Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips (born Dennis Bradley Philips; July 17, 1947) is a Jamaican-born Canadian Islamic scholar and author who is the founder and chancellor of the International Open University, and who lives in Qatar. He has been described as a Salafi who advocates a traditional, literal form of Islam.
He has written, translated and commented on over 50 Islamic books translated into multiple languages and available online, and has appeared or presented on numerous national and satellite television channels, including Saudi TV, Sharjah TV, Ajman TV, Islam Channel, Huda TV, and Peace TV.
Throughout his career, Philips has become the subject of many controversies, resulting in him being banned from entering the United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark and Kenya, banned from re-entering Germany, ordered to leave Bangladesh, and deported from the Philippines. He was also named by the US government as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Despite restrictions put on him by Western states, his "ideas and activism are important in understanding Salafism" in the West and among the African diaspora. Philips has one brother and one sister, as well as an adopted brother. Philips was raised a Christian, with his mother being an Anglican and his father a Presbyterian. before migrating to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He attended Jarvis Collegiate Institute for junior high and Northview Heights Collegiate Institute for high school from 1962 to 1965. Philips moved with his family to Sabah, East Malaysia in 1964, as his parents were part of the Colombo Plan. but encountered Islam several times in his travels. The book that won him over was Islam, The Misunderstood Religion by Muhammad Qutb (brother of Sayyid Qutb). He converted to Islam in February 1972, giving Shahada in the presence of Abdullah Hakim Quick.
He received his B.A. degree from the Islamic University of Madinah in 1979 and his M.A. in ʿAqīdah (Islamic Theology) from the King Saud University in Riyadh in 1985,
Preaching and career
Philips taught Islamic studies for a decade at Manarat al-Riyadh School in Riyadh He also lectures at the Ajman University (AU) in the United Arab Emirates.
Views
Western culture/civilization
Bilal Philips has called himself a "moderate" in protest against allegations that he is an extremist, calling the accusations "appalling" and "baseless".
Philips denied this in an interview in the Muslim online magazine MuslimMatters.org, claiming the statement comes from Samuel P. Huntington's ideas in his work the Clash of Civilisations, about the efforts of "globalized western civilization" to "impose" their "culture throughout the world". He is on record as calling Jews "filth", according to the Jewish Chronicle. and the Jabriyya, who believed in "absolute" divine "determinism and fatalism". An Islamic school of thought that argued for the existence of free will was the Mu'tazila. They maintained that since justice (‘adl) is "the true essence" of divinity, "God can only do and only wishes what is salutary for human beings". (Based on verses Q.3:104, Q.22:10, Q.4:81.)[18] Consequently he not only orders people to do that which is good and forbids them to do that which is reprehensible, he abstains from doing evil Himself. This means that evil in the world cannot come from God, but instead from Man's/human beings' free will. Man (the human race), therefore, is "the genuine "creator" (khāliq) of his actions". Also rejecting predestination are Shia sects, such as the Twelvers and the Zaydis.
- Literal belief in the attributes of God mentioned in scripture – such as seeing and hearing. Belief that these are figures of speech is heresy (bid'ah).
- Divine law (shari'ah) and the need for its reintroduction. In the many "so-called" Muslim countries, governments now rule according to "imported capitalist or communist constitutions", and Islamic law is either "totally extinct" or relegated to a few areas of "minor importance". Accepting non-Islamic law is shirk and an act of kufr (disbelief), and violation of a type of tawheed called Tawhid al-Ibadah. This is because shirk is not just praying to/worshiping more than one God, it is obeying anyone other than God. It is fard (obligatory) for "those in a position to reintroduced Islamic law" to do so; it is obligatory for those not in a position to act to speak out against non-Islamic law (i.e. the rule of kufr), and call for the implementation of shari'ah."
Marriage, women, sex
Philips bemoans the fact that in western society very few women
He preaches that the physical differences between men and women mean that rather than their being equal, as contemporary Western society teaches, under Islamic law the two genders have different but "complementary roles" in society, and that a natural hierarchy gives men the role of leading and women the role of obeying. In support of his position he quotes a sahih hadith where Muhammad says:
Other roles of men include being "protectors and maintainers of women" (as long as the women are obedient), being "kind, gentle and helpful" to wives, and being prepared to "defend and enlarge the borders of Islam to the point of bearing arms".
Obedience to husbands (Philips believes) is both an important role and religious duty of wives.
Attending to the needs of her husband is the wife's primary responsibility in marriage. A woman is thus forbidden to leave her husband's home to visit friends or relatives without her husband's permission; there is no such thing as rape in marriage in Islam, because it is the husband's right to have sex with his wife when he pleases.
Philips points out another Sahih hadith where Muhammad states:
She must also obey his orders to bath after intercourse, after menstruation or childbirth so as to achieve ritual purity; she must seek his permission before fasting (fasting may weaken her ability to have sex), keep his home "comfortable and pleasant", and not present herself to her husband with "unkempt hair or slovenly appearance". The hierarchy also explains the greater inheritance that men receive according to Islamic law.
On the subject of physical discipline of wives, Philips emphasizes that any beating of a wife "must be light" (lashing is forbidden) and quotes a hadith forbidding men from hitting their wife "in her face".
Philips explains that the (in his view) the "fragile emotional make-up" of a woman
On the subject of women and statecraft, Philips admits that while it is true that there have been some female heads of state, "these cases represent the exception and not the norm which Allah addresses".
Despite his emphasis on the importance of women being subordination to men, Philips also condemns the socioeconomic practices "riddled through" Western society that "oppress women".
He also mentions a few issues where Islamic law does not require a woman to obey her husband (according to Philips); he must not practice Coitus interruptus without her consent and if he fails to provide her and her children enough support, she is allowed to pilfer from his wealth without his "permission and knowledge".
Polygamy
Philips is a strong supporter of a husband's right to take up to four wives (polygyny) in Islam and has written a book in defense of this view (Polygamy in Marriage). Philips argues:
- that the surplus number of women in society (for example, in one country – the UK – females make up 3% more of the population than males), will lead to a weakening of the "western family structure" from the surplus population of women "unable to fulfill their sexual and psychological needs" unless marriages of more than one wife are allowed;
- that denying this right to multiple wives is tantamount to denying "the wisdom of divine decree" (which allows polygyny);
- in answer to the question: "If God is good and wishes good for His creatures, why did he legislate something (polygyny) which would be harmful to most women?", Philips replies that "Divine legislation" seeks to benefit "the majority of society", even if this may cause some "emotional harm to a minority" (women).
- that the "vehement" opposition to polygyny in Western society comes not from concern for women's rights, but from the "male dominated society" where men would rather be married to one woman and cheat on her, than have multiple wives to satisfy their desires and be faithful to them.
Age to marry
Traditionally, Islam has favored early marriage, and in recent times Muhammad's marriage to Aysha at the age of nine has been a controversial subject, at least among non-Muslims. Philips writes that Islam "sets the age of marriage at puberty, as it is then natural dividing line between childhood and adulthood. Menstruation indicates that a young girl has reached childbearing age." He also differentiates between Western pedophiles who "are not seeking marriage" and only want to exploit and have sex with children, and Muslim men who marry girls shortly after they reach puberty.
Women's modesty
Women are advised by Philips to be modest in dress and to cover all of their body "except their faces and hands", and to not wear makeup or perfume, when among men they could possibly marry, (i.e. non-mahram men). "Undue mixing" of non-mahram men and women is "generally prohibited", as is staring at each other.
LGBT
According to the Counter Extremism Project, Philips has described gay sex as "evil," "dangerous," "deviant behavior," a cause of the dissolution of the nuclear family unit, and deserving of the death penalty. Philips has also complained that the fashion industry "is mostly controlled by homosexuals," and has "promoted the blurring of lines between males and females…"
Suicide bombing
Phillips had previously stated in a lecture that suicide bombers have been unfairly criticized for committing suicide (which is forbidden in Islam), when in fact they are showing bravery by sacrificing their lives in a military operation.
<blockquote>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. Some civil rights advocates have defended Philips for his actions, claiming that he is being religiously persecuted. Philips has responded to such criticism by stating he is a moderate
According to the Counter Extremism Project, one of the men convicted of the World Trade Center bombings, (Clement Rodney Hampton-El, a.k.a. Abdullah Rashid), Philips gave Hampton-El the name of American military fighters who were about to leave the U.S. military and who might be willing to aiding jihadists in Bosnia. Philips had also agreed to provide Hampton-El with funding to recruit non-American Muslims for fighting in Bosnia. However, some of the recruits decided that rather than go to Bosnia, they would to attack targets in the United States, and this led to the unsuccessful plot to bomb the Holland and Lincoln tunnels.
Bannings
Philips has been banned from entering the United Kingdom, and Kenya, for "inciting and recruiting people to conduct terrorist activities."
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. He has stated that this allegation was not factual hence he was not arrested.
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.
In September 2014, Philips was arrested The director of the Philippine National Police in Southern Mindanao, said Philips was questioned for his possible links with terror groups including the ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria). Philips denied the charges leveled by Filipino officials and denied links to terrorists groups. Some religious leaders 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 entering Denmark
Intra-Salafi disagreement
Within the Salafi community, one Abu Khadeejah has alleged that Bilal Philips has been a "deceitful defender of Ahl ul Bida" (i.e. of innovation in Islam), and a proponent of "Ikhwaanee Manhaj" (i.e. the religious method or interpretation of the Muslim Brotherhood).
Influence
According to the publication The 500 Most Influential Muslims, Bilal Philips founded both the first accredited Islamic university in India in 2009: (Preston International College, Chennai), and the Islamic Online University (AKA International Open University or iou.edu.gm), which (as of 2025) has over 300,000 registered students studying accredited English-medium degree courses in Islamic Studies, IT, Business Administration, etc.
Philips has been described as one of "the key foundational figures" among African American Muslims who received scholarships to Saudi universities in the hopes that they would "aggressively" spread Salafi Islam when they returned to their home countries.
A strong African American Salafi movement did emerged in the 1990s, in many ways a by-product of the efforts of Philips and other Saudi-educated African American Salafi along with the regular networks and relationships they established and maintained with the major Salafi scholars in Saudi Arabia such as Ibn Baz (d. 1999) and al-Uthaymin (d. 2001). Philips help create an indelible connection between Saudi Arabian Salafism and African American Salafis according to Jefrey Diamant:
Philips has produced a "formidable" output of books, booklets, and audiovisual materials, several of which have been translated into a number of European languages, such as German, French, and Spanish.
As of 2019 he had 670,000 followers on Twitter, over 6 million followers on Facebook, where he makes several posts a day, 40,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel and a considerable presence on Peace TV, Huda TV, and Islam Channel.