Muhammad bin Jamil Zeno

Sheikh Muhammad bin Jamil Zeno (born 1925^[1] - died October 8, 2010)^[2] was a highly respected yet controversial, in Western English speaking countries, Islamic scholar and prolific author.

His name has also been transliterated differently in the English speaking world. Whilst his publishers Dar-Us-Salam in Riyadh translate it as 'Muhammad bin Jamil Zeno', it is also rendered as Muhammad Bin/Ibn Jamal/Jamaal/Jameel Zeeno/Zaino/Zayno/Zaynoo/Zeenoo/Zino/Zainu.

Biography

Zeno was born in Aleppo, Syria in 1925 (1344 AH). At the age of 10 he attended a boarding school for 5 years, during which he became a Hafiz.

He then went on to study forensic science at the University of Aleppo^{[citation needed]}, which was part of the Islamic Waqf. He became a Sheikh and joined the House of Teachers in Aleppo where he taught for 29 years before leaving to teach in a madrasah in the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Later he traveled to Jordan to give Dawah where he became an Imam, teacher and influential preacher.^[3]

In 1979/1980 (1400 AH) he went onto teach in Dar-ul-Hadith al-khairiyah^[4] in Mecca, Saudi Arabia where he was a teacher for many years.^[5]

Earlier in his life, Zeno was a Sufi of the Hanafi Madhhab and Shadhili Tariqah who later left these practices for Salafism.^[6][7]

Career

Because of his simple style, his books gained popularity in the Islamic world, especially in Western countries. He uses authentic sources while writing the books, which is why they are appreciated by scholars. Generally in the Islamic world, the authenticity of a book is judged by its author's name and his name has acquired such position.^[5]

His work is widely recognised but is also controversial, especially in prisons.^[8]

Controversy

Zeno (as Zainu) features heavily in the 2005 report 'Saudi Publications On Hate Ideology Invade American Mosques'.,^[9] by Freedom House, the New York-based human rights organization.

Zeno’s book, ‘Islamic Guidelines for Individual and Social Reform’, featured in the 2007 PBS Frontline documentary Homegrown: Islam In Prison, which was part of the America at a Crossroads television series.^[10] The documentary states that his books were distributed to prisons by the controversial Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation.

One such criticism that was expounded on was that on Page 167 of his 1996 book, 'Islamic Guidelines for Individual and Social Reform', Zino lists Ahadith which Muslims are obliged to “act upon”. Chapter 73, 'Act Upon These Ahadith:' The first one in his list reads, and I quote: "The Last Hour will not appear unless the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them." which is referenced as being Sahih Muslim. The issue was that it was a direct statement as to something to act upon with no additional commentary or explanation, no context is included and no other information. It was written as a general statement as something to act upon, with the lack of any other reference, explanation, etc. This was referenced in the article ‘Radical Indoctrination in the U.S. Prisons’^[11] by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross.

Zeno featured heavily a study by the right-leaning Centre for Social Cohesion, 'Hate on the State: How British libraries encourage Islamic extremism'^[12] by James Brandon and Douglas Murray, in which he has been described as "One of the most virulent Wahhabi clerics whose books are stocked in the Tower Hamlets libraries." which BBC News also reported on.^[13]

Zeno was also featured in 2007 in the now widely discredited^[14] Policy Exchange report, ‘The Hijacking of British Islam’^[15]

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

In 2007 Zeno features heavily in Daveed Gartenstein-Ross's, My Year Inside Radical Islam: A Memoir. The review of Ross' book in a Philadelphia newspaper, The Bulletin, by Joseph Puder on March 13, 2007 also covers Zeno.^[16]

Gartenstein-Ross also writes extensively on Zeno in his article 'Prison Jihad?' ^[17] which appeared in the Daily Standard on October 12, 2006, and his Frontpage Magazine article on September 20, 2005, entitled 'Wahhabi Prison Fellowship' ^[18]

Works

• Islamic Creed (Questions and Answers) / Islamic Creed Based on Quran and Sunnah
• Pillars of Islam and Iman
• What a Muslim Believes / What A Muslim Should Believe
• Islamic Guidelines for Individual and Social Reform
• How to Understand the Qur'an
• Methodology of the Saved Sect
• Al-Shamail Al-Muhammadiyyah

See also

• Abd-al-Hamid Siddiqui
• Sheikh Abd Al-Aziz Fawzan Al-Fawzan
• Sheikh Jamaal al-Din M. Zarabozo
• Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
• Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan
• Sheikh Saleh Al-Fawzan
• List of Muslim educational institutions

References

1. ^ www.ahlalhdeeth.com
2. ^ www.ahlalhdeeth.com
3. ^ www.ahlalhdeeth.com
4. ^ www.bakkah.net
5. ^ ^{a b} Abdul-Malik Mujahid, Publisher's Note, The Pillars of Islam & Iman by Muhammad bin Jamil Zeno, Riyadh: Dar-us-Salam Publications, 1996, pg. 11
6. ^ IA Forums - View Single Post - Some questions
7. ^ IA Forums - View Single Post - Taqi Uthmani and writing Fatiha with urine
8. ^ The Counterterrorism Blog: Radical Indoctrination in the U.S. Prisons
9. ^ http://www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/special_report/45.pdf
10. ^ http://www.pbs.org/weta/crossroads/about/show_homegrown.html
11. ^ Radical Indoctrination in the U.S. Prisons
12. ^ Hate on the State: How British libraries encourage Islamic extremism
13. ^ Radical books in London libraries
14. ^ MPACUK - BBC Takes On Zionist's Dodgy Dossier
15. ^ Publications
16. ^ http://daveedgr.com/news/2007/03/anevening-bulletin-article-tal.php
17. ^ http://daveedgr.com/publications/internet-journals/prison-jihad/
18. ^ http://daveedgr.com/publications/print-publications/wahhabi-prison-fellowship/

External links

• Islamic discussion on the author
• http://abdurrahman.org/audio/JamilZeeno/index.html

Persondata
Name	Zeno, Muhammad Bin Jamil
Alternative names
Short description	Islamic scholar
Date of birth	1925
Place of birth
Date of death	October 8, 2010
Place of death