Khalid Latif, the Executive Director and Chaplain for the Islamic Center at New York University, has said that he would no longer attend this year’s Reviving the Islamic Spirit conference that takes place annually in Toronto, Canada.
While disclosing this on his Facebook page on Monday November 30, 2020, Latif stated that the inclusion of Shaykh Bin Bayyah as a speaker would prevent him from speaking at the conference.
According to him, over the last few years, there have been a lot of dangerous positions from UAE-based councils that have named individual Muslim leaders and organizations like ISNA, Islamic Relief, and CAIR as being linked to terrorism.
“The most recent fatwa that Shaykh Bin Bayyah’s UAE Council issued deeming the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization simply adds to an already problematic geopolitical agenda,” Latif said.
He further said that the agenda seemingly has “no qualms in assisting in the development of iniquitous policies in countries throughout the world that will disrupt the lives of so many people and justify the oppression of that many more all in the pursuit of power retention”.
“I will no longer be speaking at this year’s Reviving the Islamic Spirit conference that takes place annually in Toronto, Canada due to the inclusion of Shaykh Bin Bayyah as a speaker.
“I’ve spoken with the organizers of RIS and do believe that they were receptive to my concerns which I appreciate,” Latif stated.
“My intention here is to just let you all know I won’t be there this year since it was already advertised that I would be and what the reason is behind that decision.
“I do think people can benefit from hearing speakers at the program and don’t fault anyone who intends on attending in any capacity, whether as a presenter or participant,” he added.
