Celebrity Imams – Have we lost our way?

I wanted to write this a year ago, but chose to delay it to avoid anyone getting called out by name. The purpose of this article is for self-reflection and to improvement, not to attack any scholars by name. I do not wish to cast doubt on the sincerity of scholars, even when they slip and make mistakes. Let us focus on the lessons and not gossip about individuals.

A Tale of Two Imams

Let us begin with a true story that happened a year ago. it was a particularly busy week as two international speakers were coming to visit our community in the same week. On Wednesday, we would host an international scholar for a Fiqh session, and on Saturday, we would attend a parenting seminar by another international scholar. There was a lot of buzz in the air about the potential speakers and the benefit they would bring to the community.

Wednesday’s event went well, better than we imagined. The scholar chose to spend a few extra days here at his own expense to get to know the community, establish relationships, and benefit from each other. He taught a beneficial workshop to the community, stayed long after to meet people, socialize and answer questions, and made time the next day to visit poorer segments of the community, local organizations, and local scholars. This was a blessed trip that left a good impression on everyone, and left a permanent positive influence.

Saturday’s event was a total disaster. The scholar refused to meet anyone local, not even local scholars, not even for five minutes. The event was at a hall just 500m away from my home, but I could not get even five minutes of his time. The event was crowded into a tiny hall, men and women together, you could not walk without touching a non-mahram. The speaker was introduced by a local comedian and a hype video package. His lecture was not on topic. It was not a parenting seminar. It was simple a string of generic advise on marriage and relationships, easily accessible online, held together by lots of jokes. Jokes about men, masculinity and patriarchy that had the women in the audiences laughing hysterically.

The event went overtime, and for some reason, the organizers refused to break for Asr. As it got closer to Maghrib time, a large segment of the audience got up and left early, in fear that we would miss Asr Salah. The scholar had no public engagement outside of this one lecture, but he did have time to visit the beach with his team of volunteers. The team was made up of young unmarried men and women, hanging out with each other and traveling the world together with the Shaykh. They seemed to be having a good time.

I left the event stunned and puzzled. I compared Wednesday’s event to Saturday’s and could not understand how an Islamic lecture could go so badly wrong. I do not know anyone who actually benefited from the lecture or was changed by it. I do know a lot of people went home with a bad impression and stopped following the speaker’s lectures online. This led to me reflect on the contemporary state of the Dawah scene and what went wrong with it.

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Dawah: Travelling for Allah

When I was young, there was no celebrity dawah scene. Dawah was difficult work, a personal sacrifice. Du’at and scholars would travel, often at their own expense, to poorer countries to learn about the communities, establish networks and organizations, and help Islam spread in these lands. They did not expect anything in return, except the pleasure of Allah. Often, they would stay in a guest room at someone’s home, and almost always there was a way to reach them, meet with them, and network with them. They were humble, self-sacrificing, concerned for the ummah, and accessible.

Then something happened in the 2000s-2010s, the Dawah scene exploded and became a new source of money and fame. I first started to notice it when Islamic organizations complained to me that certain scholars had unreasonable demands of high honorariums and five-star hotels. These demands are normal today, but that was not always the case. As the years went by, demands got more ridiculous, and scholars became less accessible. Every now and then, a scholar or da’ee may visit who represents the qualities of the previous generation, but they are becoming a smaller minority with each passing year, as the celebrity culture becomes the norm.

At some point, the Dawah mutated into a self-promotional get-rich-scheme. This not only affects lecture tours, but online dawah as well. When the internet first started, many would do Dawah solely for Allah’s pleasure, expecting nothing in return. Now if a video does not get enough views, or a post does not get enough reach, it is deleted as all that matters is gaming the algorithm. The Algorithm has become an idol that many worship. Dawah has been transformed to suit the algorithm and gain maximum exposure. In the process it has lost its heart and its light.

Of VIPs, Golden Chairs, and Algorithms

I recall sitting in a meeting with a Dawah organization as they decided who to promote on their channel, what social media posts to produce, and what events to organize. Everything revolved around the algorithm and donations. The scholars who didn’t bring in enough views were sidelined. The hot topics that may lose donors or followers were silenced. The focus was simply on more and more. More followers, more views, more donations. Anything and anyone that got in the way of more was expendable. There was no focus on what the ummah needed, simply on what the algorithm demanded.

In recent years, I have broken away from the public dawah to focus on smaller private classes and personal writings. As someone who was close to many celebrity speakers, I saw firsthand how these events messed up their lives, intentions, and efforts. Some of them are good people, but caught up in a messed up system. Slowly, I broke away and disappeared.

I did not like the world I saw, and did not want to be a part of it. I saw events built entirely around optics for donors, golden chairs wheeled out to Islamic events for “VIPs”, Islamic lectures cancelled because they were not profitable enough, and speakers denied platforms because they were not popular enough. All this made me feel sick inside. For years, I tried to change it until I realized it was simply not within my skillset or level of influence to do so, so I stepped away and disappeared.

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Finding our way back

It falls on us, the average Muslim, to fix the system. We need to stop paying ridiculous prices to host these celebrity events. We need to value local scholars, and attend regular smaller circles of knowledge. We need to hold our leaders accountable when they waste donation money, spend unnecessarily or go astray in their intentions. We need to fix the system by fixing ourselves and our part in it. This entire market, like any other, relies on supply and demand. Let go of the demand and the market will disappear.

For speakers and teachers, it falls on us to figure out ways to keep our intentions pure, our income pure, and process pure. Personally, I have chosen small private classes and writings, to be self-funded and independent, far away from the spotlight. Others may choose to enter the spotlight and try to change it from within. I hope someone someday is able to do so. But one thing that needs to change: we all need to be open to feedback and criticism. I have tried many times to advise people from these various organizations. While some listen, others take offence and take things personally. For anything to change, we must be open to advice and feedback from the public and other scholars.

These new fancy events may be inevitable. They may simply reflect a change in times, and change in audience. They may benefit some people and even bring them closer to Allah. Allah knows best. I have yet to see the positive impact of such events. I tried attending many, but there was no barakah in the air, no spiritual presence, and no effect on the soul. These were events, not lectures, celebrity platforms, not dawah platforms, calls to the self, and not calls to Allah. I left each of these events feeling drained and distant, and I decided not to go back.

Walking Away From This World

I’ll end with another personal anecdote. For years, I tried to bring a famous celebrity speaker, a friend of mine, to my community. Eventually, I received news through my community members that he was coming. I had been left out of the entire process, ghosted, ignored, and sidelined, despite being an employee of the organization at the time. After bringing my concerns to the organizers, I got a consolation prize: a golden VIP seat at one of his lectures, ten minutes backstage time with him, and a selfie. The event left a bitter taste in my mouth.

After talking to several local community members, I learned I was not the only one. Many local community members did not like the event or the way it was handled. One commented that the speaker was treated like Jesus. People showed up to take selfies and boast about attending one of his events, not to learn Islam. A few noted that the event was overpriced, only the upper middle class and wealthy could attend, and there were no events or lectures for the poor at all. The poor were completely sidelined from the event. It was at this moment, after this event, that I knew I needed to walk away from this world.

When I started doing Dawah, there were no celebrity speakers or fancy events. We would travel to the poorest of cities and countries, stay in humble accommodations, and be at the service of the community. Somewhere down the line, we lost our way. The current culture of celebrity tours is deprived of barakah (blessings) and nur (light). It is simply a show to entertain, get donations, and increase fame and wealth. Unless we are able to look in the mirror and recognize the problem, we will never be able to solve it.

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