In the Name of Allah…

As Huda TV stars stumble about in their wild explanations of why people should not listen to any of the criticism against controversial preacher Yusuf Estes, we would like to offer the following refreshing eye-opener for those who are interested in the reality of his situation, not the shameless attempts of his fanatical supporters and ill-intended promoters to keep people from learning about the reality of his disgusting teachings over the past decade. (For details read this PDF.)

From the many smokescreen tactics being used to keep people from the truth of the matter is their claim that the detailed clarifications of the serious errors of Yusuf Estes are not needed, and they are a form of excessiveness or religious extremism, because Yusuf Estes is ignorant, and “he doesn’t claim to be a scholar.”  This argument itself is devoid of any substance, since the status of someone who effectively spreads teachings of disbelief and apostasy is not given any consideration.  The affair is truth and falsehood, and the Muslims have a right to know their Religion when someone’s teachings openly violate it from numerous angles.

However, let us take a moment and closely examine this diversionary tactic, that “Yusuf Estes does not claim to be a scholar.” For those who still think that controversial preacher Yusuf Estes is a humble, modest man who knows his place, and does not claim to be a scholar, then let his reality be known!  He has actually said:

Scholars of Islam have traveled from all over the world to be here for this, and we’re speaking in plain, simple English!

Source: This video of a lecture he gave in India with Dr. Bilal Phillips.

On Huda TV, Yusuf Estes says:

We fed them, we gave them a feast and a banquet, and we gave them scholars who came: Shaykh Jamal Badawi, the sister Yvonne Ridley, and myself, and I think we had, uh, Imam Qasim was there…

Source: This clip of an “Ask Huda” episode on Huda TV. (at 11:35)

At another event, Yusuf Estes was introduced as:

An Islamic scholar and an international speaker

After being referred to as a scholar in the introduction, Yusuf Estes responds by saying:

I wanted to mention that you probably gave the closest to the reality of an introduction that I’ve heard about me in a long time, because as you become more and more known around the world, people have a tendency to get further and further away from the real, real deal.  I’ve heard myself introduced to the extent that when I’m sitting backstage listening to this introduction going on, and I’m thinking: Who is coming out? And they say: “Here he is – Yusuf Estes!”  I go, “That wasn’t me.”  But you said, you got the age right, the background right, you got everything, the only thing…

Here Yusuf does indeed reject something that he feels was inappropriately mentioned, he says:

…The only thing I will take exception to – the empire.  (laughs) I want to play that down a little bit. (laughs)

This is a reference to his music business before he accepted Islam.

Source: this video

So he was clearly introduced as a “scholar” twice, and not only does Yusuf Estes refrain from criticizing that point to focus on something silly, he explicitly supports the accuracy of the statements in the introduction, that he is a scholar, saying: “You probably gave the closest to the reality of an introduction that I’ve heard about me in a long time,” and, “You got the age right, the background right, you got everything!”

[UPDATE: Yusuf Estes even mentions in the signature line of some of his emails that he does not claim to be the most knowledgeable of scholars!] 

Sadly, it seems that Yusuf Estes -as they say – has drunk his own Kool-Aid (“real-deal scholar” flavored).

Furthermore, since the Huda TV stars (like Assim al-Hakeem) began making this claim in the Fall of 2012, Yusuf Estes has gone on to be presented as “Dr. Yusuf Estes, prominent Muslim scholar” in Japan, and then more recently as a “renowned Islamic scholar” in Dubai!

Sources: Japan and Dubai

Even worse, Huda TV stars would like us to believe that Yusuf Estes is ignorant and thus not worthy of being refuted, while the very same channel promotes him as “the Imam of America”!! 

Even worse than that, controversial Saudi preacher, Salman al-‘Owdah, recently published a book in Arabic called “Haathaa Rasool Allaah”, including endorsements from “the world’s top leading scholars”, shamelessly listing two Americans: Yusuf Estes and Hamza Yusuf!  This takes the scandal to a whole new level, attempting to convince the Arabs that Yusuf Estes has reached a level of scholarship where he reviews and endorses Arabic books!