statements on suicide bombers.

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.

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. Law enforcement officials claimed Philips' book "incites xenophobia and violence" and insisted it was racist. Philips "vehemently" defended his book, denied it condoned racism, noting that millions of copies had been published in Muslim communities around the world, and stated that any action against the book could “constitute an attack on Islam itself.”

In June 2014, the Bangladeshi intelligence service ordered Phillips, who had come to Dhaka to give lectures, to leave the country.

In September 2014, Philips was arrested in the Philippines for “inciting and recruiting people to conduct terrorist activities.” He was expected to be deported by Philippine immigration authorities after police arrested him in southern Davao City. Eddie Delima, an immigration officer in Davao stated: "He’s classified as undesirable because of his extremist views and possible link to terrorist groups". The director of the Philippine National Police in Southern Mindanao, said Philips is being questioned for his possible links with terror groups including the ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria). He was deported from the Philippines back to Canada. Philips denied the charges leveled by Filipino officials and denied links to terrorists groups.

In the April 2016 issue of Dabiq Magazine, The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, declared Philips to be a murtadd (or apostate) 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 Denmark along with a number of other extremist preachers such as Salman al-Ouda and Terry Jones (pastor).

Books