Abdur Raheem Green

Abdur Raheem Green (born: Anthony Waclaw Gavin Green;[1] 1964[1]), is a British convert to Islam who is known in some Muslim communities for his work in Dawah, both in televised formal settings and informal contexts such as Hyde Park's Speakers Corner.[3][4][5][6][7] He is the chairman of iERA, the Islamic Education and Research Academy.[8][9]

Abdur Raheem Green
Personal
Born
Anthony Waclaw Gavin Green

September 1964[1]
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
ReligionIslam
NationalityBritish
DenominationSunni
EducationAmpleforth College
Known forDawah
Occupationchairman of iERA, Islamic Speaker
YouTube information
Channel
Years activeJuly 16, 2009–present
Subscribers315 thousand[2]
Total views38.3 million[2]
Associated actsAbdurRaheem Green
100,000 subscribers
Last updated: 26 October 2022
Websiteiera.org

Early life

Green was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. His father was a colonial administrator in the British Empire[10] and his mother is Polish.[11] His father was agnostic and his mother a devout Roman Catholic. Green was raised in the Roman Catholic faith from a young age.[10]

Green attended a Monastic Roman Catholic boarding school, St Martin's Ampleforth at Gilling Castle, and then Ampleforth College. When he was 11, his father took a job in Cairo, and so Green would travel to stay there during his school holidays. He studied history at the University of London, but did not complete his degree because of a growing disillusionment with what he regarded as the Eurocentric teaching of the British educational system.[12]

Conversion to Islam

At a young age, Green began to question his Roman Catholic upbringing. However, at the age of 19, he stated that he would "vigorously defend" the faith, even though he did not actually believe in it. He also practiced Buddhism for nearly three years, though never formally embraced it. In 1987, Green first became interested in Islam, picking up his first copy of the Qur'an.[10] He embraced Islam in 1988.[13]

Personal life

Green has ten children.[14] Whilst claiming two wives, Green was asked in the interview whether British law prohibits bigamy. Green responded: "It does. Yet several Britishers are bigamists." He mistakenly claimed "But those who practise bigamy can protect the second marriage under the provisions of 'common law wives'. Under this children out of such marriages are legitimate and wives inherit property."[12]

Controversies

In 2005, Green was barred from boarding a flight with a stopover in Brisbane because he appeared on the Australian government's "movement alert list". This was for extreme views, "including that Muslims and westerners cannot live peaceably together and that dying while fighting jihad is one of the surest ways to paradise and Allah's good pleasure."[15] Some Australian Muslims argued that the Government had gone too far by stopping a man whose views they claim are now moderate.[15]

In February 2009, the BBC current affairs programme Panorama reported that the Metropolitan Police had asked Green for advice.[16] Green said that he was "part of the solution" to extremism,[16] and that "participating in terrorist activities, violent revolution - is not something that I have ever thought was part of the religion of Islam."[16] It was reported in 2010 that Green had given a two hour lecture at University College London's Islamic Society on 23 November 2005, in which Green said that though Osama Bin Laden's terrorist strategy was rational, Islam did not support it.[13]

In October 2011, Green was banned from giving a scheduled lecture at Concordia University in Canada after concerns were raised over statements that he allegedly made about how men may treat their wives.[17]

In July 2012, Green was banned from the Emirates stadium of Arsenal F.C.[18]

In May 2014, the Telegraph reported that the iERA which Green chairs was being investigated by the Charity Commission[19] "amid allegations that its leaders promote anti-Semitism and have called for homosexuals and female adulterers to be stoned to death."[20] The Telegraph reported that Green "has been caught on camera preaching at Hyde Park Corner, calling for a Jewish man to be removed from his sight. 'Why don’t you take the Yahoudi [Jew] over there, far away so his stench doesn’t disturb us?' he can be heard to say."[20]

In 2015, he was asked to withdraw from speaking at event Against Racism, Against Hatred held at St James' Park, Newcastle.[21]

References
  1. "Anthony Waclaw Gavin Green", Companies House
  2. "About iERA". YouTube.
  3. Bowen, Innes "Medina in Birmingham, Najaf in Brent: Inside British Islam" "He remained a Salafi but became a popular speaker at events organised by a wide range of Islamic organizations"
  4. Gilham, Jamie; Geaves, Ron, eds. (2017). Victorian Muslim: Abdullah Quilliam and Islam in the West: The Contested Ground of British Islamic Activism. Oxford University Press. p. 142. ISBN 9780190688349.
  5. Hamid, Sadek (2016). Sufis, Salafis and Islamists: The Contested Ground of British Islamic Activism. I. B. Taurus. p. 56. ISBN 9781788310611.
  6. Bangstad, Sindre (2014). Anders Breivik and the Rise of Islamophobia. Zed Books. ISBN 9781783600106.
  7. Meijer, Roel, ed. (2014). Global Salafism: Islam's New Religious Movement. Oxford University Press. pp. 445–447. ISBN 978-0199333431.
  8. "Abdurraheem Green". Archived from the original on 25 December 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  9. "Sheikh Abdur-Raheem Green". Islam Events. Archived from the original on 21 November 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  10. Murdianingsih, Dwi (20 October 2011). "Tuhan Bisa Mati? Mendengar Itu Abdur Raheem Green Serasa Ditinju Mike Tyson di Wajah". Republika (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  11. Karagiannis, Emmanuel (2 January 2018). The New Political Islam: Human Rights, Democracy, and Justice. ISBN 9780812249729.
  12. "Why I embraced Islam: Interview with Br. Abduraheem Green". Islamic Voice. November 1997. Archived from the original on 7 April 2013. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  13. Malik, Shiv (23 February 2010). "An uncomfortable lesson in jihad". Prospect. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  14. Wilson, Peter (9 December 2006). "Boys need to repent: Green". The Australian. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  15. Robertson, Hamish (11 August 2005). "Australia bans Muslim public speaker". The World Today (Australian radio program) on Australian Broadcasting Corporation .
  16. "About Muslim First, British Second". Panorama (British TV programme). 13 February 2009.
  17. "Islamic group's speech at Concordia University is cancelled". CTV News. 21 October 2011.
  18. Elgot, Jessica (5 July 2012). "Arsenal ban Islamist preacher from Emirates Stadium". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  19. "Investigation launched into educational charity". Charity Commission, 8 May 2014. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  20. Mendick, Robert & Lazarus, Ben (24 May 2014). "'Anti-Semitic' charity under investigation". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  21. Proctor, Kate (20 May 2015). "Islamic preacher Abdur Raheem Green banned from St James Park by Newcastle United". Evening Chronicle. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
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