International Affairs • عربي (Arabic)

Response to al-Shorouk's Article

by Suhaib Webb
July 12, 2011
1 min read

Assalamu `alaykum,

Over a month ago, the respected Egyptian Paper al-Shorouk published a scandalous piece about me based on a recent “profile piece” done in the Los Angeles Times. I sent them a response, requesting that they correct the post and publish my response. They failed to do so, and have ignored numerous requests for clarity. For this reason, my response was published in al-Jareda, a paper that had the integrity to remove the original article and publish my correction when asked to do so. Readers of al-Shorouk, a newspaper popular in Egypt for its honesty, should question a paper that fails to admit its own mistakes and correct itself. The original article was not only an attempt to disgrace me, but an indirect attack on al-Azhar University as well.

Below is my response to their article.

Suhaib Webb

الإمام صهيب وب يرد على خبر ”الشروق“ حول رفع المطربات للأذان

الجريدة (خاص) – كتبت ناريمان ناجى

”المطربة المفضلة يمكن أن ترفع الأذان“..

كان هذا عنوان خبر نشره موقع جريدة الشروق يوم السبت 4 يونيو 2011 وكان من بين سطوره ”دعا إمام أمريكى مسلم معروف بمزجه بين ثقافة ”البوب“ و”الآيات القرآنية“ في خطبة الجمعة، المطربات لرفع الأذان معتبرا أن ذلك سيجذب المصلين، ذلك فى إطار رؤيته لما يطلق عليه ”إسلام أمريكي“.

و قد أرسل الإمام صهيب ردا إلى مدير تحرير موقع الشروق لتصحيح هذه الصورة الخاطئة لكنه للأسف لم يتلق أي رد أو حتى نشر المعلومات السليمة، لذلك توجه إمام صهيب لنا موقع الجريدة دوت كوم لننشر له هذا الرد:

”السيد رئيس تحرير موقع جريدة الشروق المحترم

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

قرأت بكل أسف الخبر المنشور بموقعكم يوم ٤ يونيو ٢٠١١ بعنوان “المطربة المفضلة يمكن أن ترفع الأذان” مع نشر صورتي بالزي الأزهري مما يسئ كثيرا لي و لمؤسسة عظيمة أدين لها بالفضل بعد الله في التزامي بمنهج الوسطية الإسلامية، البعيدة تماما عن كل إفراط أو تفريط.

و قد خلط المقال بين الحق و الباطل و بين الحقيقة و الخيال و بين الجد و الضحك، فقد ادعى علي كاتب المقال أني أسمم أفكار الشباب لذلك فقد كتبت لكم هذا الرد لأؤكد لقرائكم المحترمين أني كنت أنتقد غياب بعض الشباب من المصلين فترات طويلة و لا نراهم إلا أيام الجمعة فقلت ضاحكا ”هل يريدون أن تأتي مطربتهم المفضلة لترفع الأذان حتى يأتوا ليصلوا في المساجد“ و الأمر كان جليا وواضحا لكل الموجودين أن هذا الكلام كان من باب السخرية من وضع نعاني منه في الكثير من المجتمعات المسلمة ألا وهو غياب بعض الشباب عن المساجد.

لذلك فإني أرجو من سيادتكم نشر ردى هذا في أقرب وقت مصحوبا بنفس الصورة التي نشرتموها مع الخبر السابق الذي أساء لي كثيرا

الفقير إلى عفو ربه

صهيب وب
كاليفورنيا، الولايات المتحدة“

ننشر رد أ. صهيب حرصًا منا على إعطاؤه حق الرد على ما نشر ضده، مع كامل التقدير والإحترام لمؤسسة الشروق الإعلامية لما لها من دور محترم وفعَال في مجال الصحافة.

 

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About the author

Suhaib Webb

Suhaib Webb is a contemporary American-Muslim educator, activist, and lecturer. His work bridges classical and contemporary Islamic thought, addressing issues of cultural, social and political relevance to Muslims in the West. After converting to Islam in 1992, Webb left his career in the music industry to pursue his passion in education. He earned a Bachelor’s in Education from the University of Central Oklahoma and received intensive private training in the Islamic Sciences under a renowned Muslim Scholar of Senegalese descent. Webb was hired as the Imam at the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, where he gave khutbas (sermons), taught religious classes, and provided counselling to families and young people; he also served as an Imam and resident scholar in communities across the U.S.

From 2004-2010, Suhaib Webb studied at the world’s preeminent Islamic institution of learning, Al-Azhar University, in the College of Shari`ah. During this time, after several years of studying the Arabic Language and the Islamic legal tradition, he also served as the head of the English Translation Department at Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah.

Outside of his studies at Al-Azhar, Suhaib Webb completed the memorization of the Quran in the city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. He has been granted numerous traditional teaching licenses (ijazat), adhering to centuries-old Islamic scholarly practice of ensuring the highest standards of scholarship. Webb was named one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center in 2010.

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  • Salaam,
    I am sorry you had the misfortune of being the recipient of such poison. Thanks to God, I benefit from the things I read here.

    When I see these things (when I converted, I was on ‘object’ of slander where I worked), all I can say is, “Do they not fear God?”

    God turned the things that seemed negative into something good, and He can do the same for you.

    Reply

  • Assalamu Alaikum wa rahmatullah,

    First of all, I say hasbuna Allahu wa nima al-Wakeel. I think that the author of the hurtful article in the Shuruq newspaper should probably admit to having a shortcoming in that he does not seem to understand the language of majaaz (figurative language).

    There are many examples in the holy Quran of the proper use of literary sarcasm that I was reminded of when I read the accusative, irresponsible words of the author in al-Shuruq. Anybody with a moderate knowledge of Arabic language should notice that Imam Suhaib Webb employed an effective tool in his Khutba, asking a rhetorical question – a common practice amongst Khutaba’that is often used in the Arabic language – to achieve persuasion through the skilful and purposful implementation of literary sarcasm.

    Rhetorical question examples abound in the holy Quran and there is no need to list them. Anyway, it is a sad reality in my opinion that some writers either don’t understand the Arabic rhetoric well or have the audacity to believe that they can twist honest people’s words without putting their credibility and professionalism on the line. should I choose to give such authors the benefit of the doubt, I may call them at best “ignorant”.

    Reply

    • Fez…let’s not fall into the trap of being judge and jury while at the same time condemning an entire people. Imam Suhaib indicated that another newspaper did remove the offensive article and publish his correction.

      Levity isn’t always appropriate.

      Reply

  • Assalamu’alaykum
    I can’t read Arabic, but according to what I could make out from Google’s translation, Imam Suhaib (hafidhahullah) made this comment in the LA times article: “If Mary J. Blige made the call to prayer, I’d go to the mosque; I’d be in the front row.”, and al-Shorouk took it out of context and used it to lambast him.
    The response clarifies what he meant by that statement (that the situation of the youth not going to the masjid is so bad that you would need a pop singer giving adhan to get them to come) and basically tells the paper to fear Allah.
    Correct me if I’m wrong. 🙂

    Reply

  • As-Salaamu Alaykum,

    There is no Imam who does good except that his words are twisted and the Shayatin inspire people to falsely warn against him. I am sorry you have to deal with these problems, dear brother. Keep up the good work, in sha Allah.

    Reply

  • شكـــــــــراً
    أنا قرأت المقال ولم أكن أصدق !

    أعني أنني أتابع الموقع باسمترار وأعرف أنه يستحيل من شخص أقرأ له دائماً مثل هذه الكلمات وهذا الفهم للدين،أن يقول مثل هذا الكلام

    شكراً لك يا شيخ :))

    Reply

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