Islam21c Articulating Islam in the 21st Century 
On the 16th of February, Shaykh Haitham al-Haddad was invited to participate in a panel discussion at the De Balie institute in Holland. On the face of it, this seemed a unique opportunity for Muslims to be appropriately represented on a prominent Western forum by a leading scholar of orthodox Islam. However, typically the invite was fraught with controversy and had an ulterior motive.
The build-up to the debate centred around a plethora of unsubstantiated attacks on the Shaykh’s opinions and ideology through the Dutch media. To add to this, the tone and agenda of the eventual discussion at the De Balie Institute was quite evidently pre-determined and aligned to the above, as became apparent from the outset of the program. Regardless of the adverse circumstances, Shaykh Haitham held his own through an exemplary show of articulatory prowess coupled with a measured execution of his responses to these baseless allegations. As the recording shows, inevitably this not only resulted in his opponents being silenced, but also caused his critics who were present to discredit themselves.
Must watch to the end.
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The Shaikh Ran the Show
The ignorant muslim modernist in the panel was a disgrace. May the Curse of Allah descend upon him and may he suffer a thousand deaths in this life and the next. Ameen.
A Lion in the lion’s den
May Allah protect you shaikh… metaphorically .. it was the lion in a lion’s den. And get dangerous when the territory is not his own. But that’s the true test. May Allah elevate you higher in this world and in the next!
Daniel in the lion’s den, or a lion (Haitham) pack of wolves
Assalam alaikum wa rahmatUllah
This was crazy ! May Allah reward the Shaikh for putting up with it for 1 hour and a quarter – I do not envy him and it is not an easy situation to be in.
It is shocking how unfair this was….usually the moderator is supposed to be MODERATE and unbiased and put equal questions to everyone on the panel, not try to launch a full-scale attack himself on the guest! Disgraceful behaviour from him! The guy Dibi I think was just a bit, well, thick. The other panellist was plain arrogant.
The audience – or anyone just among them – would have observed this and it should make at least someone reflect about the conviction of a Muslim in these times….
By the way, Haitham means lion 😉
Well done Shaykh Haitham
Stuck to his principles, and his critics eventually started to just repeat themselves in some cases the things he had already clarified, or even started to come around a little. The slightly modern young man he was speaking to also came across well so credit to him too – he had a sensible rather than obnoxiousness attitude so I really hope Allah guides him.
I liked Shaikh Haitham’s question back to the woman who came to the table, when he asked her whether she would accept the decision of someone who CHOOSES to be stoned to death to avoid punishment in the hereafter. She clearly was dumbfounded by that question, and couldn’t answer it without contradicting either her own beliefs or the stance she was taking and thus appearing hypocritical.
I must say that this is an interesting article, but there are not many tourists here, there must be more visitors , I will come back.
I must say that this is an interesting article, but there are not many tourists here, there must be more visitors , I will come back.
Mrs
The shaykh’s responses were cogent and compelling, it’s just a shame that his opponents, and probably much of Holland, were unable to appreciate his arguments and deduce the logic he was reflecting, after all appreciation first requires you to abate some of your prejudices and misconceptions. But koofees off to Shaykh Haitham who remained true to his cause.