Imran N. Hosein

Hosein was born into an Indo-Trinidadian family in Trinidad and Tobago.[4] He studied Islam under the guidance of the Islamic scholar, Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari at the Aleemiyah Institute of Islamic Studies, Karachi, Pakistan. He also did post-graduate studies in Philosophy at Karachi University, and International Relations at the University of West Indies, Trinidad, and the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland.[5] He led the Jumu'ah prayers and delivered the sermon at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan once a month for ten years.[6]

Sheikh Hosein opposes fiat currency, describing it as 'bogus fraudulent Haram and an amazingly dangerous instrument of oppression and universal slavery' although based on the Islamic principle of necessity he states that 'we are permitted to use it until such time as we can escape from its poisonous, deadly and sinful embrace'. He proposes that fiat currency be removed by 'through the creation of micro-markets which use only Sunnah money and which are a part of remotely-located Muslim Villages.'[7]

Ebrahim Desai, who runs the website "Ask Imam", has claimed Hosein has deviant positions, such as rejecting certain authentic hadiths and diverting from the consensus opinion. For example, he issued a fatwa, an Islamic legal opinion, discouraging Muslims from listening to his talks.[8] A second fatwa by the same scholar said that this is due to Hosein's views that some hadiths of Sahih al-Bukhari are fabricated, that all Shias are Muslim "whereas many Shias have beliefs that are inconsistent with the fundamental beliefs of Islam", and that Gog and Magog have already been released.[9]

Two other Islamic websites have published articles espousing similar views.[10][11]

Hosein has been banned from speaking at Mucurapo Mosque.[12]

• Official website