Ismail ibn Musa Menk (born 27 June 1975), commonly known as Mufti Menk, is a

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

an Islamic speaker. He is the

Grand Mufti A Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is a title for the leading Faqīh, Islamic jurist of a country, typically Sunni, who may oversee other muftis. Not all countries with large Sunni Muslim populations have Gra ...

, and head of the

fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

department for the Council of Islamic Scholars of Zimbabwe.

Early life

Menk was born on 27 June 1975 in

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to Gujarati parents. He undertook his initial studies with his father, memorizing the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

and learning

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. He went to St. John's College (Harare) for senior school. He studied

Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

and

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

Madinah Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

. He specialised

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in the

Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...

school of thought in Darul Uloom Kantharia in

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Menk has been identified as a

Deobandi The Deobandi movement or Deobandism is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam that adheres to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. It was formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the nam ...

Sam Westrop, "Hidden in Plain Sight: Deobandis, Islamism and British Multiculturalism Policy" in ''Faith-Based Violence and Deobandi Militancy in Pakistan'', Springer, 2016, p. 461 as well as a

Salafi The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" is a self-designation, claiming a retu ...

Views

Menk opposes terrorism and has pledged his aid in curbing religious extremism in the

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. On 31 March 2018, he urged Muslims to avoid Muslim—Christian violence, arguing that

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s and

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

are brothers and sisters from one father, the prophet

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. He blames western media for misleading the world that Muslims are terrorists. According to

Gulf News ''Gulf News'' is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. First launched in 1978, it is distributed throughout the UAE and also in other Persian Gulf countries. Its online edition was launched in 1996. Thro ...

, Menk said that everyone on this earth is a part of a family and has one maker, therefore, no one has the right to force any belief or faith on another. In September 2023, Mufti Menk visited

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

during his special visits in the Caribbean. MP Saddam Hosein, while sharing a

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post expressed that he is honored with a visit from an international beacon of peace and understanding.

Works

In 2018 he published a collection of his sayings as a book titled ''Motivational Moments'' and in 2019 published the second edition, titled ''Motivational Moments 2.''

Awards and recognition

*Menk was honoured with an Honorary Doctorate of Social Guidance by Aldersgate College, Philippines and its collaborative partner Aldersgate College – Dublin, Ireland on 16 April 2016. *KSBEA 2015 Awards – Global Leadership Award in Social Guidance was awarded by the '' Cochin Herald''. * He was listed as one of

The 500 Most Influential Muslims ''The 500 Most Influential Muslims'' (also known as ''The Muslim 500'') is an annual publication first published in 2009, which ranks the most influential Muslims in the world. The publication is compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies C ...

in 2014 and 2017.

Pakistan visit

Menk visited

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in September 2022 to highlight flood-hit areas of

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

Controversies

Travel bans

On 31 October 2017, Singapore banned Menk from its borders because it believes he expresses views incompatible with its multicultural laws and policies. According to the ''

Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

'', he has asserted that "it is blasphemous for Muslims to greet believers of other faiths during festivals such as Christmas or Diwali". Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement that its decision to reject Menk's application for a short-term work pass stemmed from his "segregationist and divisive teachings". The Majlisul Ulama Zimbabwe, Menk's own institution, released a statement to express "regret and dismay" regarding the ban. It said that Menk was an "asset to multi‐cultural, multi‐religious Zimbabwe" and that viewers should "listen to his sermons in full" and not "edited clips of a few minutes" to see the moderate path he has chosen. In November 2018, the Danish government banned Menk from entering its borders for 2 years.

On homosexuality

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'' reported that Menk denounced the act of homosexuality as "filthy." In 2013, he was due to visit six British universities –

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Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

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and

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– but the speaking tour was cancelled after

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s and university officials expressed concern about his views. Liverpool University stated that "it is not the role of the University to censor people's views, but rather to provide a neutral, open environment for them to be debated and challenged." However, Menk has since retracted his statements regarding

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

and homosexuality completely and states on his website: "on the issue of LGBT, let me clarify the statement I made back in 2011 which had me saying, "With all due respect to the animals, they are worse than those animals" was based on a misguided notion. I no longer believe that to be true. I make a full retraction of that statement".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Menk, Ismail ibn Musa Living people Zimbabwean Sunni Muslims Zimbabwean religious leaders 21st-century imams Quran reciters People who memorized the Quran 21st-century Muslim theologians Islamic University of Madinah alumni Muftis 1975 births People from Harare Islamic television preachers 21st-century Muslim scholars of Islam Zimbabwean people of Indian descent Alumni of St. John's College (Harare)