Omar Yaqub, Servant of Servants - The Green Room
Background:
Omar Yaqub has been running IFSSA (IslamicFamily) for several years. IslamicFamily is a social services institution that focuses on youth engagement, immigration support, family violence prevention, and related areas. Omar Yaqub is an operator by training and serves an important role within the Edmonton Muslim community. However, he lacks Islamic knowledge and the ability to evaluate religious personalities. Likewise, IslamicFamily is not adequately resourced to objectively assess, validate, and verify religious personnel.
Omar Yaqub is a close friend of Mustafa Ghani and is heavily influenced by him. Both regard Umar Faruq Abd-Allah as their spiritual guide. As a result, Omar Yaqub’s Islam and spirituality are shaped by these two men. Given this relationship, he is not in a position to hold Mustafa Ghani accountable. In fact, Mustafa Ghani has effectively become the unofficial resident scholar at IslamicFamily.
Failed Sufi Ventures, Shelby Haque, and Mustafa Ghani:
Over the years, Omar, through IslamicFamily, has sponsored and given a platform to several Sufi shaykhs, imams, and ustads. Programs such as The Green Room and Tarjuma evolved into “spirituality” hubs. Gatherings, majalis, and mawlids became central community-building activities. Much of this direction was shaped by Shelby Haque and his close Sufi associate, Mustafa Ghani. In particular, IslamicFamily has sponsored:
- Ramzy Ajem, Chief Con at Risalah Foundation - several spiritual abuse cases reported
- Abdullah el-Haddad, Spiritual Father at Risalah Foundation - several spiritual abuse cases reported.
- Umar Faruq Abd-Allah, Omar's and Mustafa's spiritual father - accused of maintaining silence and aiding oppressors.
- Usama Canon, Ta'leef Collective - several spiritual abuse cases reported. He was investigated by Ta'leef board, Alhamdulillah.
- Baraka Blue, Rapper, Poet, Rumi Retreats - unqualified self-appointed sufi expert. Unqualified to the bone!
- Shelby Haque, Tadhkirah Foundation & representative of Ramzy Ajem - unqualified self-appointed spirituality expert. At least 2 spiritual abuse cases reported.
No Investigation:
What emerged was a mix of unqualified, religious-sounding, religious-looking, half-baked ustads and unscrupulous shaykhs. Some of these men have committed egregious abuses in the name of Tasawwuf. Yet there has been zero accountability and zero investigations. Many remain active in our communities, continuing to operate as shaykhs and teachers. Worse still, they have further slandered their victims with dismissive statements such as “fulan has an adab problem” or “fulan is not handling it too well” or "fulan had a bad marriage."
Shelby Haque ran a Sufi scam in Edmonton and was publicly called out in 2019–2020. Omar was copied on that community-wide notification. How much effort did he put into investigating Shelby Haque? Why was Shelby given a platform after 2019 without any proper inquiry? If you are able to elevate someone publicly, should you not also be responsible for investigating their integrity? Was his continued support of Shelby influenced by Mustafa Ghani?
Here is another question for Omar: Did we learn anything from Usama Canon's spiritual abuse cases? Did we try to understand patterns? The ignorance and complacency surrounding these matters is profoundly shameful and disappointing. Ironically, Tarjuma was a "safe space" program.
No Due Diligence (Tahqiq):
A few more hard questions for Omar Yaqub:
- Was any due diligence conducted on these men before giving them a platform? Were their credentials or educational backgrounds ever checked? Were their claims of “knowledge” independently verified?
- Is “Mustafa Ghani said so” considered part of the due diligence process?
- What criteria are you actually using in your evaluations? What standards guide you in determining whether someone is suitable to represent Islam to the community?
- If an individual engages in spiritual abuse, where should victims turn? Who should they contact? What process exists within IslamicFamily to investigate and address such cases?
- Victims are often blacklisted and shamed for “breaking the ummah,” especially when they expose abuse publicly. What safeguards do you have in place to protect their rights and ensure they are not further harmed by the community?
We are facing two core problems. First, there is no meaningful due diligence prior to giving these religious persanalities a platform. Second, when someone goes off the rails, there is no investigation. They become "untouchable."