Part IV— An honest response to Sarah Walsh

Bismillah, assalamu alaykum.

I wasn’t going to respond to this article, at all. As soon as I had read the disclaimer, I thought: why should I even respond to this? Then I thought, this woman may be a good person after all, and she needs her flawed arguments to be exposed to her, for her to see how she is being manipulated. Here is the link to her article: https://link.medium.com/YM9kM3qCa8

Up until now, I hadn’t really mentioned spiritual abuse, but since it’s in her title, I’ll have to.

For a group whose members talk about videos with misleading titles, I think we have ourselves a champion here. The Age of Spiritual Abuse, and just who, exactly, is the victim? Really? Is this an appropriate title? Let’s see what the definition of spiritual abuse is.

The definition of spiritual abuse, according to In Shaykh’s Clothing, an organization specialized in the matter, is the misuse of religious position. This implies that the person doing the abuse is the one with the religious position, and not the other way around. Therefore, the victim is necessarily the one with the lower religious position, not the one with the higher one. However, since the title here is a satirical title, which implies that it is in fact the people in the higher position against whom claim of abuse is done, when in fact it is false, who are the real victims. That is understood, however, Hamdi is abusing his students, at the very least, by keeping them in this state of ignorance, and claiming he can actually teach them something. With hundreds of hours of content on his YouTube channel, and with the years that his students have spent with him, they still spout nonsense like they did in their articles, that contradict basic Islamic knowledge.

She says, referring to Stephane and Omar’s responses : These responses are well sourced and well cited with references and backup from Quran and Sunnah, MashaAllah. Well, we have shown previously that their statements have nothing to do with the Qur’an and Sunnah, that they are not well sourced, nor well-referenced. Stephane’s bringing of a Shi’a ‘Hadith’ is enough to show that. She then says : This, my response, is not that.

Because I don’t have the ability? No. Being an educated woman, Alhamdulilah, I’ve gained the skill of articulating thoughts, evidence, or hypotheses ensuring I have proper evidence and citations to back up my claims or my research. But now, in this moment, I’m writing to get real.

So this is the spirituality that she’s being taught? That when there is an effort of tying things to the Qur’an and Sunnah, it is not real enough? I’m sorry, but I’ll have to blatantly correct her here, nothing is more real than the Qur’an and Sunnah, especially compared to your feelings and subjectivity. Also, does being an educated woman, with the skill of articulating thoughts, evidence, or hypotheses, to back up her claims or her research, make her more of an Islamic scholar, who would be allowed to navigate texts by themselves and reference them to prove a claim? Is this all it takes? Treating our religious texts like texts written by mere academics?

She says: I’m not as patient, or as kind some may say, as the brothers who have been writing thus far. Really? So when they accuse someone of breeding terrorism, of character assassination, of defamation, of embarking on a personal vendetta, of extortion, that’s kind and patient? Man, I can’t wait to read the rest of her article.

She then says: using my time and energy to point people to proof they have no desire to read or understand. Really? I’ll assume there’s a ‘when’ missing between ‘proof’ and ‘they’, because that wouldn’t be as bad as ‘prove’ being misspelled. So she tries to prove things to people, and then claims to know their inner state? That seems to be a pattern with these people… Same goes with : because they never liked the Rhoda to begin with. So this is all it amounts to? They have to like it, otherwise it’s wrong? What happens if they do like it but can’t accept the blasphemous statements of the main actor there?

She says: This is not a Fiqh issue, a religious matter, a difference of opinion, or an islamic science debate. Blasphemy is not a religious matter? Really?

This is character assisination, using religion as their go ahead, and anyone party to this will be held accountable. As will the ones defending someone who keeps making blasphemous statements, by the way. Do you think anyone won’t be taken accountable for what they’re doing on Earth?

I am here as a witness, a proper witness, to who Shaykh Hamdi is, as I have seen him. My evidence is my personal experience. So anyone who has seen Hamdi and who has a personal experience with him, their statement counts as proof? Then what to do with the too great number of people who have left him, who suffered enormous psychological damage at his hands. Is their statement not considered proof because it is a ‘negative’ statement, even if it is true? What makes her experience more valuable than other peoples’ experience?

For those who are criticizing, who show lack of a basic education, with the use of metaphors, parables, and analogies and why one would speak, teach or write using these, completely eluding you, OR (and this is a reach for positivity here) to anyone who does not have English as their first language, let me explain. “Layman’s terms” means “basic working language” and “colloquial” is “slang” or “street language” if you will. If I can borrow from a criticiser: “what the actual eff” would be a working example. ‘Where the eff’ does she see any metaphor, parable, or analogy in her statement?

I’m a lot of things. A scholar isn’t one of them, and so I will not pretend that I am one. So how can she claim that she’s even remotely allowed and able to research and reference religious texts, as she previously mentioned?

So when I say that I trust Shaykh Hamdi and Anse Shehnaz implicitly, it is a trust they have more than earned from their actions and how they live their lives in the footsteps of the prophet, Sallalahu Alayhi Wa Salam, every single day. How would she know that they actually are, if she doesn’t know that blasphemy is a religious matter? How does she know, if she can’t even tell that her colleagues’ articles made no sense, and actually considered them to be proper articles and recommended them? This is the main problem: how do these people know that they will are following someone who is actually following the noble footsteps of the Prophet salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam? That same man who teaches them can’t even show a single proper ijaza allowing him to teach the subjects he teaches, and makes many grave mistakes when weighed against the scholarly tradition, and shows flawed rational thought, as proven in the honest response I wrote to him.

She then says, just to show a bit more ignorance than was already shown until now : So “Sufi” “salafi” “Sunni” “Shia” and all the other long list of labels and their drama didn’t, and still don’t, interest me. Really? Sufi and Sunni are labels? And she dares conjunct them to Salafi and Shia, as if they were all just part of the same package, and as if they were all the same thing? As she claims not to care these things until today, after she claims having spent 2 years with Hamdi, then what did she really learn during her time there? Certainly not the aqidah of Ahl al-Sunnah, as we see. And she can claim that Stephane and Omar’s articles were well-referenced in the Qur’an and Sunnah? Impressive.

I have spent countless, and I mean hundreds, of hours volunteering on projects and in community with the Teachers and the community members of the Rhoda. Well, isn’t that amazing. So now, we clearly know what these people spend time doing : service, volunteering. Kept into ignorance by their ‘teachers’, they work hundreds of hours on projects. In 2 years, she worked hundreds of hours. Where’s time for learning?

She then says : and the idea that they are blasphemous, or act in any way that contradicts the Prophet, may God continue to nourish his soul, much less act or speak in a way to disrespect him SAW, would be down right humorous if it wasn’t spreading like wildfire. They, quite literally, have a hadith to back up EVERYTHING they do. I mean everything. Right down to how they drink their water and walk down the street. With Hamdi’s ignorance of Hadith, the fact that he used a weak Hadith to prove a point of aqidah, and that his long-time student used a Shi’a ‘Hadith’ to defend a point of aqidah, I wouldn’t be surprised that they could bring her ‘Hadith’ from anywhere.

The claim that her ‘Teachers’ would disrespect the Prophet salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam is down right humorous? Really? That’s something to laugh about in these peoples’ circle? Someone who’s been there for 2 years? I can barely believe that a Muslim, let alone someone who claims to be a seeker of Truth on a spiritual path, would say that a claim about their ‘Teacher’ being blasphemous against the Prophet salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam is a humorous statement. She then says : if [the claim] wasn’t spreading like wildfire. Way to go. Thank you for showing the whole world what this is really about : Hamdi’s reputation and position. It’s not about the blasphemous statement he made anymore, it’s about the fact that the blasphemous statement made by Hamdi is spreading, and spreading well, and that this position is now being put into question, all around Facebook, as he has been unmasked and shown to the world as the ignorant, non-apologetic person he is.

She then says: A Shaykh or an Imam raising his voice, or even yelling, because standards were not met, standards set by our prophet SAW, is not spiritual abuse. Yes, it’s true. A Shaykh or an Imam, not someone who has publicly shown he has no knowledge and who doesn’t apologize after he made a blasphemous statement, not even bringing a single proof to back it up, responding in an emotional rant rather than in a scholarly manner. And when he tells her that these are the standards set by our Prophet salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, how would she know? She has clearly shown her ignorance as well, so she entirely depends on him for her Islamic knowledge. If an ignorant teaches an ignorant, does that somehow breed knowledge? Sorry for the blunt statement, but it has to be said, so that you may take heed. Also, the fact that she brings up his yelling is very significant in and of itself. Is this such common behavior in that circle that it is the first thing brought up in the discussion about Spiritual Abuse?

She says : A Shaykh or an Imam calling people to volunteer their time in service of God, instead of being involved in sinful relationships, binge watching Netflix, chasing money, or any of the other host of Dunyah related matters that keep us disconnected from Allah, does not constitute spiritual abuse. Are these really the only two alternatives? According to this statement, there is nothing in between. So if someone does not volunteer their time in service of God, this is what they’ll necessarily fall into? Who are these people who, if they didn’t have this service that Hamdi is talking about, would fall into sinful relationships, Netflix, chasing money, etc? And where’s knowledge on the list? Where’s family life on the list? Where’s dhikr on the list?

This certainly is spiritual abuse, because it’s what’s called a false dilemma fallacy, and coming from a religious authority, it makes it even worse, as some people will believe that this is true, as our sister is showing us here.

She then talks about how Hamdi doesn’t have any material gain through all this, but who said that spiritual abuse is only a means for material gain? What about psychological gain, that rush of dominating the other?

I am willing to roll up my damn sleeves and get to work in order to have or to give the things I think and feel are missing.. things that bring everyone closer to our creator. That is great aspiration, however, what does her opinion and feelings about what is missing in our community count for? It only counts when it is based on sound knowledge, which she hasn’t shown that she possesses. How can someone make lucid and clear decisions, when they’re not even given the basic knowledge of what a Sunni is?

Personal accountability, […] is something sorely lacking these days. Yes, especially with a ‘teacher’ who makes a blasphemous statement and answers with an emotional rant disguised as an apology, who keeps accusing other people in his text and who offers no solid explanation or whatsoever about the statement?

Spiritual abuse? I have questioned him on many things, I have been spoken sternly to, and with good reason. I have also spoken sternly, and witnessed others speaking sternly, without good reason, and the reactions were MASHAALLAH. I thank her for her witnessing, I am taking note of what happens in that circle. Yelling, and now people all sternly talking to each other. Is this what the Prophetic etiquette is? People constantly speaking sternly to each other?

He regularly addresses his “Tunisian teaching style” and tells us “heat is not hate”. So it’s such a common issue that he needs to regularly address it, and make her believe that it doesn’t come from a bad place? This statement alone says that everytime Hamdi yells at someone, it is not out of hate, which would imply that he wouldn’t make a mistake, if we follow the statement mentioned a bit before that: They are in complete control of their egos. If this is what she believe about her ‘teacher’, while he makes blasphemous statements and doesn’t apologize for them, doesn’t teach her the religion properly, and wouldn’t care less that she didn’t care about what a Sunni is, then there is a serious problem with that whole community. If this is what she believes about her teacher, then that means that every action he does is Prophetic and unquestionable. This clearly shows us why, in the ‘cow clip’, everyone was laughing, not even reacting to what was said. They’re all being manipulated.

She then says : Every single time, without fail, my understanding or interpretation was wrong. So, if I understand this correctly dear, and add up the parts. Every thing Hamdi does is following the Prophetic way, he is in complete control of his ego, and every time you go to him to clarify something that seems off, her understanding or interpretation is wrong? For an educated woman, Alhamdulilah, [who’s] gained the skill of articulating thoughts, evidence, or hypotheses ensuring [she has] proper evidence and citations to back up [her] claims or [her] research… Doesn’t this in itself seem off? It’s either she’s not the educated woman she claims to be, or she’s being tricked. Why? Because Hamdi has shown his ignorance, and how unapologetic he is, even when it comes to something as dangerous as blasphemy towards the Prophet salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, when he says that commercial transactions are more important than Tawhid in Islam, and how he brings forward weak arguments to defend his opinion, shifting the focus towards attacking other people and acting as a victim of character assassination, etc. Is this really someone who has total control of his ego? He can’t even shut up when he doesn’t know something, and worse, he gives interpretations of the Qur’an and Sunnah which contradict it, which is one of the worst sins, and he does it constantly, and she is expecting him to tell her that she’s right when she comes with her clarifications? This man doesn’t even kneel in front of a whole community of scholars who tell him he’s wrong, and she wants him to kneel in front of her, accepting a mistake he made, which even she feels is off?

What she is living is called gaslighting, as she is being made to believe that her perception is wrong, that her perception of what is true and what isn’t is false, and she is made to believe that the standard of truth is her ‘Teacher’, while he does not impart to her any real amount of knowledge. Like the Arabs say, the one who doesn’t have of something can’t provide it.
And this is how everything starts, this belief that this person is somehow qualified to introduce us to our egos and help us navigate it. How can that person help anyone with their egos, when he clearly has a big ego issue? That is easily seen in his ‘apology’.

If a ex community member was mad about their level of involvement, or the time requested or required for a project, it was their responsibility to communicate this. What about if they’re constantly told that not investing is infesting, that ‘students’ need to invest themselves and not be consumers? She will know exactly what I mean.

And that institute development I just spoke about? I pulled out of. I could not continue to give the amount of time that was required. Was it hard? Yes. Did it upset them? Of course! Really? Why were they upset when you said you didn’t have the time? Isn’t a Prophetic inheritor supposed to only be upset at what God wants us to be upset about, especially for someone who has total control over his ego?

It does not, however, mean there is spiritual abuse or some kind of creepy cult activity. Does it take for it to be outwardly creepy? Isn’t it creepy enough that someone keeps making claims about how great of a person they are, while other people constantly work for them, are yelled on, and where people act sternly with each other?

She then says: “But he called the prophet SAW a COW” I can’t even believe the ridiculousness of this. No he didn’t. Next. Yes, he did. It was taped. Everyone saw it. Next.

English is not his first language. Shaykh Hamdi is brilliant, intelligent, well read, is an artist, speaks with his whole being, and is poetic in how he speaks. I mean good lord, “Hamdi-isms” is a real thing. So ‘Hamdi-isms’ are common, isn’t it? This means that this type of behavior, according to one of his students’ own account, is something that commonly takes place. For someone who claims that English is not their first language, and didn’t know that the word ‘cow’ was an insult in the English language, shouldn’t they refrain from speaking in that language in the first place? How can ‘Hamdi-isms’ be a real thing then? Would this mean that he often uses risky metaphors, just like the one that he uses, allthewhile not having a command of the English language? That is some risky behavior right there, especially for someone who teaches religion. It opens the door to a lot of blasphemous statements. That ‘cow statement’-type may not be as rare of an occurrence as we thought it would be then.

It’s easier to decapitate a scholar than to wear a hijab? Her concern and love for the prophet SAW hasn’t yet inspired her to follow his instruction? Allahu Akbar. This is not concern. This is not showing up to defend the prophet SAW, it’s showing off. Really? Sarah confuses love and the struggle against the self. Yes, love can help it, and help it a lot, but it isn’t everything. Is this what Sarah is fed to believe? That if you don’t follow the instructions of someone, you don’t really love them? What if this woman’s heart, who can’t wear the hijab for whatever reason, burns whenever she hears the name of the Prophet salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam? How is Sarah going to answer for this, in front of the Prophet salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, when she claimed that this other sister didn’t really love him? It really seems like this group of people have a tendency to keep judging people’s intentions, and to claim to know them. It seems to be running like a disease in there. I wonder who’s teaching them that. May Allah protect us.

She then says: […]our tendency as an Ummah to be glory hounds instead of putting in actual work that contributes to the legacy of the prophet SAW and our relationship. I can’t believe what I just read. The. tendency. of. the. Ummah. is. to. be. glory. hounds. May Allah forgive her for saying such a thing. May Allah forgive anyone who insults the Ummah of the Prophet salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam. If this is what these people are fed regarding the Community of Believers, then, how can they not accept anything that comes from their ‘teacher’, which they see as the only source of truth? If the Ummah outside of their circle, whose teachers have complete control over their egos, is following such a tendency, then clearly, they have to follow the ones who tell them that that’s how the Ummah is. She confirms it in her next statement:

I am certain the Rhoda Masjid and Shaykh Hamdi as a scholar, is the only islamic institution that would accept that woman without her hijab, and allow her entry, and not nullify her Islam and judge her harshly for not wearing it.

Is she serious? This is how great of a position Hamdi holds for her? Let’s look at this single sentence and analyze it for a second. She is certain, which shows that she has made this judgment, that her place and teacher constitute the only Islamic institution that would accept that a woman without her hijab enter the mosque. Really? Where does this certitude come from? It is either established by repeated past experiences, or by a claim from this same ‘teacher’, or by a personal belief held without proof. She is saying at the same time that every other Islamic institution would nullify this woman entering the mosque without a hijab’s Islam, and judge her harshly. For people who call to keeping a good opinion, and contacting people in private, man is this a counter-example. So the more than 1 billion Muslims in the world, if ever they saw a woman entering the mosque without a hijab, would either not allow her entry, nullify her Islam and/or judge her harshly? What a great opinion of the Ummah has been taught to this lady who’s just spent 2 years with this ‘teacher’.

She says further down the text: It is well known that one must be a WITNESS, in the flesh, to crimes, anything that has been accused of etc. Who said that for a report to be valid, one must be a witness to the flesh? Where does it say that in our religion? This is not common religion for me at least, I hope to be enlightened about this matter. Anything less than this is slander and hearsay. I’m sorry, but this includes lying. We’re talking about his own voice and videos of him here. It’s not about someone spreading false claims, Ma’am. It’s about someone’s voice and videos, in a large number, saying blasphemous statements publicly. How is this slander?

She then says : we can not turn around and start calling people Munafiq. This, also, can only be known by Allah SWT. Two lines later, she says, and I quote : How are we not embarrassed by this behavior? Let’s chill with the hypocrisy shall we?
For non-Arabic speakers, munafiqun = hypocrites. So she calls people hypocrites, after having said that only Allah knows who’s a hypocrite. If that’s not a contradiction, then I don’t know what is. Let’s give her an excuse by saying that she didn’t talk about a specific person in this case. Let’s do that.

It’s these kinds of double standards that the Rhoda and Shaykh Hamdi in particular, fight to overcome. Really? So when someone calls out Hamdi on his blasphemous statements (there are many online now, not just one), it’s not fine, and it’s considered character assassination, but when one of his students accuses that same person who called his ‘teacher’ out of kharijism, of a personal vendetta, and of extortion, without solid proof, that’s not a double standard? If they’re leading that fight, I think they have a very long way to go friends, starting from the top of their organization. Yes, I mean Hamdi.

The idea that an entire community full of intellectuals can be duped on an intellectual and spiritual level, is absurd and a far stretch. Well, mind her, it happened a lot. I know they seem to have something against Netflix in that group, although accusations of kharijism and belittling shirk seem fine, but I would recommend she watch one of the many documentaries about cults in there. She’ll see, she’ll be surprised at how many intellectuals there were that were caught in there.

The Tariqa argument is nonsense. They let her talk about a matter she doesn’t even know, and then promote her article because it fits their agenda. What is going on. She even admits herself to not know what it is.

But what I can say for certain, is that Shaykh Hamdi is not trying to establish any kind of cult, Sufi order, or go on his own, going rogue, trying to establish his own… I mean I don’t even know the TERM for crying out loud. She should just look at the document that her colleagues signed, or is she not close enough to the inner circle yet?

The person spreading this filth is in the midst of a divorce with one of Shaykh Hamdi’s closest students, who is a person who dedicates her life to this project. If that fact alone doesn’t cause us to question this persons’ motives, then I’m at a loss. This person was also unsuccessful in their attempt to extort money. Wasn’t a private conversation supposed to stay private? How is this whole divorce matter relevant to what Hamdi has said, to his many blasphemous statements?

Was generosity and the presentation of being a caring human being, wanting to give back to the community, a lie? Apparently! Well, again, judging people’s intentions and calling them hypocrites. Well done.

[…]recording a person without consent[…] Is that why Hamdi makes sure that he’s being recorded in those tapes? Because he didn’t have consent?

I am certain that the walk of Shaykh Hamdi Ben Aissa and Anse Shehnaz Karim on the Seerat will be beautiful, and their light will not only completely light their way and keep them from falling. How can she be so sure? How can the claims these people make be so great that they make a person believe that they have so much light that the sirat will be a walk in the park for them? May Allah forgive her, and give her a teacher to teach her aqidah.

I will answer in shaa Allah in a way that pleases my creator. I’m sorry, but accusing people and judging their intentions is not something that is pleasing to Allah.

Let us keep our eyes forward and on our own papers shall we? Yes, she should also not expose other people’s personal matters on a public page, especially when they’re not in any position of power or religious influence. Calling out someone’s divorce? Is this how low these people are ready to go?

The general tone of the article was of a personal who’s living in a delusion, who seems sincere, but who lacks the essential knowledge to differentiate between what is considered good and bad in the Shari’ah. Please, Sarah Walsh, wake up. This was the most honest article that has come from the crew you belong to.

May Allah wake her up, and open her eyes to the truth.

Ameen.