| Abu Eesa Niamatullah | |
|---|---|
| Born | Niamatullah Barking, London, |
| Residence | Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Greater Manchester |
| Title | Imam |
| Religion | Sunni Muslim |
| Website | |
| http://www.PropheticGuidance.co.uk | |
Imam Abu Eesa (Arabic: أبو عيسى نعمة الله, also known as Ustādh Abu Eesa Niamatullah and AE)[1] is a British Muslim Imam and Lecturer.
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Abu Eesa was born "Niamatullah" in Barking, East London.[2] His common name is in reference to his eldest son Eesa.[2] His tribal heritage is through the Naser Kheil Pathans of the North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan.[3]
He has lived in Manchester for over 13 years. Currently, he resides in Manchester UK
Abu Eesa completed his higher education in London. He studied Pharmacy at the University of Manchester.[3]
He studied Anthropology at Manchester. Later he studied Arabic, Islamic Law and the Qur'an in Mauritania, Medina, Morocco, Egypt and Pakistan.[4] His main teacher remains Sheikh Kehlan al-Jubury with whom he still continues his studies in Islamic Law and Exegesis. He has also studied Hadith under the Hadith Expert Abdullah al-Judai.
Abu Eesa is a teacher and an international lecturer. He founded "Prophetic Guidance" following on from his teacher's magazine of the same name,a non-profit educational institute that aims to "unify the various Muslim communities by disseminating classical non-sectarian Islamic knowledge, utilising the media in its various present forms".[5]
He was the previous Resident-Scholar of the Cheadle Muslim Association (CMA), Cheshire, England.[6]
He is a writer online on blogs and websites, including a variety of articles found on Prophetic Guidance.[7] He is an author of original works and a translator from the Arabic language, under the "Nahlah Foundation" publishing house.[8] He teaches Islamic law and principles,[9] and gives the sermon[10] and was the resident scholar of Cheadle Mosque in his home-town of Cheadle in Cheshire.[2]
His writings are highly regarded by a wide range of Muslim groups,[11] from religious worship [12] to social and political issues.[13] He has lectured in Britain, Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and South Africa [14] to audiences of Muslims and non-Muslims.
Abu Eesa teaches the Islam Channel televised class "al-Adab al-Mufrad" (The Book of Manners), and is the author of a detailed English commentary of the same work.[15]
He has also been involved in various efforts to standardise the use of Islamic Finance principles amongst Western Muslims. He is a member of the C-100, a World Economic Forum (WEF) Initiative.[16] He is of the religious leaders who attends Davos, the WEF Annual Meeting in Switzerland.
In an interview with Bloomberg during Davos 2009 on the topic of the global recession, the Imam criticized bankers, saying, "Bankers don't want redemption for the moral wrongs they've committed against humanity ... Redemption is a heavy word for Davos Man because remorse must come with sincerity and the desire to atone for the transgression. There are no sincere acts of sorrow in Davos."[17]
He calls for increased political participation for Muslims [18] as well as minority groups and women, yet is critical of what he sees as "over-kill" in continuing integration debate.[19] Yet he has also cautioned against the unrestricted involvement of Muslim women in public roles, particularly the working environment.
Abu Eesa is known for his preaching of moderation and his refutations of extremist ideology, acknowledged both by Muslim[20] and non-Muslim audiences.[21] He is also a public commentator on social[22] and anthropological issues affecting the Muslims, including citizenship and integration [23] and gender issues.[24]
He is a local fundraiser and a patron of St. Anne's Hospice in his local area of Cheadle. He completed the Great Manchester Run in 2006 raising funds for the Hospice.[25] Abu Eesa's popularity seems to reach across the theological divides of the Sunni Madhabs, and he has been considered a reformer before his involvement with "The Pledge of Unity".
Abu Eesa was the first UK instructor for the American-based educational institute AlMaghrib and currently teaches seminars on law.[26]
His main role currently is Strategic Director of the 1st Ethical Charitable Trust, working on social and community issues.[27] He works closely with Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra of the MCB for the British Rainbow project.[28]
Politically, he was considered an active Liberal Democrat campaigner for his personal friend Patsy Calton, the previous MP for Cheadle who was succeeded by Mark Hunter upon Calton's death from breast cancer. His political involvement with the Government has been criticised, more so when he joined part of a select group of religious leaders invited to attend monthly round-table dialogues with MPs at the House of Commons organised jointly by Sadiq Khan MP and the Muslim Weekly Newspaper.[29]
www.almaghrib.org / www.qshams.org