Ismail ibn Musa Menk

Ismail ibn Musa Menk, also known as Mufti Menk (born 27 June 1975), is a Muslim cleric from Zimbabwe.[5][6] Head of the country's fatwa department, Menk has been identified as a Salafi.[5][7][8][9]

Grand Mufti of Zimbabwe[1]

Ismail Ibn Musa Menk
Menk in 2015
TitleGrand Mufti of Zimbabwe
Other namesMufti Menk
Personal
Born
Ismail

(1975-06-27) June 27, 1975
Harare, Zimbabwe
NationalityZimbabwean[2]
EraContemporary
Notable work(s)Motivational Moments
Other namesMufti Menk
OccupationGrand Mufti of Zimbabwe[1]
Grand Mufti of Zimbabe
TitleMufti
Personal
ReligionIslam
Home townHarare
EthnicityYemeni[3]
DenominationSunni
JurisprudenceHanbali[4]
Alma materUniversity of Madinah[4]
Muslim leader
AwardsKSBEA 2015 Awards for Social Guidance, 2015
Websitemuftimenk.com
HonorsThe 500 Most Influential Muslims (2013–2014, 2017)

He has been named one of The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the world by the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Jordan in 2013, 2014 and 2017.[10][11]

Biography

Menk was born in Harare, where he undertook his initial studies with his father, memorizing the Quran and learning Arabic, Urdu and Hanafi fiqh.[12] He went to St. John's College (Harare) for senior school.[5] He later specialised in Hanbali fiqh at the Islamic University of Madinah.[4]

Menk is known especially in eastern Africa and teaches internationally.[13]

Views

Menk opposes terrorism and has pledged his aid in curbing religious extremism in the Maldives.[14] On 31 March 2018, he urged Liberian Muslims to avoid Muslim-Christian violence, arguing that Muslims and Christians are brothers and sisters from one father, the prophet Adam.[15] He blames western media for misleading the world that Muslims are generally terrorists.[16] According to Gulf News, Menk said that everyone on this earth is a part of a family and has one maker, therefore, no one has the right to force any belief or faith on another.[17]

Controversies

The Huffington Post has described Menk as an "openly homophobic Islamic preacher" who has denounced the act of homosexuality as "filthy".[18] In 2013, he was due to visit six British universities – Oxford, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Cardiff and Glasgow – but the speaking tour was cancelled after student unions and university officials expressed concern about his views.[19] Menk's controversial statement included these words: "How can you engage in acts of immorality with the same sex?... The Qur'an clearly says it is wrong what you are doing... Allah speaks about how filthy this is... With all due respect to the animals, [homosexuals] are worse than animals."[20] Later on, he retract that statement by which he put in his website saying that the statement was based on a misguided notion and he no longer believe that to be true. [21]

Travel Bans

On 31 October 2017, Singapore banned Menk from its borders because it believes he expresses views incompatible with its multicultural laws and policies. According to the Straits Times, he has asserted that "it is blasphemous for Muslims to greet believers of other faiths during festivals such as Christmas or Deepavali". Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement that its decision to reject Menk's application for a short-term work pass stemmed from his "segregationist and divisive teachings".[22][23] The Majlisul Ulama Zimbabwe, Menk's own institution, released a statement to express "regret and dismay" regarding the ban. It said that Menk was an "asset to multi‐cultural, multi‐religious Zimbabwe" and that viewers should "listen to his sermons in full" and not "edited clips of a few minutes" to see the moderate path he has chosen.[24]

In November 2018, the Danish government banned Menk from entering its borders.[25][26]

Works

In 2018 he published a collection of his sayings as a book titled Motivational Moments[27][28] and in 2019 published the second edition, titled Motivational Moments 2.[29]

Awards and Recognition

References
  1. Piscatori, James; Saikal, Amin (19 September 2019). Islam Beyond Borders: The Umma in World Politics. ISBN 9781108481250.
  2. "مفتي زيمبابوي: الفقر يحاصرنا وحملات التنصير وصلت إلى بيتي!". al-Ittihad. 15 October 2009. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  3. "مفتي زيمبابوي: الفقر يحاصرنا وحملات التنصير وصلت إلى بيتي!". al-Ittihad. 15 October 2009. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  4. Zainal, Norhidayyu (28 March 2014). "Dakwah cara Mufti Menk". Sinar Harian. Pada masa sama, beliau menamatkan pengajian di Universiti Islam Madinah dalam bidang Syariah, mazhab keempat.
  5. "Peace comes calling a look into the Life of Mufti Menk, Grand Mufti of Zimbabwe". Cochin Herald. 31 August 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-10-26. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  6. Stack, Liam (4 June 2016). "The World Reacts on Social Media to Muhammad Ali's Death". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 August 2017. Ismail Menk, the Grand Mufti of Zimbabwe, the African country's highest Islamic religious authority
  7. Sam Westrop, "Hidden in Plain Sight: Deobandis, Islamism and British Multiculturalism Policy" in Faith-Based Violence and Deobandi Militancy in Pakistan, Springer, 2016, p. 461
  8. Aljunied, Khairudin (5 December 2016). Muslim Cosmopolitanism: Southeast Asian Islam in Comparative Perspective. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9781474408905. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  9. Faris Mokhtar. "Islamic community 'must act to counter growing influence of Salafism'". Today. Retrieved 23 June 2018. For example, popular televangelist Zakir Naik, jailed radical Muslim preacher Anjem Choudary, and Ismail Menk (the Mufti of Zimbabwe) all belong to the Salafi sect.
  10. "The 500 Most Influential Muslims 2017" (PDF). Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre.
  11. "The 500 Most Influential Muslims 2013–14" (PDF). Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  12. Zainal, Norhidayyu (28 March 2014). "Dakwah cara Mufti Menk". Sinar Harian.
  13. "Mufti Ismail Menk". themuslim 500.com. Archived from the original on 2015-10-05. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  14. "Menk pledges aid in curbing religious extremism in Maldives". Mihaaru. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  15. M. Sonpon III, Leroy (April 2, 2018). "Zimbabwean Grand Mufti Warns Liberian Muslims Against Physical, Speech Violence". Liberian Observer.
  16. "Mufti blames western media for misconception on Islam". The Borneo Post. 1 April 2015.
  17. "Have respect for one another to bring about happiness, Dr Menk says". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
  18. "Liverpool University Agreed To Host Islamic Preacher Ismail Menk, Who Says Gays Are 'Filthy' (POLL)". The Huffington Post UK. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  19. "Universities cancel Muslim cleric's speaking tour over concerns about his anti-gay views". The Independent. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  20. "Liverpool University Agreed To Host Islamic Preacher Ismail Menk, Who Says Gays Are 'Filthy'". The Huffington Post, 11 November 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  21. "Statements". Mufti Menk. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  22. "Singapore bans Mufti Menk from entering country". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  23. Tham Yuen-C. "2 foreign Islamic preachers barred from entering Singapore for religious cruise". Straights Times. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  24. "STATEMENT BY Majlisul Ulama Zimbabwe MUZ (Council of Islamic Scholars) on the Mufti Menk issue" (PDF). Mufti Menk. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  25. "Den nationale sanktionsliste – Religiøse forkyndere med indrejseforbud". www.nyidanmark.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on 2019-08-14. Retrieved 2019-12-30.
  26. "Indrejseforbud til endnu en religiøs forkynder". Sameksistens. Retrieved 2019-12-30.
  27. "PressReader.com – Connecting People Through News". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  28. Menk, Musa (2017). Motivational Moments. ALQ Creative. ISBN 978-9811126475.
  29. Haziq, Saman. "Islamic scholar Mufti Menk launches his second book". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  30. "MUFTI ISMAIL MENK HONORED". Aldersgate College. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  31. "4th KSBEA 2015 Global Leadership Award 2015 Winners" (PDF). The Times of India. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  32. "4th KSBEA 2015 Global Leadership Award 2015 Winners". Cochin Herald. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
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