In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Ever Merciful…

It has been noted by many of the followers of Yusuf Estes, as well as many of his critics, that he has some very smart and creative methods by which he handles his errors.  One of the more easily detectable of his methods involves changing the information on his websites, and then claiming that he never said what he was criticized for.  Who cares if the mistakes really lead people astray for a period of time? The important thing to him is that he does not get caught teaching the beliefs of the Laf-thiyyah Sect of the Jahmiyyah Cult, specifically that the Quran is not a book, and the mus-haf only represents the Quran which is only found in the Preserved Tablet (Lowh Mahfooth). [Background on this issue]

To clearly illustrate the craftiness of how Yusuf Estes chooses to react to the publications clarifying the falsehood of his beliefs, look at this – the beginning of an article written by Yusuf Estes himself as it appeared on his IslamTomorrow website on August 22, 2012:

The word “Quran” means “that which is recited; or that which is dictated in memory form.” As such, it is not a book, nor is it something that reaches us only in written form. The documentation in writting about the Quran has been preserved in museums thoughout the world, including the Topekopi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, the museum in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and also in England. Keep in mind also, the Quran is only considered “Quran” while it is in the recitation form, not in the written or the book form. The word for what is written and held in the hand to be read by the eye is called “mus-haf” (meaning script or that which is written down). [screenshot]

Note the following important points:

• He clearly writes, “It is not a book.”
• He refers to the oldest known mus-hafs as “the documentation in writing about the Quran,” showing that he does not believe that a mus-haf is actually the Quran.
• He concludes this trinity of sloppy disbelief by saying, “the Quran is only considered Quran while it is in the recitation form, not in the written or the book form.”
• The screenshot was included in the highly informative PDF (p.13) exposing Yusuf’s teachings of blasphemy, published on August 26, 2012.

After the clarifications reached Yusuf Estes, he began to weigh his options and plan how he would respond publicly.  Apostasy by consensus of the scholars – what a heavy issue!  His reputation was on the line, and the salaries of his GuideUs TV staff hung in the balance.  Should he obey Allah and correct important falsehood that he taught openly for 10 years, with the Shaytan threatening him with poverty?  Should he stand as a true Muslim man and speak the truth, even if it be against his own teachings, seeking the pleasure of Allah, leaving Him to deal with the hearts of the people?  Or should he focus on saving his personal reputation at the expense of clarifying the truth?

He consulted his staff of (paid) volunteers (whose income comes from his work), and his fellow TV stars, and the decision was not an easy one!  But in the end, his desires led the way, the Shaytan drew closer to him with more disastrous whisperings, and his treacherous “friends” and co-workers and their horrible advice won over the idea of seeking the Pleasure of Allah and fulfilling His Orders.

The Yusuf Estes Scandal: Operation Cover-Up

Step one of his plan was put into motion – begin covering up.  He openly announced that the mus-haf IS actually the Quran, and that the Quran in book form IS actually the Quran, since the people had clarifications in their hands proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that his belief that the Quran is not a book is in fact disbelief by scholarly consensus.

Step Two: Since this was the path of Shaytan, it became easier to lie and deceive.  Not only would he change the teachings and not acknowledge the previous ones, in contradiction to Quranic orders, he would openly lie to his followers and claim that he had always believed the Quran is a book!

The following video was then published:

What about all the evidence saying otherwise from his public writings and videos?  Could Yusuf Estes pull off such a stunt with evidence everywhere for people to see?  This was going to be a serious challenge, requiring the finest skills of deception and magical speech.  To make people believe that teachings he actually spread for an entire decade all over the planet never even happened.

Step Three: Change history!  This stage of the scandal required Yusuf Estes to go through his 3,000, or 2,300, or however many websites he has, and actually change the writings to avoid representing the beliefs that were identified as apostasy.  Keeping in mind that he chose to lie about what he previously taught, such changes could hardly be considered honest retractions.

One example of how much concern he shows for correcting the teachings of disbelief can be found in the updated version of the previously quoted article, as found on IslamTomorrow.  The following is the updated text of the same article copied only moments ago:

The word “Quran” means “that which is recited; or that which is dictated in memory form.” As such, it is not just a book, nor is it something that reaches us only in written form. The documentation in writting about the Quran has been preserved in museums thoughout the world, including the Topekopi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, the museum in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and also in England. Keep in mind also, the Quran is only considered “Quran” while it is in the recitation form, not in the written or the book form. The word for what is written and held in the hand to be read by the eye is called “mus-haf” (meaning script or that which is written down).

Note the following important points:

• THE ONLY CHANGE in the entire paragraph is the addition of the word “just” in the phrase, “it is not just a book,” which changes the meaning from a negation to an affirmation that the Quran is indeed a book.
• The other clear negations of the Quran being a book remain unchanged!  He still refers to the mus-haf as written documentation about the Quran, and he still negates that the Quran is in book form later in the same paragraph!  This shows the level of concern he has for this newfound belief – he does not even care to read the surrounding text, he just changes, “not a book” to “not just a book.”
• In fact, the article was changed to now include more links to his other websites about the Quran, which conveniently allows him to rank higher in google search results for people looking for his articles about the Quran!  He clearly does not want people making their way to this website. Yes, Yusuf Estes does indeed know about SEO (Search Engine Optimization)! [Click here for proof.]

COVER-UP FAIL

The fourth step of blaming the critics for misunderstanding and misrepresenting him has failed miserably.  The documentation of his deceptive moves has been made public.  The only people who would believe his lies after seeing the proofs are mindless fanatics, and our work is not aimed to reach them.  These clarifications have been blessed by Allah to reach their targeted audience – the everyday Muslims who want to worship Allah properly and avoid falsehood.

While all that is needed is to say, “I taught something incorrectly in a very serious matter, it was…” and “Now, I believe this, so please do not take what I used to say,” and he would find – in sha’ Allah – Muslims all over earth eager to help him retract his mistakes for the sake of Allah, including the very people who have been working diligently to spread clarifications about his mistakes (who he deems to be his enemies sadly).

Lying and attempting to cover up his dangerous mistakes has only caused the people to lose the remaining amount of trust they had in him.  Allah does not bless such a path.  Any mirage of success would only be further agony to endure on the Day when what lies in the chests shall become apparant.

The Reality: Al-hamdulillah, Allah has not left His Religion to be anyone’s playground, and had it not been us, then others would have arisen to correct and warn against the dangerous teachings of Yusuf Estes.  This is because it is Allah’s Religion, and not mine or yours, and Allah will not allow Yusuf Estes or any other reckless storyteller to have his way with it.