Daniel Haqiqatjou

Daniel Haqiqatjou
Haqiqatjou in 2020
Haqiqatjou in 2020
Personal life
BornDaniel Reza Haghighat Jou
1985 or 1986 (age 40–41)[1]
Houston, Texas, U.S.
EducationHarvard University (AB)
Tufts University (MA)
Known forCritiques of modernism, debates and comparative religion
Websitemuslimskeptic.com
Religious life
ReligionIslam
DenominationSunni[2]
CreedAthari[3]
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2015–present
Subscribers459,000
Views162.7 million

Daniel Reza Haghighat Jou (born 1985 or 1986)[4], known professionally as Daniel Haqiqatjou, is an American Muslim religious and political commentator and debater associated with the "Muslim manosphere".[5][6]

Early life

Haqiqatjou was born in Houston, Texas, to Iranian parents in a secular family of Shia background.[7] He was raised in Houston, where he currently resides.[8]

During high school, Haqiqatjou converted from Shia Islam to Sunni Islam.[9] In 2008, he graduated from Harvard University with a degree in physics and a minor in philosophy, before completing a master's degree in philosophy at Tufts University.[10]

Career

From 2014 to 2017, he was a writer for the online magazine MuslimMatters.[11] In 2015, he founded the website Muslim Skeptic and created a YouTube channel of the same name, focusing primarily on interfaith criticism, modernism, current events, family issues, and reports on figures whom Haqiqatjou has accused of attempting to change Islam from within.[7][12]

In 2019, Haqiqatjou founded the Alasna Institute, an online Islamic seminary offering courses on traditional Islamic disciplines and critiques of ideologies it considers modernist or un-Islamic.[13][14] The following year, Haqiqatjou authored The Modernist Menace to Islam.[15]

His company Global Ummah Retreats promises to teach men how to “defend your home against feminism”.[5]

Controversies

Haqiqatjou has been accused of misogyny and antisemitism many times. He has said that women getting college educations leads them into sex work. His “Interfaith Critiques” discuss Jewish texts and seek to show that they justify racial hatred, homophobia and criminal conspiracy.[16]

In 2017 Haqiqatjou compared Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler.[17]

In 2019, he said that Israel occupied Palestinian television stations and broadcast pornographic images, describing Israel's alleged "promotion of base desires" as a "weapon that the agents of Shaytan (Satan) are using in full force today."[17] He alleged that Senator Ilhan Omar has "Zionist masters" and "Zionists control every level of U.S. government."[17] He applauded Brunei for implementing "Islamic laws that would allow death by stoning for adultery and homosexuality", calling it "just the news to cheer you up" and describing homosexuals as "sodomites and fornicators".[17]

In 2020, Haqiqatjou's invitation by the Muslim Students Association (MSA) to speak at York University was criticised by the Jewish Defence League, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation and professors at York, arguing that Haqiqatjou was "known for anti-Semitic and homophobic rhetoric."[17] A talk at a Mississauga community centre was cancelled as a result of these criticisms.[18]

In 2023, Haqiqatjou's invitation from MSA branches to several New York colleges sparked controversy among some of its Muslim students due to his controversial and allegedly misogynistic opinions, namely his views on gender roles and women's education.[19]

In March 2024, the Jerusalem Post described Haqiqatjou as promoting conspiracy theories, including about 911,[20] and the Anti-Defamation League said he has engaged in antsemitism and has pushed conspiracy theories, extremist, prejudiced, misogynistic, and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.[21]

In Spring 2024, a speech by Haqiqatjou at the MSA branch at Queens College, City University of New York was condemned by the college president, alleging antisemitism.[16] Reporting on this, Jerusalem News Syndicate alleged that Haqiqatjou has said that Israel created ISIS and was involved in the September 11 terror attacks, and that he has defended sexual violence, quoting him as saying "there is no rape if the husband or wife touches a spouse sexually, as this is their right (by virtue of marriage) regardless of consent (on the part of the touched spouse)", and "there is no rape if a master sexually touches his female slave, as the master has a right to do this (by virtue of ownership)."[22]

Personal life

Haqiqatjou has been married to Egyptian-born Umm Khalid since 2008; the two met at Harvard University. They have five children.[23]

On June 23, 2007, Haqiqatjou's sister, Donna Jou, a 19-year-old student at San Diego State University, disappeared after attending a party in Los Angeles at the home of convicted sex offender John Steven Burgess, who invited her through Craigslist using an alias.[24][25] Burgess was charged with involuntary manslaughter after he told police that she had died of an overdose resulting from drugs he had given her and that he had subsequently disposed of her body in the ocean. Jou's body was never recovered.[26]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Goffard, Christopher (August 26, 2007). "A family waits and tries to hope". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 22, 2025. Retrieved August 13, 2026. ...Daniel, is a soft-spoken 21-year-old student at Harvard...
  2. ↑ "Daniel Haqiqatjou on "Islam vs. Liberalism"". Middle East Forum. June 3, 2022. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  3. ↑ Haqiqatjou, Daniel (January 12, 2025). "Daniel Haqiqatjou on X". X.
  4. ↑ Goffard, Christopher (August 26, 2007). "A family waits and tries to hope". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 22, 2025. Retrieved August 13, 2026. ...Daniel, is a soft-spoken 21-year-old student at Harvard...
  5. 1 2 Imran, Yousra Samir (May 1, 2026). "Pre-marriage bootcamps send Muslim couples back to school". Hyphen. Archived from the original on July 24, 2026. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  6. ↑ Ghumkhor, Sahar; Mir, Hizer (2022). "A 'Crisis of Masculinity'?: The West's Cultural Wars in the Emerging Muslim Manosphere". ReOrient. 7 (2). Pluto Journals: 135–157. doi:10.13169/reorient.7.2.0135. ISSN 2055-5601. JSTOR 48706616.
  7. 1 2 "About". Muslim Skeptic. July 18, 2024. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Daniel Haqiqatjou". Public Discourse. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  9. ↑ The Muslim Mum (May 27, 2026). Daniel Haqiqatjou’s EXPLOSIVE Rant On How The Falsehoods Of Shiaism Led Him To Sunni Islam!. Retrieved August 13, 2026 – via YouTube.
  10. ↑ "Daniel Haqiqatjou, Author at Muslim Skeptic". Muslim Skeptic. July 18, 2024. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Daniel Haqiqatjou, Author at MuslimMatters.org". MuslimMatters.org. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  12. ↑ "The Muslim Skeptic". YouTube. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  13. ↑ The Muslim Skeptic (January 21, 2019). Introducing Alasna Institute. Retrieved July 16, 2026 – via YouTube.
  14. ↑ "Alasna Institute". Alasna Institute. Retrieved July 16, 2026.
  15. ↑ Haqiqatjou, Daniel (2020). The Modernist Menace to Islam. Dakwah Corner Bookstore. ISBN 978-967-5699-67-2.
  16. 1 2 Lin-Sommer, Sam (May 17, 2024). "Queens College has been a model of Muslim-Jewish cooperation. Can it stay that way after Oct. 7?". The Forward. Archived from the original on July 24, 2026. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 Lungen, Paul (March 6, 2020). "Controversial speaker will not present at York". The Canadian Jewish News. Archived from the original on November 18, 2025. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  18. ↑ "City of Mississauga cancelled event with speaker called antisemitic, homophobic". Mississauga.com. March 13, 2020. Archived from the original on July 24, 2026. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  19. ↑ Iqbal, Zainab (April 28, 2023). "US: Muslim college students enraged over invite of controversial Muslim personality". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on July 20, 2024. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  20. ↑ "MK Ahmad Tibi 'likes' post on X supporting conspiracy that Israel and US". The Jerusalem Post. March 23, 2024. Archived from the original on July 24, 2026. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Daniel Haqiqatjou: What You Need to Know". Anti-Defamation League. Archived from the original on July 23, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  22. ↑ Swindle, David (March 6, 2024). "Rape apologist speaks at Queens College, invited by Muslim student group". Jerusalem News Syndicate. Archived from the original on July 24, 2026. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  23. ↑ Westrop, Sam (June 3, 2022). "Interview: Radical preacher Daniel Haqiqatjou on "Islam vs. Liberalism" | Focus on Western Islamism (FWI)". Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  24. ↑ "Man linked to missing woman is sex offender". Los Angeles Times. July 7, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  25. ↑ "Search Continues For Student's Missing Sister". The Harvard Crimson. July 13, 2007. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
  26. ↑ "John Steven Burgess, Who Admitted Dumping Donna Jou in Ocean, Freed After 2 Years in Jail". ABC News. December 7, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
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