Introduction: My Journey in Islamic Scholarship
I am Fadwa Wazwaz, a Palestinian-American Islamic researcher and writer with over thirty years of experience dedicated to studying Islam. My primary focus is to clarify the teachings of our faith for Muslims, especially in light of the constant criticism aimed at our community that seeks to shame Muslims for being Muslim. Additionally, I work to address misconceptions about non-Muslims and foster critical thinking both within and beyond the Muslim community. My academic journey began in the early 2000s, driven by a desire to bridge gaps in understanding through sincere study and engagement.
In 2010, I published an article titled “Why Study Islam?” In this work, I recount an exchange with John, whom I met during a training session in Edina in 2008. He asked whether Muslims were trying to “take over America,” a question stemming from fear and misinformation about Quranic teachings. I emphasized the importance of sincerity when addressing such concerns, reassuring him that a genuine, honest approach can dispel misconceptions. I recommended that he visit a Muslim center, engage in face-to-face discussions, and share his questions over tea or coffee, instilling in him the confidence that his sincere efforts can lead to understanding.
In times like these, a lot of people rise up and pretend to be heroes wanting to save the world or their group from whoever. They throw some truths here and there and voila – they prophecy doom and destruction and incite fear and hatred – and they are superman, if only people will listen.
My faith teaches me, that if the day of judgment arrives, the believers are building trees. Because truth is not bits there and here, but a light that allows us to listen and understand reality one layer at a time when we are emotionally and mentally centered and not incited.
I reflected on my approach to studying Islam and realized that the first step to understanding faith is to be sincere and genuine. It’s not about analyzing and debating; faith is not just a collection of facts or data. Instead, it involves a deep understanding that evolves as individuals hold themselves accountable, embrace sincerity, seek truth, repent, and work to repair any harm they have caused.
Early on in my journey, I realized what we seek, we find. This is a key element of Al Fatiha, the opening chapter of the Quran, which serves as a guide for sincere seekers of truth.
The Importance of Humility and Sincerity in Critical Thinking
This commitment to truth demands humility and sincerity and a strong emphasis on critical thinking. My work has been guided by a willingness to listen to criticism of Islamic teachings and my understanding of critical thinking, which has helped me recognize the various logical fallacies that may have been present in those arguments or criticisms. The article in question was published eight years before the Yaqeen Institute was established in 2016, highlighting the importance of critical thinking in discerning the truth.
During that time, AlMaghrib Institute, where Dr. Omar Suleiman was previously involved, provided insufficient responses to questions like John’s. Their answers lacked the depth, reasoning, and clarity to address such concerns adequately. My work has consistently aimed to clarify misconceptions, confront false narratives, and equip the Muslim community with well-researched and thoughtful answers rooted in the Quran, Sunnah, and classical tradition while applying these principles in a contemporary context.
In my previous article, I noted that..
Some authors were quoting Prophet Muhammad, upon him peace and blessings, but with the thought processes of Pharoah or the emotional intelligence of Satan. Although the argument raised was intelligent, the argument was not reconciling within itself. I continued to research as I felt something was not right.
Addressing Misconceptions in the Muslim Community
Due to the ongoing criticism aimed at shaming our community out of Islam, I’ve noticed that many individuals are struggling with profound questions. These questions include how to reconcile the fear of God with His love, the true meaning of tawakkul (trust in Allah), and the nature of spiritual transformation. Unfortunately, some of the loudest voices—such as prominent scholars and organizations like Dr. Omar Suleiman and the Yaqeen Institute—often present teachings that are inconsistent with the Quran.
For example, they compared prayer to oxygen, tawakkul to bungee jumping, and spiritual transformation to a fall while suggesting that Satan reminds people of their sins. These analogies and interpretations are misaligned with Islamic principles. Another instance is when they equated the concept of ‘jihad’ to a physical battle, ignoring its broader meaning of personal struggle and self-improvement.
As the Quran mentions (e.g., Surah Al-Mu’minun, 23:2), prayer is a state of khushoo’ (humility and focus), not just a biological necessity like oxygen. Tawakkul, exemplified by the Prophet (peace be upon him) in Surah At-Tawbah (9:129), represents a deep trust in Allah’s plan rather than a reckless leap like bungee jumping.
Transformation in Islam begins with repentance and submission to Allah (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:128), not a metaphorical fall. The Quran teaches that Allah forgives sins when one repents (Surah Az-Zumar, 39:53). Additionally, while Satan is known for tempting and deceiving (Surah An-Nisa, 4:119-120), it is not Satan who brings our sins to mind. Instead, God reminds us of our wrongdoings to foster our desire for repentance and encourage personal growth, guiding us toward a higher state of being rather than leading us into despair.
When I researched the available material to address these questions, I relied heavily on the scholarly commentaries of respected scholars like Dr. Muhammad Said Ramadan al-Bouti and Shaykh Muhammad Metwali Al-Sha’rawi, who were ahead of their time in their approaches. They clarified the classical traditions of scholars such as Al-Ghazali, Ibn Ata’Allah, and Rumi’s poetry, which is often misunderstood due to modern translations.
Dr. Al-Bouti, a renowned Syrian scholar known for his extensive works at the University of Damascus, drew inspiration from Al-Ghazali’s teachings. He conducted a series of lectures on the wisdom of Ibn Ata’ Allah, focusing on spiritual refinement and the importance of surrendering to Allah’s will. I listened to many of his lessons, which included teachings on Prophet Muhammad, upon him peace and blessings, and his scholarly commentaries on the Quran. Additionally, Shaykh Al-Sha’rawi, an Egyptian scholar who was celebrated for his accessible tafsir (interpretation), contributed significantly to understanding these themes and provided insightful commentary on the Quran. Together, their work lays a solid foundation and offers valuable insights into these critical questions’ theological and spiritual dimensions through rigorous scholarship.
To address the contemporary struggles of the Muslim community, I explored more recent sources, particularly the works of Dr. Omar Suleiman and his colleagues at Yaqeen Institute, which was founded in 2016, along with their earlier contributions through AlMaghrib Institute. Unfortunately, I found that Yaqeen Institute and its associates often lacked critical thinking, reasoning, and sound arguments, which resulted in a failure to provide the depth and clarity the community needed. This pattern appeared consistent with AlMaghrib’s inadequate responses to questions in 2008.
The Rise of Yaqeen Institute and Its Shortcomings
Yaqeen Institute was established in 2016, and during that time, it actively sought to undermine my work through a smear campaign. In contrast to this disconnect, I found deep inspiration in the foundational insights of scholars like Dr. Al-Bouti, whose *The Jurisprudence of the Prophetic Biography* provided invaluable reflections. His discussions on Al-Ghazali’s works were particularly significant for me, as they offered a structured understanding of classical thought that I lacked the expertise to research independently. I also appreciated his commentaries on Rumi, which added further depth to my perspective.
Shaykh Al-Sha’rawi’s celebrated Quranic commentaries were crucial in shaping my approach. Drawing from these scholarly works, I was inspired to develop my own synthesis that bridges tradition with contemporary challenges, offering clarity amidst misconceptions.
This synthesis incorporates their clarifications of the classical tradition and presents a fresh perspective that effectively addresses the community’s needs through clarity and critical thinking. This realization motivated me to create my own content, including my books *God Intervenes Between A Person and Their Heart: Key Lessons from the Prophets* and *Love Is Deeper Than Words: Key Lessons from the Prophets*, as well as my writings for platforms like the Star Tribune’s *Your Voices* and Engage Minnesota. My goal was to fill the existing gap by providing the community with thoughtful, well-researched answers grounded in the Quran, Sunnah, and classical tradition, while also applying these teachings in a contemporary context.
I have always prioritized properly attributing my sources, acknowledging the scholars whose works I built upon. This practice is rooted in the Islamic tradition of intellectual honesty and amanah (trust). However, I feel compelled to address a serious issue: the repeated plagiarism of my work by Dr. Omar Suleiman, most recently in Yaqeen Institute’s 2025 Dhul Hijjah series, *Secrets of Salah: The Hidden Gems of Prayer*, which he presents as his own. Despite my careful efforts to credit my sources, Yaqeen Institute and its associates have taken my contributions without attribution.
This plagiarism is not just a personal grievance; it undermines the mission I set out to achieve: fostering a community grounded in honest dialogue, critical thinking, and ethical scholarship—a mission I articulated in my earlier writings. The irony is striking: while Dr. Suleiman and Yaqeen Institute have often failed to address the community’s questions with depth, critical thinking, or proper Islamic grounding—occasionally promoting interpretations that conflict with the Quran—they have appropriated my work. My research, built upon the insights of esteemed scholars like Dr. Al-Bouti and Shaykh Al-Sha’rawi—both of whom possess the scholarly credentials to engage deeply with classical tradition and correct widespread misconceptions—has been misrepresented as their own.
A Pattern of Plagiarism by Dr. Omar Suleiman
The issue of misattribution began with Dr. Suleiman’s book Allah Loves, published by Kube Publishing Ltd. on April 7, 2020. In this book, Dr. Suleiman included a significant portion of writing from my blog, Engage Minnesota, without proper attribution. Specifically, in Chapter 3, titled “The Loving Lord,” he used my blog post, “Let Your Fear of God Be Embedded with Love,” which I published on November 15, 2016.
I wrote this article after researching the balance between the fear of God and the love of God—a topic that many in the Muslim community find challenging to reconcile. I noticed that prominent figures, including Dr. Suleiman and Yaqeen Institute, were not adequately addressing this confusion. Instead, their responses often came across as shallow and reckless, failing to provide clarity. These responses frequently relied on simplistic analogies that misrepresented Islamic teachings, such as comparing Allah’s love to a transactional or conditional emotion. This perspective contradicts the message of Surah Ar-Rahman (55:1-3), which emphasizes that Allah’s mercy is all-encompassing.
Building on the Experts in Classical Tradition: My Approach
Case Study 1: “Allah Loves” and the Misuse of My Work
My article sought to address this gap by exploring how fear and love of Allah, Most High, are not opposing forces, but complementary dimensions of a believer’s relationship with their Creator. Drawing on Qur’anic verses, hadith, and the classical scholarship of figures such as Dr. Al-Bouti and Shaykh Al-Sha’rawi—who themselves referenced Al-Ghazali and Ibn Ata’Allah—I presented a cohesive framework for understanding these concepts. In my article, I wrote: “The fear of God is not meant to paralyze us with dread, but to awaken a reverent awe that is embedded with love—a love that draws us closer to Him, knowing that His mercy encompasses all things.” These exact phrases, along with the broader narrative structure of my piece—particularly the reconciliation of fear and love as complementary emotions—appear verbatim in Chapter 3 of Allah Loves, without any citation or acknowledgment of my work.
I drew upon the works of Shaykh Al-Sha’rawi and Dr. Al-Bouti—two esteemed scholars deeply grounded in the classical Islamic tradition. Their scholarship provided me with a bridge to the classical texts, helping me engage with foundational teachings in a meaningful way. Through their insights and accessible discussions, I was able to connect with authentic sources and address complex theological questions that had been either overlooked or misrepresented in contemporary discourse.
My work sought to fill a critical gap, countering responses that lacked the depth, sincerity, and intellectual rigor necessary to guide meaningful discussions within the community. I dedicated time to researching and producing articles that carefully examined these issues, weaving classical teachings into contemporary reflections. However, my writings were later appropriated by Yaqeen Institute and its associates, who presented my research and synthesis as their own, without proper attribution.
Moreover, Dr. Suleiman’s own material on this topic, which I reviewed before writing my article, was poorly done, lacking the critical thinking needed to address the community’s confusion and often promoting errant understandings that conflicted with the Quran. My 2016 blog post predates Allah Loves by over three years, and Dr. Suleiman’s use of my writing, without credit, was the first instance of what would become a troubling pattern.
Case Study 2: The Salman al-Farisi Narrative
The pattern continued with Yaqeen Institute’s content on Salman al-Farisi, published on September 7, 2022, under the title “Salman Al Farsi (ra): The Truth Seeker | The Firsts,” attributed to Dr. Omar Suleiman.
I wrote an extensive blog discussing Salman Al-Farisi in a conversation with Qays Arthur about faith and guidance. This post is part of a larger series that explores these themes. Part 4 of the series was originally published in the Star Tribune’s Your Voices section on May 20, 2012. Due to its length, I later divided it into three segments and shared them as follows on my YouTube Community posts:
- Conversation with Qays Arthur on Faith and Guidance 4a | Originally Published in Star Tribune’s Your Voices | May 20, 2012
- Conversation with Qays Arthur on Faith and Guidance 4b | Originally Published in Star Tribune’s Your Voices | May 20, 2012
- Conversation with Qays Arthur on Faith and Guidance 4c | Originally Published in Star Tribune’s Your Voices | May 20, 2012
In this piece, I detailed Salman’s journey from Persia to Madinah, highlighting his spiritual transformation through sincerity and humility in his quest for truth. My article explores Salman’s search for truth as a profound metaphor for spiritual seeking, structured in three distinct stages: his disillusionment with Zoroastrianism, his exploration of Christianity through the churches of Syria and Iraq, and his ultimate acceptance of Islam in Madinah, marked by his transformative meeting with the Prophet Muhammad, upon him peace and blessings.
Additionally, I was one of the leading writers who used his journey as a lens to examine the issue of abuse by spiritual teachers. I drew on Salman’s experiences to highlight the challenges seekers face navigating misguided or exploitative spiritual authority.
I wrote this piece to counter superficial narratives that reduce Salman’s story to a mere historical anecdote, overlooking the more profound spiritual lessons of tawakkul (trust in God) and perseverance. These lessons are often distorted by teachings full of shame from Al-Maghrib and their associates at the time. They have benefited tremendously from my teachings and have significantly shifted from their earlier days.
Yaqeen’s 2022 piece, presented by Dr. Suleiman, mirrored my framework and phrasing almost exactly. My article predated Yaqeen’s content by a full decade, and when I challenged Dr. Suleiman to provide evidence that his work predated mine, he could not. This instance further solidified my belief that my work was being monitored and repackaged, as Yaqeen’s piece did not cite any sources that could explain the overlap, despite the distinctiveness of my synthesis. Again, I found Yaqeen’s earlier material on Salman al-Farisi lacking in critical thinking and depth, failing to address the spiritual nuances I sought to highlight in my work, and often perpetuating errant understandings that conflicted with the Quran.
Introducing a theme at the beginning of each Hijri month was originally my idea, an approach now adopted by Omar Suleiman. This pattern of appropriation has escalated further with the launch of the Secrets of Salah series in Dhul Hijjah 2025. Marketed as an in-depth exploration of Salah’s language, postures, and spiritual presence, this series contains content that mirrors my original work without proper attribution.
The series adopts my framework for understanding the spiritual stages of Salah, replicating the specific terminology and structure I developed in my 2022 book, *Love Is Deeper Than Words: Key Lessons from the Prophets*. This is not a case of drawing from familiar Islamic sources like the Quran or hadith. These insights are distinct contributions from years of independent research and reflection designed to foster a more profound and intentional engagement with Salah.
Unlike the Yaqeen Institute’s superficial analogy, which reduces prayer to a biological necessity by comparing it to oxygen, I have consistently framed Salah as a sacred gift and honored appointment with the Divine. This distinction is critical: their comparison strips prayer of its spiritual depth, while my framework elevates it, emphasizing its transformative power and the deliberate act of turning to Allah for guidance and renewal.
My approach was informed by Shaykh Sha’rawi’s teachings on prayer, but I applied them in a way that addresses modern spiritual challenges—offering depth and clarity where previous discussions have fallen short. Furthermore, my video Reflections on Al-Fatiha, published prior to Secrets of Salah, explored the spiritual dimensions of prayer in a manner that directly aligns with the themes now presented in their series.
My work has consistently aimed to deepen Salah’s understanding, addressing the nuances of spiritual presence, intention, and divine connection—elements that Yaqeen Institute’s prior material failed to adequately engage. Their ongoing use of my framework without acknowledgment makes this latest instance of misattribution all the more egregious.
I challenged Dr. Suleiman and the Yaqeen Institute to provide evidence that their work predates mine, but they could not. Instead, I noticed a concerning pattern: my work seemed monitored, repackaged, and presented as if Dr. Suleiman or his associates created it. This often included what I suspect to be fabricated evidence of originality. For instance, regarding the content on Salman al-Farisi, the metadata from Yaqeen’s publication indicates that his work was published after my piece in 2012, despite their claims of originality. When I raised these concerns, I did not receive a satisfactory response, and now, with “Secrets of Salah,” they are claiming all of my writings as their own.
The Ethical Stakes in Islamic Scholarship
The issue of plagiarism is not new in the Muslim world. A 2014 study by Moten, published on ResearchGate, highlights that plagiarism is often viewed as a moral and ethical crime in Muslim societies, yet it remains a pervasive issue, even among academics. When a scholar like Dr. Omar Suleiman, who is also the president of Yaqeen Institute, engages in such practices, it erodes the trust that is fundamental to our scholarly community and sets a harmful precedent for how knowledge is shared.
My Position: Reclaiming Ownership with a Call for Accountability
The Secrets of Salah Series: Appropriation Escalates
My Requests: Transparency and Ethical Reform
Public Acknowledgment of My Work: Dr. Suleiman and Yaqeen Institute must publicly acknowledge that portions of Secrets of Salah, Allah Loves, and the Salman al-Farisi content, including many of their series and articles were based on my original writings and notes, specifically my 2016 blog post Let Your Fear of God Be Embedded with Love, my 2012 article Salman al-Farisi compiled later in my book, God Intervenes Between A Person and Their Heart: Key Lessons from the Prophets. This could be done through updates to the credits of these works, a statement on Yaqeen’s website, or a note in their publications.
Credit for Dr. Suleiman’s Presentation: I am happy to credit Dr. Suleiman for repackaging and presenting my work, and his great ToastMasters skills as his platform has amplified my works’ reach. But this credit must be reciprocal—my authorship must be recognized.
Transparency About Sources: Dr. Suleiman and Yaqeen must provide transparency about the sources used for these projects, including any evidence they claim predate my work. If such evidence exists, I am open to reviewing it, but my prior challenges suggest they cannot substantiate their claims.
A Commitment to Ethical Practices: Yaqeen Institute must commit to ethical sourcing and attribution in all future projects. This includes establishing clear guidelines for crediting contributors and ensuring that intellectual labor is respected, in line with Islamic principles of justice and fairness.
A Path Forward: Accountability and Collaboration
My goal is not to create conflict, but to uphold the values of integrity and accountability that are central to our faith. I entered this field to clarify, not to compete; to nurture critical thinking, not to foster division. I believe Dr. Suleiman and Yaqeen Institute can address this issue in a way that honors these principles.
To the broader Muslim community, I share this story not to disparage anyone, but to highlight the importance of protecting intellectual labor in Islamic scholarship. We must hold ourselves and our institutions to the highest standards of ethics, ensuring that knowledge-sharing remains a sacred act of worship, free from deception or injustice. Let us work together to build a community where critical thinking and honest dialogue thrive, and where the contributions of all scholars and researchers are credited, valued, and respected.
In progress…open to feedback and corrections.
Fadwa Wazwaz (pronounced Fəd-wə Wəz-wəz) is the author of God Intervenes Between a Person and Their Heart: Key Lessons from the Prophets and Love Is Deeper Than Words: Key Lessons from the Prophets. Her work focuses on exploring Islamic teachings, philosophy, ethics, and the realities of Israeli colonialism in Palestine.
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