Nouman Ali Khan

Khan was born in Germany to a Pakistani family and spent his preschool years in the former East Berlin.[5] His father then worked for the Pakistan Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Khan attended the Pakistan Embassy school from grades 2 to 8. His father moved the family to New York when Khan was in his teens.[6]

In September 2017, Khan was accused of inappropriate online interactions with numerous women, as reported in an article in The National newspaper.[7] These accusations were repeated in international newspapers;[8][9][10] Khan responded that the leaked text conversations were "between consenting adults" and that the women were marriage prospects, noting that he had been divorced for two years.[8] In December 2017, BuzzFeed News published an article on what it called Khan's "spiritual abuse" activities, claiming that he unsuccessfully had lawyers ask four fellow clerics to not release a joint statement referring to ".[11][12] An article in The Atlantic noted some backlash against women who had accused Khan of misconduct.[13]

In October 2017, a committee composed of various Islamic scholars and community leaders, including those who have held leadership positions in the Islamic Society of North America, counselors and mental health professionals, released a statement after conducting their own investigation into the matter. Among the panel were Aisha Al-Adawiya, Salma Abugideiri, Tamara Gray, Altaf Husain, Mohamed Magid and Ingrid Mattson. The committee stated, "It is with heavy hearts that we confirm that Br. Nouman has committed significant violations of trust, spiritual abuse and unethical behavior." The committee recommended that Khan “face the consequences of his actions, and ... take a break from public life in order to get counselling and engage in acts of expiation.”[14]

• Official website