Waseem Youssef

Wasim Yusuf Ahmad Shahada is a Jordanian Muslim preacher of Palestinian origin, born on 29 June 1981 in Irbid, Jordan. He obtained Emirati citizenship in 2014. ^{1 2}

He became known as imam and preacher at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, presented religious programmes on satellite channels including Abu Dhabi TV from 2014, and gained prominence for his public attacks on the Muslim Brotherhood and on Salafism in general, and for statements that repeatedly caused wide controversy. ¹

He was born and raised in Jordan, and took a bachelor's degree in Sharia from Al-Balqa Applied University in 2004. ^{1 3}

His Al-Marsal biography adds that his university specialisation was in the Quranic readings (qira'at) and that he took a master's degree in Quranic interpretation in 2009. Al-Marsal elsewhere gives his birth year as 1982; this record follows the date of 29 June 1981 given by Arabic Wikipedia and Wikidata. ^{3 2}

He began his dawah career working on the interpretation of dreams, and wrote a book on the subject, before becoming prominent through television programmes and recorded lectures. ¹

From 2014 he presented several Islamic programmes on satellite channels, among them Abu Dhabi TV. ¹

He served as imam and preacher of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. On 1 February 2020 the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre issued a statement announcing that he was no longer imam and preacher of the centre, and that he had been assigned as preacher of the Sultan bin Zayed the First Mosque. ¹

The article reports that he obtained Emirati citizenship in 2014. In May 2021, however, the director general of Jordan's Civil Status and Passports Department, Fahd al-Amoush, stated that Waseem Youssef "holds a Jordanian passport and there is nothing indicating that he renounced Jordanian citizenship", and that the department likewise had "nothing indicating that Waseem Youssef obtained any citizenship other than Jordanian", adding that his passport was last renewed in 2009, expired in 2014 and was not renewed after that. The museum records both statements as reported, without adjudicating between them. ¹

This section sets out different positions as reported in the sources. It is not a verdict by the museum.

His attacks on the Brotherhood and Salafism. Waseem Youssef became known for attacking the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafism in general, and for criticising well-known sheikhs and preachers — earning him supporters who see him as a voice against extremism, and critics who see him as an opponent of Islamic movements aligned with an official line. ^{1 3}

Questioning Sahih al-Bukhari. His statements about al-Bukhari caused wide controversy in 2019: he affirmed his view doubting the authenticity of all the hadiths in Sahih al-Bukhari, reversing his earlier statements of complete trust in the book, and the dispute was covered by the media. ¹

Normalisation with Israel. He drew a wave of criticism after congratulating the UAE and Israel on their 2020 agreement, after attacking Palestinians by saying "the Jews are more honourable than them", and after apologising to Israelis for any offence he had previously directed at them; several Arab media outlets carried the story. ¹

The 2021 Gaza war. Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported that he provoked wide anger on social media in May 2021 by supporting Israeli strikes on civilians in the Gaza Strip, accusing Hamas of launching rockets from people's homes and of turning Gaza into a "graveyard of the innocent". Some sources call him the "normalisation sheikh" and others "the intelligence preacher"; the article attributes both labels to his critics. The head of the Jordanian parliament's Palestine committee, MP Muhammad al-Zahrawi, denounced him in harsh terms carried by the media. A claim also circulated on social media, never confirmed by any official source, that he had received a payment from the "Israel in Arabic" platform. ¹

His 2021 disappearance. His social-media activity stopped suddenly in May 2021; his last tweet was on 19 May 2021. Several explanations were put forward: some sources said he had been taken to a Dubai hospital and fallen into a coma after being beaten and stabbed by a young Emirati man and having his car burned, while other sources said Emirati security had arrested him following his remarks about the Jordanian passport. No official body commented. He returned to tweeting on 23 January 2022 without explaining his eight-month absence. ¹

In April 2024 Waseem Youssef announced that he had been diagnosed with sarcoma; CNN Arabic's website was among the outlets that reported it. ¹

• "Interpretation of Dreams" (Tafsir al-Ahlam; Platinum Book, 2017). ¹
• "A Verse Taught Me" ('Allamatni Aya; Platinum Book, 2017). ¹
• "I Was an Extremist" (Kuntu Mutatarrifan; Madad Publishing, 2018). ¹

Waseem Youssef presented his programmes on major Arab satellite channels, and his lectures and clips circulated widely on social platforms; follower figures on platforms change constantly and the museum records them only with a date. Wikidata records his X account as waseem_yousef. ^{1 2}

• The defined source entities cited above, recorded in data/source/.
• Revisions of this article must be dated, and must name the source that changed each fact.