Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani
17195 Silver Parkway #401
Fenton, MI 48430
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A prominent
scholar of mainstream, traditional Islam, Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani has
spent his life spreading the teachings of peace, tolerance, respect and love
that are the message of Islam throughout the world. Here in the United
States for the last eleven years, Shaykh Kabbani has continued to
disseminate the light and peace of Islam's spiritual dimension to people of
every background, ethnicity, race, and belief. |
Education
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Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry from the American
University of Beirut,
Lebanon.
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Medical studies in
Louvain, Belgium.
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Degree in Islamic Divine Law,
Damascus, Syria.
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License to teach, guide and counsel students in Islamic spirituality from the
renowned Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil, authority of the Hanafi school of Islamic
law in the Middle
East and world leader of the Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order.
Current Positions Held
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Co-Chair,
Council of Muslim Leadership
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Chairman,
Islamic Supreme Council of
America
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President,
The Muslim Magazine
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U.S.
Leader,
Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order
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Chairman,
As-Sunnah Foundation of
America
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Advisor,
UnityOne, an organization devoted to ending gang violence.
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Advisor,
Human Rights Council, U.S.A. for supporting the establishment of human
rights and freedom in all nations. |
Recent accomplishments
March 2010 Conducted a tour of Ghana,
Ivory Coast and Kenya to meet with clerics and community
leaders
about the preservation of traditional Muslim culture; and
met with Ivory Coast president, His Excellency Laurent
Gbagbo, and Kenyan Prime Minister, His Excellency Raila
Amolo Odinga to discuss the rise of Islamist radicalism in
Africa and the concurrent destruction of ancient Muslim
culture.
February 2010 Founder of new registered UK
charity which hosted HRH Prince of Wales for its launch
event “Spirituality in Action”
June 2009 Met with opposition leader of
Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, and other government officials.
May 2009 Celebration of Prophet
Muhammad Birthday attended by the President of Indonesia,
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono along with 250,000 members of the
public at Masjid Istiqlal, the largest mosque in Southeast
Asia.
April 2009 Celebrated Prophet Muhammad’s
Birthday at the House of Commons. attended by Rt. Hon. Hazel
Anne Blears, UK Secretary of State for Communities and Local
Government and Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith, UK Home Secretary.
November 2008 Met with His Excellency
Rathnasiri Wickramanayake, the Prime minister of Sri Lanka
to discuss on how and what help is needed by the Muslims
pertaining to the current situation in Sri Lanka.
November 2008 Met with His Excellency
Mahinda Rajapakse, the President of Sri Lanka to present
views on Terrorism and how can peace be brought to Sri
Lanka.
March 2008 Guest of Honor for the first
interfaith house of worship in Los Angeles, California
March 2008 Host of the 2nd Preventing
Extremism Road Show across the UK
December 2007 Host of the 1st Preventing
Extremism Road Show across the UK
August 2007 Personally guest of Colonel
Qaddafi of Libya to discuss curtailing the threat of
Islamist radicalism
June 2006 Met with His Royal Highness
Princes Charles of England to discuss the importance of
Sufism in Islam and to promote universal spirituality
amongst all people.
March 2006 Briefed the staff of UK Prime
Minister Tony Blair on suggestions for its public diplomacy
outreach to the Muslim community.
February 2006 Met personally with U.S. Vice
President Richard Cheney to present his views on the cures
of Islamist radicalism.
February 2006 Met with Ms. Fran Townshend,
Assistant to the U.S. President for Homeland Security, and
her deputy, Mr. Juan Zarate, to also discuss the cures for
Islamist radicalism and responses to the “cartoon
controversy”.
July 2005 & Jan 2006 Held private meetings with
President Susilo Bambang Yudiyono of Indonesia and Vice
President Yusuf Kalla to strengthen ongoing joint projects
on “Jihadi rehabilation” for Indonesian youth.
April 2005 Met with England’s Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw to discuss current situation of Islam
in Europe.
March 2005 Attended White House
Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Leadership Conference
and met with President Bush at a round table on the
initiative.
December 2004 Chief guest and speaker
“Global Challenges in Islam” Seminar, Singapore. Over three
days spoke in three different religious forums. Met with
Singapore’s Minister of Council of Islamic Affairs (MUIS),
State Minister of Foreign Affairs and the State Minister for
Education. Met with Rohan Gunaratna, Head of International
Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, to
discuss methods for promoting traditional Islam and
assisting “recovering” terrorists.
December 2004 Principal keynote speaker and
host, International Conference of Scholars and Activists,
Jakarta, Indonesia under the theme “Islam & Civil Society in
the 21st Century: A Path to Transformation” addressing the
topic “Principles of Leadership in War & Peace” detailing
the illegitimacy of terrorism and the prohibition of suicide
as a means of combat in Islam. Addressed the Friday sermon
at two of Jakarta’s largest mosques and hosted during the
conference, HRH Prince Raja Muda Nazrin Azlan Shah,
Pro-Chancellor, University of Malaya and Crown Prince of
Malaysia’s state of Perak, Dato Hishammudin Tun Hussein,
Malaysia’s Minister of Education, Dato Seri Shahrizat Abdul
Jalil, Malaysia’s Minister of Women, Family and Community
Development, Shaykh Hazyim Muzadi, Head of Indonesia’s
largest NGO, Nahdatul Ulama, US Ambassador B. Lynn Pascoe
and other dignitaries at the conference.
December 2004 Met with Indonesian Vice
President Jusuf Kalla at his home in Jakarta to discuss
issues of state.
November 2004 Guest at the White House for
the President Bush Annual Ramadan Dinner.
August 2004 Attended Sidi Shekir
Conference on “Importance of Spirituality in Human Affairs,”
in Marrakech, Morocco, under the patronage HRM King Mohamad
VI and the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
June 2004 Keynote speaker at the
northern California-based Islamic Educational and Cultural
Research Center (IECRC) second annual conference.
June 2004 Met with His
Excellency Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan and presented him with an
invitation to Islamic leaders’ conference, Indonesia, winter 2004.
May 2004 Keynote speaker at
Universal Muslim Association of America in Washington, DC. Topic: “Extremism is
inconsistent with Islam.”
May 2004 Keynote speaker at
Islamic Studies and Research of Association in Columbia, SC. Topic: “Classical
Islam: religion of mercy.”
May 2004 Keynote speaker at
international religious conference in Indonesia. Met with Indonesia’s vice
presidential candidates. In Malaysia met with Minister of Education His
Excellency Tun Hishamuddin Hussein and with Crown Prince of Perak, HRH Raja Muda
bin Azlan Shah.
April 2004 Keynote speaker at
conference, “Beyond Radical Islam?” held by LeFrak Forum and Symposium on
Science, Reason, and Modern Democracy at Michigan State University and the
Ethics and Public Policy Center of Washington, DC.
February 2004 Led an international
delegation to Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. In Thailand presented a paper at
the Thailand Leadership Forum, toured Buddhist shrines and met religious
leaders; Performed Celebration of Remembrance with 140,000 students in
Indonesia’s Istiklal Mosque; met privately with Malaysian Prime Minister His
Excellency Dato Seri Abdallah Badawi.
January 2004 Met with His
Excellency Recep Tayyib Erdogan Prime Minister of Turkey to discuss building
interfaith dialogue between US academics and scholars and their Turkish
counterparts.
January 2004 Keynote speech to
annual board meeting of the American Foreign Policy Council.
December 2003 Represented US Muslims
at 3-day interfaith conference of international religious leaders held in Spain.
October 2003 Joined President
George W. Bush for Iftar at the White House. Gave the keynote address at the
Nixon Center conference on Sufism and US Policy.
July and October 2003 Led two international
delegation to Indonesia and Malaysia to meet with government and religious
leaders as part of a campaign against religious extremism; addressed more than
100,000 Muslims in Indonesia’s Mosque Istiklal, calling for religious tolerance,
and opened a new institute dedicated to teaching classical Islam.
May 2003 Spoke at Conference
on Islam and America, sponsored by the Ethics and Public Policy Center in
Washington, DC.
May 2003 Addressed conference
of federal prison chaplains sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in Ann
Arbor, Michigan; warned of danger posed by extremists within federal corrections
system.
January-February 2003 Traveled across the U.S.
to convene grassroots coalition meetings and community watch groups to prevent
the rise of religious extremism and to promote traditional Islam.
November 2002 Met with President George
W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell, respectively, at White House and
State Department events for Ramadan.
September 2002 Met with President
George W. Bush for his official Proclamation of the Days of Remembrance and
Prayers September 6-9, 2002.
August
2002 Invited as a guest of the President of Uzbekistan, Islam
Karimov, to visit the republic and explore issues of religious educational
development.
July
2002 Presented a paper entitled “Understanding Sharia” at
the Freedom House conference in Washington, DC, as well as a paper on
“Islam and Democracy” for the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
March
2002 Met with His Excellency President Islam Karimov of
Uzbekistan during his first official visit to the U.S. and discussed future
plans for mutual cooperation.
March
2002 Met with Asst. Secretary of Defense, Mr. Paul Wolfowitz
and his staff to introduce the activities of ISCA and its promotion of moderate
Islam throughout the world.
March
2002 Guest speaker at the American Society for Industrial
Security on the topic of “Traditional Islam in the U.S.”
February
2002 Signed Memorandum of Understanding with State Minister of
Indonesia on the building of civil society infrastructure and the promotion of
traditional Islam.
February
2002 Met with Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, and
Minister of Youth for Malaysia to discuss issues facing the Muslim world after
9-11.
September
2001 Advised numerous
government agencies on issues of national security as it relates to radical
religious insurgents, both domestically and abroad.
May 2001 Led the ISCA Asian
Tour to Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Japan.
April 2001
Led a hundred-member delegation to the Republic of
Uzbekistan as a guest of the President of Uzbekistan.
January 2001
Guest of Honor, Annual Meeting of the National Committee of
American Foreign Policy.
October
2000 Met with various ministers and the President of Indonesia.
September
2000 Delegate to the UNESCO conference on inter-religious dialogue
in Uzbekistan.
August
2000 Met with His Excellency President Islam Karimov of
Uzbekistan.
April 2000
Keynote speaker at Central Asia–Caucasus Institute (CACI) of
Johns Hopkins University conference on The Emergence of Religious Extremism
in Central
Asia and the Caucasus.
March
2000 Met with His Excellency President Denktash and the
foreign minister of Cyprus.
January 2000
Met with U.S. President Bill Clinton at a White House event in
honor of Ramadan.
November 1999
Joined U.S. Congressional representatives in generating nationwide support for
an official stamp recognizing the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
February 1999 Hosted by President Aslan Maskhadov of Chechnya on
three week
fact-finding mission to
Grozny and surrounding war-torn areas; shared findings with various government
agencies and political analysts.
February 1, 1999 Appointed
representative of the Muslim faith for Vice President Al Gore’s conference on
“Corruption in Government,” February, 1999.
January 7,
1999 Keynote speaker at “Islamic Extremism” Open Forum at the U.S.
Department of State.
January 6,
1999 Keynote Speaker at forum on “The Evolution of Wahhabism” at
Johns Hopkins University, Central Asia – Caucasus Institute.
August 7 – 9, 1998 Chaired the 2nd International Islamic
Unity Conference in Washington, DC.
Major Achievements
Accomplishments in North America
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Founded 23 Islamic study and meeting centers in the
U.S. and Canada.
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Founded an Islamic retreat and healing center in
Michigan.
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Founded the Islamic Supreme Council of America, an educational
organization dedicated to the dissemination of informative material on Islam and
the presentation of an authentic, scholarly Islamic viewpoint on world affairs.
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Established the American branch of the Haqqani Educational Foundation,
dedicated to promoting the fundamental teachings of Islamic belief, including
tolerance, respect and peace.
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Served as advisor and speaker, Northern California Interfaith Conference,
San Francisco.
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Established As-Sunna Foundation of America for developing, publishing and
organizing conferences to provide classical Islamic education.
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Chairman of American Muslim Assistance relief organization, working to
help the indigent, orphans and refugees in
America and throughout
the world.
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Founder of the Muslim Magazine, top-rated English-language Islamic
newsmagazine with a truly moderate approach.
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Co-Founder of
Alliance for Islamic Culture and Arts.
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Founder of top-rated websites: haqqanisoul.com, sunnah.org, islamicsupremecouncil.org,
naqshbandi.org, naqshbandi.net, sufilive.com,
Accomplishments in
Europe,
the Far East and the Middle East
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Works closely with the government and people of
Uzbekistan to restore
traditional Islamic practices and prevent the increase of religious radicals in
the region.
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Co-founder of the Haqqani Worldwide Educational Foundation center for
teaching Islamic Divine Law and spirituality in
London, England, which
houses over 800 students each year and more than 2,000 students per year who
attend seminars, workshops and retreats for learning about the essentials of
Islam.
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Speaker and advisor, Inter-Religious Organization,
Singapore.
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Working at the highest political levels to support relief efforts in
Bosnia, Kosova,
Afghanistan, Iraq, his native Lebanon and Somalia.
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Supporting peace initiatives in the
Middle East, Bosnia,
Kashmir, Afghanistan and Kosova.
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Working to free political prisoners and prisoners of conscience the world-over.
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Working with international organizations to establish the International Day
of the Orphan as a globally-observed day for highlighting the plight of
orphans, foster children and child victims of abuse.
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Chairman of the highly successful International Islamic Unity Conference,
whose second conference took place in
Washington, DC from
August 7-9, 1998.
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Co-developer and former General Manager of the Islamic Jeddah Medical Center in
Saudi Arabia.
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Was invited by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to attend the opening of his first healing
clinic in October 1998.
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Met with Devi Gowda, former PM of
India, and C.M. Ibrahim,
at that time Aviation Minister of India, when they were all guests at the 7th
annual conference of the IMRC in San Jose, 1997.
Publications
BOOKS
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Classical Islam and the
Naqshbandi Sufi Way,
840 pp. detailing
Naqshbandi Sufi tradition of classical Islam.
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The Approach to
Armageddon? An Islamic Perspective,
294 pp. details Islam’s perspectives on science and technology and prophecies
regarding end times and Judgment Day.
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Encyclopedia of Islamic
Doctrine and Beliefs
- 5 years in research and
writing, 1500 pp. 7-volume, set describes Islamic beliefs according to the
classical approach of the major schools of jurisprudence and doctrine.
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The
Naqshbandi Sufi Way:
History and Guidebook of the Saints of the Golden Chain
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Encyclopedia of
Muhammad's Women Companions.
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Angels Unveiled -
a modern view of a traditional subject.
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Pearls & Coral, Volumes I
and II,
classical Islamic teachings couched in an easy-to-read informal format.
and
many others…
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Understanding Sharia -
Islamic Law from the classical Islamic perspective
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Islam & Democracy
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Terrorist Threat in
America: Extremist Wave Threatens to Engulf Muslim Americans
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Radicalism: Its Wahhabi
Roots and Current Representation
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Jihad: A Misunderstood
Concept from Islam