Thread by @DrJavadTHashmi

Remember how I said that Farid would join ISIS if he were living in Iraq? It was purposely hyperbolic but it spoke to an underlying truth: Farid is an anti-Shīʿa bigot, extremist, & sectarian fanatic. Worst yet, his sloppy analysis reveals why he can never be a scholar. 1/

It is a complete fantasy to imagine that this guy, no more than meme master @Haqiqatjou, represents "mainstream Islam." These guys are basement dwellers who spend all day putting out YouTube pages & PDF refutations. Farid is an absolute loser, who has a pathetic life... 2/

& so he tries to compensate by pouring out the failures of his life into bigotry for Shīʿas. It is a tale as old as time. Do you think @Haqiqatjou is any different? These are all losers. For almost two decades now, Farid has wasted the precious time of his life "refuting"... 3/

the evil enemy that are the Shīʿas, who he thinks are some conspiratorial sect invented by a crypto-Jew to plot against Islam, haha! I don't know if he still believes this fairy tale but I know he used to & he probably still does. 4/

These guys used to pal around with Sipah-e-Sahaba terrorist sympathizers. Again, it's a joke to think that *they* represent "orthodoxy," If by orthodoxy you mean to lump in all so-called "mainstream Muslims." Farid et al. are fringe sectarian bigots. 5/

The absolute sloppy & amateurish level of Farid's work is apparent such that a scholar who was attacked by him thought it below himself to even respond. Farid rage-wrote an entire article lambasting a professor at Harvard, way out of Farid's league... 6/

only instead to attack a giant strawman: Farid's entire premise is to accuse Shady Nasser of "utiliz[ing] a hyper-skeptical method" & thereby to consider the 7 aḥruf ḥadīth unauthentic/fabricated & as not going back to the Prophet. 7/

What a sloppy critique! In fact, the first time I read Prof. Nasser's article I actually got in a debate with him since I thought he was being too *sanguine*--hardly "hyper-skeptical" as Farid claims. Pace Farid, Nasser does NOT say the ḥadīth does not go back to the Prophet. 8/

On p. 17 of his article, Nasser specifically says that he is not interested in answering the question of whether the report actually goes back to the Prophet or not. Rather, he is interested in knowing when the ḥadīth was circulated. 9/

In fact, Nasser believes that we *cannot* dismiss this ḥadīth nor can we say that it does *not* go back to the Prophet. I initially debated him on this, but then I was actually convinced (after my discussion with @KhalilAndani) that it might actually go to the Prophet. 10/

From our academic historical perspective, however, there does not seem to be any way to know for sure here. But, the point here is that Nasser does not at all believe or say what Farid says he did, which is the basis of Farid's entire article. What a gaffe! 11/

This is quite embarrassing for a random Joe to think he is capable of taking down a Harvard professor when he actually has zero academic training. And to see the adulation of his crowd of minions who celebrated this "epic takedown" is just a wondrous sight to behold. 12/

Farid's sloppiness extends to his takfīrī-tongue, whereby he passes pronouncements of heresy, apostasy, & unbelief without either being a trained mufti himself or without even carefully understanding the excommunicated person's beliefs... 13/

which is essential from an orthodox perspective. He should have investigated my beliefs & asked me about them, sought clarification, & given advice/admonition, which would have been easy for him given our past friendship. 14/

Yet, his takfīrī tongue jumps to issue forth a judgment, even though it too--like his Shady Nasser article--is sloppy. Farid writes of me, "Javed Hashmi, who doesn't even believe in the ancient prophets." 15/

I guess Farid would be chopping off the wrong person's head given that my name is "Javad" & not "Javed." More seriously, he has misrepresented my views, which I have clarified several times already. I will restate them again here so that this takfīrī can understand. 16/

The view I was articulating in my Mufti Abu Layth interview was that alluded to by the late great Fazlur Rahman; will Farid also excommunicate him? Probably. But, that should show how extremist & fringe Farid really is, sitting in his basement raging away. 17/

Fazlur Rahman basically wrote that Muslims do not need to worry about the recent archaeological & historical work being done in the Western academy, which was coming to bear on biblical history...this, he reassured, would not ever topple the faith of Islam. 18/

This is, of course, because the stories of the prophets are meant primarily for the Qur'an's specific religious, theological, moral, homiletic, & social purposes... not for conveying history for history's sake. 19/

Even the great Allāma Iqbāl took the Adam story to be mythical/legendary, as he clearly articulates in his magnum opus, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought. Will Farid also takfīr the great Islamic poet, philosopher, & religious thinker of South Asia? 20/

Farid is just careless & an amateur. I have clarified my views here:

https://mobile.twitter.com/DrJavadTHashmi/status/1388922527506960385

21/

You may disagree with my views here but, at minimum, you should recognize that these are the careful thoughts of a believer trying to balance ʿaql & naql, which has lots of precedents in Islamic intellectual history if but these monkeys were aware of these sorts of things. 22/

Also, yet another sloppy error: I'm not debating with @jihadwatchRS on the topic of the existence of Muḥammad. Rather, I am debating on the topic of jihad. More to the point, I am coming primarily as an academic & expert on the topic, not simply based on being a Muslim... 23/

let alone an "orthodox Muslim" according to Farid's narrow sectarian lens which thinks that he & his small crew are the saved sect, with everyone else either errant, deviant, or outright heretical. This fanatical group gives nothing but credence to Robert's views. 24/

Imagine what it looks like when a Muslim academic can't even debate someone without being subjected to a religious tribunal & accused of heresy/apostasy, something in their view punishable by death. Good thing I'm already breaking out of the narrow confines of these nutters, 25/

& have now steadily built a support base of Muslim well-wishers, for whom I am grateful & will continue to do what I do. And these nutters can continue to fear me & avoid me in debate, with Farid blocking me since he well knows what I can do to him. 26/

I forgot to mention the snake-like move of releasing private emails of Shaykh Yasir Qadhi. 27/