Sad, Paranoid and Delusional

This is a guest post by Raziq

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Fear mongering seems to have become a past time for some Muslims: the fear that the whole world is against Muslims and there are numerous forces out there wanting to undermine and destroy Islam. One of the chief instigators of this paranoid delusional mindset is an individual called Abdul Karim Hattin. This short biography of him appears on the Islamonline website:

Abdul Karim became a Muslim when he was 19 years old and now at 30, he has completed a degree in Media Studies at the University of Luton. He is the co-director and founder of Halaqah Media and Black Banner Media. He wrote the documentary From the Shadows…Exposing the New World Order.

Those who have listened to his recordings will know he is delusional in the extreme; there are great illogical leaps in his historical narrative and just about every war and revolution is linked to those evil people ‘the Freemasons’. In his recent ‘exposing the modernists’ lecture series he tries to explain how various UK based Muslim organisations, i.e. MPACUK, Quilliam, Radical Middle Way, MCB, Murabitun etc. are part of a grand western/Masonic conspiracy to dilute Islam. He speaks about an ‘Aryan Islam’ being promoted under the guise of Modernism. The evidence he presents is mainly from people he has spoken to and from his own analogical ‘deductions’.

One of the many problems with Abdul Karim Hattin’s theories is that they are not original, in fact they are re-hashed Nazi ideas with an Islamised vocabulary. He seems to take popular conspiracy theories and put his own warped twist on them. The other problem is that, after highlighting an issue, he fails to provide any solution. Just as his ‘shadows’ recording ended without presenting any solution at all, you are left wondering what solution there can be. He seems to be obsessed with courting controversy and making ridiculous claims, even upsetting the salafis (pdf) by making inaccurate historical claims in his ‘the arrival of Saudi Salafis’ lecture. If you have a spare half hour and want a real good chuckle just search him out on Youtube and read Salafi Manhaj’s ‘A Critique of Abdul-Karim Hattin and his Bizarre Lecture Series Entitled ‘Arrival of the Saudi Salafis’ exposing his conspiracy theory claptrap‘.

It makes one wonder what he is actually trying to achieve. By provoking fear of the mainstream he is implying that Muslim communities must isolate themselves from the mainstream – hardly the message young British Muslims need. And isn’t Islam about having hope? Even political Islamist movements offer the illusion of a future utopian state, he doesn’t even do that.

Verdict: Abdul Karim Hattin should stop reading nutcase conspiracy sites and seek medical help. If you do come into contact with him, avoid eye contact and back away slowly and safely.