The Interview Muhammad Hijab Tried to Hide From the World

Summary

In this video, ex-Muslim Abdullah Sam discusses a controversial interview with scholar Yasir Qadhi, which raised significant doubts about the preservation of the Quran. Qadhi's candid remarks on the theological and preservation issues within Sunni Islam shook the Muslim community, leading to extensive damage control. The video highlights the tension between traditional Islamic teachings and modern academic scrutiny, emphasizing how the community struggles with these revelations. Abdullah Sam underscores the challenges of maintaining faith amidst these intellectual crises and criticizes the reluctance to openly address these complex issues within Islam.

Takeaways

• 📜 Yasir Qadhi's controversial statements about the preservation of the Quran caused significant uproar in the Muslim community.
• 🤔 Qadhi admitted that there are human elements in the Quran and that it is not preserved letter for letter as traditionally believed.
• 💥 Muhammad Hijab deleted 30 minutes of his interview with Qadhi due to the controversial nature of the discussion.
• 📧 Leaked emails revealed Qadhi's doubts about Quran preservation, leading to a major scandal within the Islamic scholarly community.
• 🕌 The issue of Quranic preservation has caused crises of faith among Muslim scholars and students.
• 👥 Qadhi's statements highlighted the existence of intellectual crises among Muslims studying in academia.
• 💡 The standard narrative of the Quran's preservation has significant unresolved issues according to Qadhi.
• 😶 The Muslim community is often kept in the dark about these theological complexities and issues.
• 📖 The story of the emperor with no clothes was used as a metaphor to describe the current state of belief in Quranic preservation.
• 🕵️‍♂️ Ex-Muslims and critics like Abdullah Sameer are using platforms like YouTube to highlight and discuss these controversies, challenging traditional narratives.

Q & A

Who is Yasu Qadi and why is he controversial?

Yasu Qadi is an academic known for making controversial statements about Islamic theology, particularly regarding the preservation of the Quran. His comments have caused significant unrest within the Muslim community.

What did Yasu Qadi say about the Quran that caused controversy?

Yasu Qadi mentioned that the Quran is not letter for letter and word for word preserved, suggesting that there are human aspects to its recitations and that none of the recitations are divine.

What was the reaction of the Muslim community to Yasu Qadi's statements?

The Muslim community had to engage in damage control, and there was significant backlash, including Muhammad Hijab deleting the last 30 minutes of his interview with Yasu Qadi.

Who is Abdullah Sam and what is his role in this controversy?

Abdullah Sam is a former Muslim who explores the impact of Islam on believers and disbelievers. He highlighted the controversy surrounding Yasu Qadi's statements and the subsequent reactions.

What are the issues with Quran preservation according to Yasu Qadi?

Yasu Qadi pointed out that there are many unanswered questions about the Quran's preservation, its recitations (Qira'at), and the authenticity of various versions. These issues are well-known among scholars but not discussed openly.

What analogy did Yasu Qadi use to describe the current state of understanding about the Quran's preservation?

Yasu Qadi compared it to the story of 'The Emperor's New Clothes,' suggesting that while people are told the Quran is perfectly preserved, the reality is that it is not, and this is an open secret among scholars.

What did Muhammad Hijab do in response to the controversy?

Muhammad Hijab deleted the last 30 minutes of his interview with Yasu Qadi and issued a statement distancing himself from Qadi's opinions, suggesting that they would be refuted if they opposed the consensus of the Muslim community.

How did Abdullah Sam view the Muslim community's reaction to the controversy?

Abdullah Sam viewed the Muslim community as being in denial about the issues with Quran preservation. He suggested that the community is not ready to face the truth and prefers to believe in the traditional narrative.

What was the 'private scholarly discussion list' mentioned in the script?

The 'private scholarly discussion list' was a platform where scholars like Yasu Qadi discussed difficult theological issues privately. Qadi's emails from this list were leaked, leading to the public controversy.

What is the significance of the 'holes in the Quran narrative' mentioned in the script?

The 'holes in the Quran narrative' refer to the various issues and contradictions related to the Quran's preservation and authenticity that are not addressed by the traditional narrative, leading to a crisis of faith for some Muslims.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 Yasir Qadhi's Controversial Remarks on Quran Preservation

In this segment, the speaker discusses Yasir Qadhi's controversial comments about the preservation of the Quran and the impact these remarks had on the Muslim community. Qadhi's statements about the flaws in the traditional understanding of Quranic preservation led to significant backlash and damage control within the community. The speaker, Abdullah Sameer, emphasizes the gravity of these revelations and their implications for both believers and skeptics.

05:02

📜 Historical and Scholarly Doubts on Quranic Texts

The speaker delves into the complexities and historical doubts surrounding the Quranic texts, referencing issues that date back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad's companions. These scholarly discussions reveal the challenges and contradictions in the traditional narrative of Quranic preservation. The speaker highlights how even early Islamic scholars and companions had doubts, which were addressed in non-rational ways, creating a foundation for ongoing theological confusion.

10:03

📚 The Standard Narrative's Holes and Academic Skepticism

This part focuses on the inconsistencies in the standard narrative of the Quran's preservation, as admitted by Yasir Qadhi. The speaker explains how these issues are well-known among scholars but often hidden from the general Muslim population. Qadhi's analogy of the 'emperor with no clothes' illustrates how Muslims are taught to believe in the perfect preservation of the Quran despite significant evidence to the contrary, a belief maintained through selective teaching and avoidance of difficult questions.

15:05

🎤 The Dilemma of Addressing Quranic Preservation Publicly

The final segment discusses the aftermath of the controversial interview with Yasir Qadhi, where he was pressed on the issue of Quranic preservation. Qadhi's reluctance to answer a direct question about the Quran's text highlights the sensitive nature of the topic. The speaker points out the community's resistance to addressing these issues openly, comparing it to a refusal to face uncomfortable truths. The speaker concludes by noting the efforts to control the narrative and the broader implications for Islamic scholarship and belief.

Keywords

💡Yasir Qadhi

Yasir Qadhi is a prominent Islamic scholar who has been involved in a controversial discussion about the preservation of the Quran. In the video, his comments about the holes in the narrative of Quranic preservation created significant controversy within the Muslim community.

💡Muhammad Hijab

Muhammad Hijab is a Muslim apologist and YouTuber who interviewed Yasir Qadhi. The interview led to controversy due to Qadhi's statements about the Quran's preservation, resulting in Hijab deleting part of the interview to control the damage.

💡Quran Preservation

Quran preservation refers to the belief that the Quran has remained unchanged since it was revealed to Prophet Muhammad. The video discusses doubts and issues raised by Yasir Qadhi regarding this belief, suggesting that there are human elements and variations in the recitations.

💡Hadith

Hadith are the recorded sayings and actions of Prophet Muhammad. The video mentions that while the Hadith have long been scrutinized and found problematic by some, similar doubts are now being applied to the Quran's preservation.

💡Ahruf and Qira'at

Ahruf and Qira'at are terms related to the different modes and recitations of the Quran. Yasir Qadhi discusses these concepts, highlighting the complexities and confusions surrounding them, which contribute to the debates on Quranic preservation.

💡Crisis of Faith

A crisis of faith refers to a period of doubt and uncertainty in one's religious beliefs. Yasir Qadhi admits to having experienced this due to issues with Quranic preservation, and he mentions that many other scholars and students have similar struggles.

💡Ex-Muslim

An ex-Muslim is someone who has left the Islamic faith. The video's narrator, Abdullah Sameer, identifies as an ex-Muslim and discusses how the issues raised by Yasir Qadhi align with the criticisms often made by ex-Muslims about the foundations of Islam.

💡Damage Control

Damage control refers to efforts made to minimize the negative impact of a controversial event. After the interview with Yasir Qadhi, Muhammad Hijab and others in the Muslim community engaged in damage control by deleting parts of the interview and issuing statements to mitigate the fallout.

💡Traditional Narrative

The traditional narrative refers to the accepted historical and theological account of the Quran's preservation and transmission. Yasir Qadhi's comments challenge this narrative, suggesting that it has significant holes and cannot withstand academic scrutiny.

💡Scholarly Discussion

Scholarly discussion involves debates and exchanges of ideas among experts in a field. Yasir Qadhi references private scholarly discussions where doubts about Quranic preservation are openly addressed, contrasting with the more controlled public discourse.

Highlights

Yasir Qadhi's controversial comments about the preservation of the Quran caused significant upheaval in the Muslim community.

Muhammad Hijab took the drastic step of deleting the last 30 minutes of his interview with Yasir Qadhi due to the controversy.

Yasir Qadhi admitted that the Quran is not preserved letter for letter, which shocked many Muslims.

This issue of Quran preservation has led to a crisis of faith for some Muslim scholars and students.

Yasir Qadhi revealed that even the most advanced scholars struggle with questions about the preservation and variations of the Quran.

The interview exposed that the standard narrative of Quranic preservation has significant holes and unanswered questions.

Yasir Qadhi described the situation as similar to the story of the emperor with no clothes, where people are unaware of the reality.

The interview highlighted that the traditional understanding of the Quran cannot answer some pressing academic questions.

Muhammad Hijab's attempts to clarify the issue during the interview only made Yasir Qadhi more defensive and reluctant to answer.

Yasir Qadhi emphasized that these complex issues should not be discussed publicly but rather in academic settings.

The controversy has divided the Muslim community, with some preferring to ignore these difficult questions about the Quran.

Yasir Qadhi's crisis of knowledge began during his first year at Yale, leading him to question the traditional narratives.

The interview revealed that there is a well-known secret among academics about the problems with Quranic preservation.

The exposure of these issues has been driven by ex-Muslims and the power of the internet.

Muhammad Hijab distanced himself from Yasir Qadhi's views by issuing a statement and deleting part of the interview.

The discussion highlighted that the process of Quranic preservation has been very human, similar to the Hadith.

Transcripts

people converting to Islam should be

shown this clip Bor Muslims should know

about this they should know that the

very core of Sunni Islam has major

theological problems the primary source

of Islam is the Quran and Sunnah

everyone knew for years that Hadith was

bad like really bad but they didn't

realize that this applies to Quran as

well yasu kadi is no stranger to

controversy being the academic he is he

sometimes Ruffles others with comments

he has made about different issues but

this time it was even worse than before

he said something that shook the ground

below the dawa Community the Muslim

Community had to go and damage control

after this so much so that Muhammad

hijab took the DraStic step of deleting

the last 30 minutes of his interview he

did with yasa

kadi I'm going to tell you what happened

and how it got there

[Music]

I'm going to share with you what

happened in 2020 and how the holes in

the Quran narrative got studed I'm your

friendly exm Muslim Abdullah Sam I'm

exploring the topic of Islam and how it

affects the lives of Believers and

disbelievers welcome to my channel if

you're new here yasu had established

rapport with Muhammad hijab Muhammad was

giving him the chance to air some

difficult questions and Tackle them on

his established platform this gave yasak

Kar a safe space supposedly to discuss

with someone friendly on his side while

quashing the rumors about his doubts

that were going around everyone seemed

to keep talking about it was a smart

move or so he thought thing is hijab and

kadi underestimated how not ready the

community was for this so one of the

brothers um he did something again

unethical uh he was expelled from the

list and the list was basically banned

because of that stop because of that he

couldn't refute to my argument so he

sent it to uh one of your mother in uh

in England and so then of course this

gave it to the other one and so

obviously any everything you know you

know all whatever broke loose but again

this was not something I brought up in

public and I would never bring it up in

public and I don't think it is wise to

bring it up in public so what he's

saying here is that there was a private

scholarly discussion list that yasari

was on but he was speaking about the

problems he's seen with Quran

preservation I actually have some of

those emails guess who leaked them fared

fared leaked these to daan to expose

yakari but instead this ended up

creating the biggest Scandal on the

internet for Islam in this email yasaka

stated the Quran is not letter for

letter do for do preserved he said how

can we understand the Quran as being

meaning the speech of Allah when clearly

there are some human aspects to it he

comes up with proposals one of them

being that we assume that the

recitations of the Quran none of them

are

Divine now this is actually shocking

because currently all the recitations

are considered equally Divine equally

Revelation he then says that a failure

to do so meaning to deal with these

problems will lead to major problems

amongst an Ever growing group of

intellectually curious Muslims For Whom

the standard medieval narrative simply

holds little academic weight I believe

I've mentioned this on the list before

I'm personally am aware of around a

dozen Muslims in Academia who have major

crisis of faith and perhaps one who has

left the faith because of this issue and

I also have confessed on this list that

my own personal crisis of knowledge I

wouldn't call it a faith crisis although

perhaps it came close was when I entered

into this realm during my first year

that Yale and felt my world come

crashing down in front of me I didn't

know what to believe about the heft

meaning preservation of the Quran

anymore because there was no alternative

you either had non-muslim views or these

simplistic standardized triumphalis

claims that a rational mind simply

cannot acknowledge this

true like just wow imagine finding out

after all these years that you have been

taught a lie taught an oversimplified

false dogma and now you're struggling to

maintain your faith almost falling into

a crisis and then sharing this privately

with scholarly like people just for it

to be exposed to the masses every single

student of knowledge knows who studies

Quran that the most difficult topics

are and the concept of and the reality

of and the relationship of

the and the preservation of the is it

one is it three is it seven and the

relationship of the to the this is a

topic that when you're the beginning

beginning student of knowledge you're

like what is all of this going on here

when you go a little bit more you learn

to Simply memorize what your teachers

say and regurgitate it out and you don't

fully comprehend when you do a deep dive

is when things get very very awkward and

difficult very awkward and difficult the

more you look into it h it even goes

back to the time of the sahaba the

companions where the companion of

Muhammad obey had a doubt and this isn't

new this is from the time of the in the

the the of the that when the prophet

mentioned the issue of and that there

are different and whatnot this is in the

version of

mused says authentic

in my heart a doubt came that I hadn't

had about Islam since the days of

J this is not a joke brothers and

sisters the issue of caused confusion to

somebody whom the prophet said if you

want to listen to the Quran directly

listen to is not some even average

sahabi he is the of the Quran he is the

master he is who he is and he

goes what is all of this stuff and the

prophet theet put put his hand and then

he goes it all went away I love that the

sahaba the companion of Muhammad had a

doubt you know what that's a good thing

but the solution wasn't a

discussion but Muhammad put his hand on

his heart and it all went away imagine

if life was so simple like that yeah

don't worry about the contradictions and

problems just you know let let the

prophet put his hand on your H and it's

all gone like you know, 1400 years later

we look at him we're like yeah okay sure

now for the first time I'm telling you

here what was the crisis I mentioned it

referenced it but I never explicitly

said it why didn't I say it because it

should not be said in public but

unfortunately these brothers because

they released the emails so then I have

to then get get it this was the issue

that the issue of and preservation and

and relationships between them these are

very very difficult issues and the most

advanced of our

Scholars they not quite fully certain

how to solve all of the unanswered

questions in there the issue of ahu and

preservation and Kat are very difficult

issues and even the most advanced

Scholars are not fully certain how to

solve all the unanswered questions this

little clip is enough to show you that

Islam has major issues in its

foundations and that unfortunately the

masses are not told about them but then

there's even more we're not done yet Ki

admits that this is a well-known problem

among

Scholars well-known secret among

academics he says the story of the

emperor with no clothes is a story of an

emperor who was sold the most amazing

invisible clothes most beautiful clothes

he was told is so beautiful but the the

most obvious thing people realize is he

was just naked and he got scammed here

he was walking around and nobody wanted

to tell him you're just naked and that's

what he's saying Islam is like right now

the all walking around thinking the

Quran is preserved but it's not just

like the emperor with no clothes and by

the way this is now a well-known Open

Secret amongst many Muslim graduate

students and and academics around the

world and this is well known traditional

understandings

of cannot answer some of these pressing

questions that are now being poked by

our uh people outside of by our

academics not our by their academics

outside of the faith tradition you see

in a Muslim environment there's always

some respect that we have for the Quran

we should in a Muslim environment we'll

press a little bit and then we'll say

okay and that's great alhamdulillah when

you go to Academia they don't have that

red line and they're going to just you

know the the the famous story of the

emperor with no clothes they're going to

just point out no that doesn't make any

sense well that's not true and this and

that and they'll bring issues which I'm

not going to mention explicitly that you

know are true because they're in your

own books they're not inventing anything

new they'll bring you rat and they'll

bring you and then you add to that very

well-known issues of I don't even want

to be explicit then you bring on top of

that and then and then and it's very

clear to you and to every single very

Advanced student and specialist that the

standard narrative has holes in it

that's what I'm going to say the

standard narrative does not answer some

very pressing questions okay this is

what I'm going to say another bombshell

in this little interview he he said

alhamdulillah we poke a little and then

we stop he's saying it's good to be a

little skeptical but not actually follow

the evidence with it leads why not CU

it'll take you out of Islam because

it'll destroy the narrative of the Quran

being fully

preserved this is where the Muslim

Community is they're in the dark they

have to be dragged out of the false

ideas they have just like Plato's Cave

we have to show them the

light and then the final bomb shall of a

question Muhammad hijab thought he was

going to save the day with this question

he thought okay this this is kind of

like uncomfortable you can see in the

look on his eyes he looks like terrified

deer in the headlights and and he

thought okay you know I'm going to I'm

going to solve this whole thing with

this question what's the question what

if I gave you a blank M meaning a Quran

with no words can you write down with no

human interference what was revealed

from Allah if you do would it correspond

to the existing Quran we have yasak kadi

didn't want to answer this question he

interrupted him and he pushed back in

fact he got so irritated at the repeated

questioning and said pushing me and I

don't want to talk about this ask you

one question to try and make this as

specific as possible I think if I were

to give you a blank mus yeah and uh and

tell you to write what

is from Allah into that mus with no

human interference would you write

something which corresponds it's not an

easy answer it's not an easy yes or no

it is enough for the Muslim to believe

that should be an easy or no though yes

I I have to okay very well so yeah

Muhammad after we get off this phone

call me and you let's have a number of

discussions no problem I'm very open

with Advanced students but these issues

should not look it is what is going to

be written it

is what would you write let's not let's

you're pushing me and I'm saying it's

not hikma to listen I have a condition

like I said everything I say is going to

be factual if I wanted to do to and

whatnot I would do it right now in front

of you there is no need for

the Quran is the uncreated speech of

Allah the Quran is preserved the Quran

is known the Quran is M and

alhamdulillah all of the are the Quran

all of the are authentic alhamdulillah

leave it at that Beyond this honestly I

have no problem we'll have a discussions

or take my class but beyond this

requires background information it is

enough for the Muslim to know that the

Quran is the speech of Allah that has

been protected and what we recite is the

cam of Allah that is enough for the

I I

appreciate you have it this is the

reality of the situation and don't blame

or thank yasak this is a group effort

fed davan Muhammad hijab and all of them

were involved in this production and

funny thing is all of them has have been

involved with me too other than yasak

kadi who didn't want to admit that he

was triggered by my video I made about

his doubts but what we've been doing

raising light on these issues as ex

Muslims has kind of forced them into a

corner and so you can see the power of

YouTube The Power of the internet the

power of ex-muslims speaking out and

what do we learn the Quran is the speech

of Allah it's preserved because it says

it's preserved so it must be

alhamdulillah end of story stop asking

questions or ask a bit of questions but

don't ask too many of course after this

interview

there was damage control needed we not

done hijab decided to do something that

actually surprised me he distan himself

from what yasak kadi said of course by

deleting 30 minutes of the interview

sure and of course even worse than that

he issued a statement that included if

Dr quari holds an opinion that opposes

the imma consensus of the umah or makes

anti-normative claims he will be refuted

can you imagine talking about a scholar

like that you can see the community is

divided they're not ready for the truth

they'd rather be like the emperor with

no clothes walking around thinking the

Quran has been preserved but the vant

the Hadith the manuscripts they all tell

us a different story that it isn't it

seems like if you want to sell Islam you

have to hide all of these defects

selling a used car would be easier than

selling a Quran full of holes in it the

Quran hasn't been preserved like they

say it is the process of preservation

has been a very human one just like

Hadith everything in this religion is

very human it's just that most Muslims

aren't aware of it and the scholars hide

this from the masses you see religion

really is a tool used to control people

thanks for watching if you want to see

more do subscribe and consider

supporting me on patreon your support is

most appreciated this is your friendly

ex Muslim Abdullah Sam signing out