Abstract
This article aims to explain the ideas and the significance of Dr. Bilal Philips, a prominent ‘Salafi‘preacher, a major proponent of Neo-Traditional Salafism, and how his writings and activities can aid us in understanding the dynamics regarding the nature of Salafism in the West as a discursive tradition with deep roots in the Islamic intellectual history, as well as an element of global Salafi movements. As such, the article focuses primarily on identifying and analyzing Philips’ ideas on what constitutes a proper approach to interpreting the Qur’ān and Sunna in the light of the Islamic legal and exegetical tradition. After discussing the reasons why the ideas of Philips are significant for understanding Salafism in the West, the article focuses on his views on the conceptual relationship between sunna and hadīth, the broader hermeneutic characterization of the main four Sunni schools of thought (madhāhib), and issues pertaining to the correct methodology of Qur’ānic exegesis (tafsīr). The article also discusses the internal factionalism and the contentedness of the category of Salafism among western Salafis by examining one critique levelled at Philips by his fellow Salafis residing in the West, with the view of not only understanding and situating the views of Philips more accurately but also to provide an avenue to understand the internal Salafi dynamics in the West in particular.
Highlights
Bilal Philips (b. 1947) is a Canadian citizen of Jamaican ancestry
We argue that Bilal Philips should be considered as a proponent of what Duderija (2011) has elsewhere termed Neo-Traditional Salafism or in the terminology of Wiktorowicz (2006) quietist Salafism
Again, for reasons discussed above, Salafism in the West is part of a global Salafi movement that is strongly affected by the scholarly discussions on what constitutes true Salafi manhaj that occur at the global level, and the manhaj-based ideas discussed by Philips are part of this discourse
Summary
He adopted the Islamic faith in 1972 Since his conversion, he has spent most of his time in the parts of the Muslim world that have a strong Salafi presence, such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar He has spent most of his time in the parts of the Muslim world that have a strong Salafi presence, such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar The African American Salafi movement emerged strongly in the 1990s and was, in many ways, a by-product of the efforts of the individuals like Philips and the regular networks and relationships they established and maintained with the major religious authorities in Saudi Arabia like Bin Baz Philips, has been residing primarily in various Gulf countries either teaching Islamic Studies/Arabic and/or setting up various Islamic educational and charity organizations globally.
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