Question:
Aslam Alaikum Shaykh,
I have an important question regarding Mr Adna Oktar who also goes by the name Harun Yayah. He has been freely quoting Sultan Awliya Shaykh Nazim’s support for him but i was completely outraged by Mr Adnan Oktar’s videos where he is clearly undermining the hijab (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBrYvUjsV0M) and in another video where he is talking freely in between half naked women. (http://en.harunyahya.tv/videoDetail/Lang/4/Product/45131)
Ya Shaykhs, please clear this confusion and let us know Shaykh Nazim’s and his Khaleefas regarding this man. I apologize if I sounded arrogant but this issue is very sensitive and have me confused.
Jazak Allah Khairun
Answer:
wa `alaykum salam,
Allah said:
{Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious:} (an-Nahl, 16:125)
It is related (and I don’t know the authenticity of this statement) that Imam Ja`far as-Sadiq (q) said, “If you find see something you don’t like in a brother, try to find 1-70 excuses for him. And if you can’t find an excuse, say ‘There might be an excuse, but I don’t know it”.
I cannot speak for Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani or Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani, but after viewing these videos, I can only see a man who is trying to stretch wide the doors for the people of Turkey, especially the educated class, who have been submerged in westernization and secularism for almost 100 years, calling them to turn back to Islam; first to belief, after which obedience to Shari`ah will follow, little by little, insha-Allah. May Allah reward him and support him more and more, for hundreds, perhaps thousands have returned or entered Islam through his extraordinary efforts.
And Allah knows best,
Taher Siddiqui
