Response to Being Labeled a "Liberal/Progressive/Mutazilite" | Khaled Abou El Fadl | Usuli Excerpts

In this clip, Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl responds to those who choose to label him, and discusses why human beings have a tendency to generalize one another with labels. He adds, with important nuance, “In part, I am everything; because I read everything and everything persuades me — or doesn’t persuade me — to some extent. The irony is that I am in-part, all of this…”

Additionally, the Shaykh adds remarks on the sunnah of the Prophet and what, in general, the purpose of religion from God is.

The Shaykh also address those who say “Khaled Abou El Fadl is a liberal” in the Following Khutbah: On Preserving Women and Female Reciters of the Quran    • On Preserving Women and Female Reciters of...  :

“… Some will hear this and say, "Khaled Abou El Fadl is a liberal." How is defending the integrity of a woman's body and her honor considered liberal? What happened to your sense of integrity and honor? This is Islam, not being “liberal”. Or they say, “Khaled Abou El Fadl is westernized.” Since when has honor, integrity and justice become westernized? If that is not Islam, why are you a Muslim? The justice, ethics and virtue that I learned came from the Quran and from the sunnah of the Prophet. My virtue does not come from liberalism or anything else. My virtue comes from Islam, and so should yours…”

Watch the full conversation where this clip was taken from, hosted by The Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford University:

​​Khaled Abou El Fadl on The Prophet's Pulpit, Shari'ah, and Justice in Our World, Stanford Webinar
   • Khaled Abou El Fadl on The Prophet's Pulpi...  

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