Yasir Nadeem al Wajidi (born 4 March 1982) is a Chicago-based Muslim scholar, author, public speaker, and debator.[2] He is the president and lead teacher of Burhan Academy, planned to be the largest Islamic school in North America, based in Elgin, Illinois, at the former Elgin Academy site. He is a mufti and teaches fiqh, hadith, and aqidah at the Islamic Institute of Education in Chicago. He is the founder of Darul Uloom Online and the author of books including Historical Study on Islamic Renewal and Islam and Globalization.
Yasir Nadeem al Wajidi | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Born | 4 March 1982 Deoband, India |
| Religion | Islam |
| Parent |
|
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Hanafi |
| Movement | Deobandi |
| Notable work(s) | Islam and Globalization |
| Alma mater | |
| Teachers | |
| Relatives | Usmani family of Deoband (maternal), Sharif Hasan Deobandi (great paternal uncle) |
YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 25 December 2010–present |
| Genre | |
| Subscribers | 312 thousand[1] |
| Total views | 37.73 million[1] |
Last updated: 28 September 2024 | |
| Website | yasirnadeemalwajidi |
Early life and education
editYasir Nadeem al Wajidi was born on 4 March 1982 in Deoband, India.[3][4] His father, Nadeem al-Wajidi, was a well-known Islamic scholar and writer. His grandfather Wajid Hussain Deobandi was a hadith professor at the Jamia Islamia Talimuddin.[3] Yasir is maternally related to the Usmani family of Deoband. His maternal grandfather, Abdullah Saleem had established Mahd Taleemul Islām, the first madrasa in Chicago.[5]
Yasir memorized the Quran with his parents and entered the Darul Uloom Deoband for further education.[3] He graduated in 2001 and then specialized in Arabic literature and Islamic jurisprudence.[6] His teachers include Naseer Ahmad Khan, Nematullah Azami, and Saeed Ahmad Palanpuri.[5] In 2004, Yasir moved to the United States of America and earned an M.A. in Arabic literature from the American Open University.[7] He did his doctoral studies in hadith at the International Islamic University Malaysia in 2012 under the supervision of Abul Lais Khairabadi.[6][5]
Career
editYasir began teaching at the Mahd Taleemul Islām in 2004 and established Darul Uloom Online in 2009. Darul Uloom Online is thought to be first initiative towards the teaching of dars-e-nizami curriculum online.[3] He is the deputy chairman of Islamic Literature Review, an international journal on Islamic revival.[3] He also serves as the Vice President of the Association of Muslim Scholars in Chicago.[8] He is also the president and a lead teacher of Burhan Academy, which is planned to be the largest Islamic school in North America, located in Elgin, Illinois, on the site of the former Elgin Academy.[9][10][11][12]
Media presence and statements
editIn February 2017, Nadeem challenged the Pakistani-Canadian author Tarek Fateh, who hosts Fatah Ka Fatwa, that, "If Fateh really liked to debate Islam then he should debate with Yasir anywhere in the world, owing to conditions including the presence of independent judges and at a public place not in a TV studio."[7] Yasir had also expressed that, "questions and allegations will be of Fateh whilst the responses would be of Yasir."[7] Fateh, however did not accept Yasir's offer of an academic debate.[7] Following the inception of Fateh's Fatah Ka Fatwa, Yasir started Surgical Strike, a talk show to counter allegations made against Islam.[13] The talk show released 72 episodes including the major ones with Arif Mohammad Khan, Mahmood Madani, Orya Maqbool Jan, Ram Puniyani and Ravi Shankar, and discontinued after two successful years.[5]
In May 2017, Yasir said about Muslim girls who elope with Hindu boys and leave Islam, that, "No one is responsible for such cases of apostasies more than the religious scholars who establish institutions for those who come to them to learn Islam but they ignore rest of the 97% young boys and girls who do not go to any madrasas."[14] In January 2019, Yasir hit a controversy saying that the Jana Gana Mana had no concepts of polytheism associated, as is generally believed by many Muslims. He expressed that Rabindranath Tagore had written the poem in the praise of God.[15] He said that if Tagore was a polytheist, it was understandable that the poem is influenced by polytheism, but there is no such proof which brands Tagore as a polytheist.[16] He cited John B. Watson stating that Tagore's religion was God and love with the nature.[16] In March 2021, Yasir denounced presence of casteism in Indian Muslims and said that it is a social evil.[17]
In February 2023, Yasir hit another controversy after he called the marriage of Swara Bhasker and Fahad Ahmad "legal but not accepted in Islam".[18][19] This created a Twitter war between him and RJ Sayema, and made critics call his take misogynistic.[20][21]
In a discussion on casteism, Yasir clarified that caste-based discrimination has no basis in Islam and is purely a social issue. He emphasized that Islam promotes equality, citing the Qur'an (Surah Al-Hujurat 49:13) and the Prophet Muhammad's ﷺ last sermon, both of which stress that all humans are equal and that piety is the only measure of superiority in the eyes of Allah.[22]
In June 2023, Yasir released a video on Twitter addressing misconceptions about Muslims and terrorism. He challenged the notion that global terrorism is driven by the promise of '72 Hoorain,' emphasizing that such incidents constitute only a small fraction of global violence. He argued that while extremist groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda are universally condemned by Muslims as terrorists, other violent mobs, especially those targeting Muslims, are often not labeled as terrorists.[23]
Literary works
editYasir compiled Qāmus al-Asri, a trilingual dictionary which contains seventy-five thousand words of Arabic, English and Urdu language.[3][24] His other works include:
- Islam and Globalization
- Tajdīd-i dīn: sharī'at aur tārīk̲h̲ kī raushnī men̲ (Historical study on Islamic renewal)
References
edit- ^ a b "About Yasir Nadeem al Wajidi". YouTube.
- ^ "With the End of 2019, A Great Scholar Also Departs for Heavenly Abode". The Milli Gazette. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f Rashid Amin (2 June 2021). "ڈاکٹر مفتی یاسر ندیم الواجدی پر ایک طائرانہ نظر" [A view through Mufti Yasir Nadeem al Wajidi's life and works]. Baseerat Online (in Urdu). Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ Maulana Nadeem Al-Wajidi (2017). "Azīzam Maulana Mufti Doctor Yasir Nadeem Al-Wajidi". Be-Mithāl Shakhsiyyat, Ba-Kamāl Ustādh [Unparalleled personality, perfect teacher] (in Urdu) (1st ed.). Deoband: Dārul Kitāb. pp. 68–70.
- ^ a b c d Abdur-Rahmān Siddiqi (3 June 2021). "ڈاکٹر مفتی یاسر ندیم الواجدی اور سرجیکل اسٹرائک" [Dr. Mufti Yasir Nadeem al Wajidi and Surgical Strike]. Urdu Leaks (in Urdu). Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ a b Akram Nadwi (20 August 2018). "Hajj Journey (16)". islamsyria.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d M Ghazali Khan (16 February 2017). "With His Challenge Being Rejected Mufti Wajidi Takes on Tarek Fatah on Twitter". Urdu Media Monitor. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ Abbasi, Ibn al-Hasan (October 2020). Yādgār-e-Zamāna Shakhsiyyāt Ka Ahwāl-e-Mutāla'a [Study life of memorable personalities] (in Urdu) (1st ed.). Karachi: Majlis Turāth al-Islam. p. 639.
- ^ Casas, Gloria (3 August 2024). "Elgin Academy sold to group planning to open an Islamic K-12 school, billed as the 'largest in North America'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Vitello, Barbara (4 August 2024). "Islamic school proposed for shuttered Elgin Academy". Daily Herald. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ "Fundraising for Burhan Academy, Biggest Islamic institution in the US". Des Plaines, IL Patch. 29 August 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Casas, Gloria (3 August 2024). "Elgin Academy's final graduates receive their diplomas in bittersweet ceremony". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
- ^ Ubaid Iqbal Aasim (2019). Deoband Tārīkh-o-Tehzeeb ke ā'īne maiN (in Urdu). Deoband: Kutub Khana Naimia. pp. 157, 165–166.
- ^ "The "Reverse Love Jihad" Alarms Muslim Intellectuals". Clarion India. 7 May 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ Aziz Ahmad (20 August 2017). "یاسر ندیم الواجدی صاحب کا مضمون مفروضات پر مبنی" [Yasir Nadeem Al-Wajidi's article is based on assumptions]. Millat Times. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ a b ""بھارت بھاگیہ ودھاتا" جو لوگ ترانہ ہندی کو ابھی بھی شرکیہ سمجھتے ہیں." ["Bharat Bhagya Vidhata", those who still think Indian national anthem is polytheistic]. Waraquetaza. 27 January 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ M Ghazali Khan (17 March 2021). "Casteism Among Indian Muslims". The Milli Gazette. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ Ghosh, Poulomi (19 February 2023). "On Swara Bhasker's 'bhai' tweet row, Fahad says, 'Sanghis have accepted...'". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
- ^ Ghosh, Poulomi (18 February 2023). "'Swara Bhasker's marriage legal but unislamic': Row over Islamic scholar's tweet". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ "Not Islamically valid…: Swara Bhasker's marriage hits new controversy". Mint. 18 February 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
- ^ Mathew, Shania (18 February 2023). "RJ defends Swara Bhasker's marriage in a 2-word reply to Islamic scholar's 'unsolicited advice'". ThePrint. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ Khan, M Ghazali (17 March 2021). "Casteism Among Indian Muslims". The Milli Gazette. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
- ^ Masroor, Riyaz (14 June 2023). "'72 حُوریں': انڈیا میں آئندہ ماہ ریلیز ہونے والی فلم پر تنازع کیوں کھڑا ہو گیا؟" ['72 Virgins': Why has a controversy arisen over a film set to release in India next month?]. BBC Urdu (in Urdu). Archived from the original on 14 June 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
- ^ Rahman, Obaidur (2021). مساهمة علماء ديوبند في اللغة العربية وآدابها ١٨٦٧م - ٢٠١٣م [Contribution of Olamae of Deoband to Arabic Language and Literature from 1867 to 2013] (PhD) (in Arabic). India: Department of Arabic, Banaras Hindu University. p. 280. hdl:10603/536377.