Hisham Kabbani


Muhammad Hisham Kabbani is a Lebanese-American Sufi Muslim. Kabbani has counseled and advised Muslim leaders to build community resilience against violent extremism. 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. His notable students include the world-famous boxer Muhammad Ali and former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Biography

Kabbani was born in Beirut, Lebanon.
On the order of Shaykh Nazim, Kabbani relocated to the United States in 1990 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, 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.

Activities in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia

Kabbani was also a member of the Elijah Interfaith Institute Board of World Religious Leaders. 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.

HNCO is committed to Preserving the Legacy of Shaykh Nazim Adil through many charity works.

Hajjah Naziha Adil Kabbani is Ahlu ‘l-Bayti, a descendant of Muhammad through her paternal and maternal lineages, which includes Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani and globally renowned poet Jalaluddin Rumi. Hajjah Naziha is the eldest child of Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil, founder of the Naqshbandiyya-Nazimiyya Sufi Order, and Hajjah Amina bint Ayesha, a shaykha and Islamic scholar who wrote extensively on lives of the prophets, whose family escaped religious persecution in Tatarstan, Russia. She is married to Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, Shaykh Nazim’s deputy and spiritual heir, and together they advise Muslims around the world.
For more than twenty years, Shaykh Hisham and Hajjah Naziha have advanced Shaykh Nazim’s legacy by directing various emergency disaster relief and humanitarian aid projects in Banda Aceh, Indonesia ; NWFP, Pakistan ; Kabul, Afghanistan ; and Istanbul, Turkey. The Hajjah Naziha Charity is the natural evolution of their past work to advance those outreach projects dearest to Shaykh Nazim’s heart.

Fatwas

In 2011 Kabbani and Homayra Ziad, 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.
Kabbani has also written a fatwa on the principles of jihad, which was translated into Arabic and distributed by the US military in Iraq.

Controversy and criticism

In 1999, Kabbani came into conflict with various Muslim groups including the Islamic Society of North America, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and the Islamic Circle of North America after he stated that 80 percent of mosques are being run by "extremist ideologies". Muslim organizations responded harshly, stating that Kabbani's remarks "could have a profoundly negative impact on ordinary American Muslims". Kabbani plunged into further controversy when he accused Muslims who advise the United States about Islam as being "extremists themselves". When asked during a conference whether he would name the Islamic groups he believed were "extremist", Kabbani answered, "after the program". When subsequently confronted with the question during the end of the discussion, Kabbani refused to answer. 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."
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. 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.
Although the "80%" figure has been widely cited by public officials, and has been repeated by several other reports, some other authors claim it has not been confirmed by a quantitative, peer-reviewed study.
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. 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."
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.
In the April 2016 issue of Dabiq Magazine, The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant declared him a murtadd.

Published works


TitleDescription
Remembrance of God Liturgy of the Sufi Naqshbandi Masters
The Naqshbandi Sufi Way
Angels Unveiled
Fifty Days: the Divine Disclosures During a Holy Sufi Seclusion
The Prohibition of Domestic Violence
Sufi Science of Self Realization
Encyclopedia of Islamic Doctrine and Beliefs
Call on Me: Powerful Supplications for Healing, Protection & Fulfillment of Needs
The Fiqh of Islam: A Contemporary Explanation of Principles of Worship, 2 volumes
Al-Muslihun: The Peacemakers As Taught In Classical Islam
Healing Verses of Holy Quran & Hadith
Principles of Islamic Spirituality: Contemporary Sufism & Traditional Islamic Healing
The Benefits of Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem & Surat Al-Fatihah
The Importance of Prophet Muhammad in Our Daily Life, 2 volumes
The Hierarchy of Saints
The Heavenly Power of Divine Obedience and Gratitude
The Dome of Provisions, 2 volumes
Jihad: Principles of Leadership in War and Peace
Fifty Days: the Divine Disclosures During a Holy Sufi Seclusion
Fayd al-Salam
Angels Unveiled, A Sufi Perspective
At the Feet of My Master
The Nine-Fold Ascent
Who Are the Guides
Banquet for the Soul
Symphony of Remembrance
Illuminations: Compiled Lectures on Shariah and Tasawwuf
Universe Rising
Pearls and Coral, 2 volumes
A Spiritual Commentary on the Chapter of Sincerity
Keys to the Divine Kingdom
In the Shadow of Saints
The Naqshbandi Sufi Tradition Guidebook of Daily Practices and Devotions
The Approach of Armageddon? an Islamic Perspective
Angeles Revelados: Una Perspectiva Sufi
Les Anges Révélés