I wasn't at all surprised when a catholic news website was one of the first to report Dr. Bilal's Philips deportation from the Philippines. If you, dear reader, were to read until the end of my article you shall know the reason why I feel this way. Insha Allah. I might be in danger of being labelled as 'conspiracy theorist' after this piece but I will take my chances.
Dr. Bilal is one of the most successful callers to Islam today. He founded Islamic Online University, a tuition free that offers several Islamic sciences degrees to everyone in the planet. The online educational site boasts a hundred thousand students to date. He is one of the first English authors to write Islamic books now numbering more than fifty.
His success in calling non Muslims to Islam started in the early nineties. In the first gulf war, he helped in guiding over 3000 American soldiers to Islam. In 1993, he was suspected but remained an unindicted co conspirator in the 1993 bombing of World Trade Center. The fact that until now, there is no formal charge made against him by the US authorities - hence unindicted - is a big proof that no evidence can be found against him (or can they just admit that he was innocent). Although the US government is now infamous for going to war even without evidence (weapons of mass destruction, anyone?) back then they didn't seem to bother to charge Dr. Bilal even without evidence. He's banned from entering the US after this and probably this seems to be the starting point of banning of Dr. Bilal's travels to the rest of the world.
Reportedly, when he went to Germany, many Germans converted to Islam in one of his public gatherings. Contrary to the report from the catholic news website, Dr. Bilal wasn't banned from Germany because of Terrorism; it was because of his remark concerning Homosexuality - not when he was in Germany but taken from one of his previous works. He defended himself that his opinion concerning homosexuality is only applicable in countries where Islamic law is being applied and he didn't incite the people in western countries to persecute homosexuals. This website claims that Germany now reversed the ruling and allows him to enter again.
Of course, the Philippines doesn't want to be left behind in this band wagon. Rumors are now circulating in social media that it was the Zamboanga mayor Bing Climaco who started to alert the authorities in the Philippines tagging Dr. Bilal as a danger to national security that even the normally Muslim-friendly Davao City mayor Duterte had to 'invite' him to the police station.
I remember few months back when Mufti Menk visited Davao City and few days after his visit, the terror alert was raised in the same city. The two events could be inconsequential but one couldn't resist but to connect the dots.
Thus, it seems as though that the end result of this banning and deportation is Muslims and Non Muslims alike are prevented from attending the lectures of the likes Dr. Bilal who are successful, charismatic and convincing in their call to Islam. I wouldn't be surprised if other prominent Islamic preachers in the future are going to be banned as well. Can Mufti Menk come back to the Philippines again? Or will he even want to come back knowing what happened to Dr. Bilal Philips?
Maybe it's hard for some people to believe what is being written here but here is an assignment for those who wants to delve more:
What are the religious affiliations of the Chiefs of Police, Mayors, Chiefs of Intelligence at the forefront of this deportation? Who are the priest to whom they make their confessions? Who are the preachers that influence their religious views? If there is really no evidence to indict Dr. Bilal in 1993 why continue to mimic US intelligence?
After all there are reasons why the Filipino religious leaders should be alarmed by the visits of Islamic preachers. In the Middle East, Filipinos are probably the biggest converters to Islam in terms of nationality (statistics should be available somewhere- calling on Muslim statistician). And with Dr. Bilal's deportation being reported in a catholic news website even before the mainstream news is something that should spark light bulbs in any curious minds.
So really I don't know what is happening with the Philippine Intelligence. This could be a new oxymoron in the list folks! Philippine - Intelligence: Where is the Intelligence?
