Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, born Dennis Bradley Philips, is a Canadian Muslim Scholar, Speaker, and Author who lives in Qatar.
Dr. Bilal Philips reverted to Islam in 1972 after being into Christianity and Communism. And the book that won his heart over was “Islam, The Misunderstood Religion” by Muhammad Qutb.
After accepting Islam, he felt the need to understand the religion from it source, so he preceded to Saudi Arabia where he studied under scholars and received his B.A. degree from the College of Islamic Disciplines (Usul ad-Deen) at the Islamic University of Madina in 1979, and his M.A. in ʿAqīdah (Islamic Theology) from the King Saud University in Riyadh in 1985, and also in University of Wales, St. David’s University College (now University of Wales, Trinity Saint David) in the Islamic Studies department. There at the Lampeter Campus where he completed his 1993 PhD thesis, Exorcism in Islam.
After his graduation from Madina, Dr. Bilal became a teacher of Islamic studies for 10 years in an Islamic High School, Manaret Riyadh, and a lecturer of Arabic and Islamic studies in the American University in Dubai, UAE, for another 10 years. During his 10 years in the UAE, he founded and taught at the Islamic Information Center in Dubai, and during his subsequent years in Qatar he has been an Islamic consultant and lecturer for the Islamic Information wing of Sh. Eed Charit. He also lectured M.Ed. students in the Islamic Studies department of Shariff Kabunsuan Islamic University in Cotabato City, Mindanao, Philippines.
Subsequently, Dr. Bilal founded and headed, in 2008, the English medium Islamic studies department of Knowledge International University, who’s Chancellor is Shaikh Dr. ‘Abdur-Rahman ibn ‘Abdul-Azeez Al Sudais and who’s President of the board of trustees is Shaikh ‘Abdul-Azeez ibn ‘Abdullah Al Shaikh, Mufti of Saudi Arabia. Also in 2009, Dr. Bilal Philips founded and headed the College of Da’wah and Islamic Culture (English Section) in Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan, and established and directed Preston International College in Chennai, India.
He launched the Islamic Online University, an online distance-learning institute in March 2010, which was the first university in history that launched an accredited tuition-free BA in Islamic Studies degree course. Currently, the Islamic Online University offers Degree, Master’s, Doctorate and Diploma courses in various fields of knowledge like Islamic Studies, Arabic language and Linguistics, Information Technology, Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance, Psychology, Business Administration, and Education. The University also offers free diploma courses in Islamic Studies which is of benefit especially for the newly reverted Muslims.
Dr. Bilal Philips has authored, translated and commented on many published books on various Islamic topics which are available in English Language and are beneficial for the Muslims and non-Muslims. Among the books he authored are “Fundamentals of Tawheed”, “Evolution of Islamic Law”, “Through Repentance”, “Islamic Studies”, “Hajj and Umrah According to Quran & Sunnah”, “Islamic Rules on Menstruation”, “Arabic Reading & Writing Made Easy”, “Arabic Grammar Made Easy”, “and The Purpose of Creation” and so on. And among the author’s published works he translated are “Ibn Taymiyyah’s Essay on the Jinn”, “The Devil’s Deception” and “Arabic Calligraphy in Manuscripts”.
