Posted on May 4, 2024
| 4 minutes
| 716 words
| Carisa Kissane
Khalid Yasin Quick Info
Height
5 ft 9 in
Weight
68 kg
Year of Birth
1946
Hair Color
Auburn
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Khalid Yasin is an American Islamic preacher, scholar, speaker, and lecturer who is a former Christian. He has lectured in the United Kingdom and several other parts of the world in order to spread his faith.
Name
Khalid Yasin
Other Names
Abu Muhammad, Abu Muhammad Khalid Yasin
Age
He was born in 1946.
Born Place
Harlem, Upper Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Residence
Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom
Nationality
Occupation
Islamic Preacher, Scholar, Speaker, Lecturer
Family
Siblings – Sam (Brother), Julius (Brother). He has 7 other siblings.
Build
Slim
Height
5 ft 9 in or 175 cm
Weight
68 kg or 150 lbs
Race / Ethnicity
Black
Hair Color
Auburn
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Sports a beard
Religion
He was raised as a Christian.
In 1965, he converted to Islam.
Khalid Yasin Facts
He spent his childhood years growing up in Brooklyn, New York City, New York.
As his family struggled financially, Khalid Yasin was put up for adoption and eventually grew up in foster homes (along with some of his siblings) from the age of three until he was fifteen. He has described that each foster home had a different Christian denomination so that helped him cover a wide spectrum of Christianity.
Describing his youth in “the ghetto”, he has stated that it was “Me and my two brothers Sam and Julius, against the world. We had nothing but reverting and accepting Islam now we have everything”.
During his early stages of reading about Islam, he frequently used Encyclopædia Britannica as a reliable source on Islam and its concepts.
After converting to Islam in 1965, Khalid Yasin started his ministry as the “Amir” or leader of Jammat Ita’hadul Iqwa on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.
The grief of African-American people left an impact on Yasin and he was influenced by figures such as Malcolm X.
Talking about his leisure time, Khalid Yasin once stated, “I’m a fairly avid horseman, I swim, I box, I read quite a bit. Probably once every two years I visit Mecca and I cleanse myself spiritually by performing the Umrah or the Hajj, and then daily I pray five times a day. As a Muslim that gives me the refreshment and our Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him, said that the prayer is the coolness of his eyes. So I have the opportunity to recede five times a day into that inner sanctum.”
He was previously a gang member.
Khalid Yasin has been a part of many dawah (the act of inviting people to Islam) organizations, including Islamic Broadcasting Corporation Ltd.
He lectured at a Muslim youth project called “North Bronx” – From Gang Member to Conscious Muslim in 2010 in Copenhagen, Denmark. His participation in the event attracted criticism as many debated whether he served as a suitable role model for keeping youths out of gangs. Subsequently, the organizer of the event defended Yasin and said, “He has totally changed his position and entered the fight to prevent radicalization and crime”.
Khalid Yasin was banned from entering the Kingdom of Denmark in June 2017.
Critics have accused him of promoting a radical form of Islam and Channel Nine in Australia went on to describe him as “a charismatic preacher who’s capturing the hearts and minds of young Australian Muslims with a radical mix of pleas for the understanding of terrorism, anti-Western conspiracy theories and radical homophobia.” On the other hand, the Oman Tribune has described Khalid Yasin as a “learned scholar” who “regularly tours different countries debunking the misinformation about Islam”.
Talking about the Western civilization’s academic tradition, he has described them as something difficult to reconcile with Islamic religious life, stating, “University is a gateway for deviation, you forget your Islamic direction. Now you have become compromised through some kind of intellectuality.”
Khalid Yasin has called himself a “media-bedouin” and has remarked that the Bedouins are willing to settle wherever there is “water and shelter”.