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Rashad Khalifa

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Rashad Khalifa
Born(1935-11-19)November 19, 1935
Egypt
DiedJanuary 31, 1990(1990-01-31) (aged 54)
NationalityEgyptian-American
OccupationBiochemist
Known forNumerology, Islam
ChildrenSam Khalifa and Beth Khalifa

Rashad Khalifa (Arabic: رشاد خليفة; November 19, 1935–January 31, 1990) was an Egyptian-American biochemist who founded United Submitters International. He was assassinated in 1990.

Life

Khalifa immigrated to the United States in 1959, where he earned a Ph.D in biochemistry. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen, living in Tucson, Arizona.

Khalifa worked as a science adviser for the Libyan government for about one year, after which he worked as a chemist for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, then became a senior chemist in Arizona's State Office of Chemistry in 1980. Khalifa's son Sam Khalifa played Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He founded the religious group called United Submitters International (USI), a group which considers itself to be the true Islam, but prefers not to use the terms "Muslim" or "Islam," instead using the English equivalents of the Arabic: "Submitter" or "Submission." [1]

Submitters believe Khalifa was a messenger of God and refer to him as God's messenger of the covenant as prophesied in the Quran and Bible, after which today's "corrupted" religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, will simply die out, and "Submission" will prevail.

Specific beliefs of the USI include the dedication of all worship practices to God alone, upholding the Qur'an alone, and rejecting the traditional hadith and sunnah as fabrications and lies attributed to Muhammad by his enemies. For many years he attended Masjid Tucson in Arizona.

Mathematical analysis of Qur'anic text

Starting in 1968, Khalifa used computers to analyze the frequency of letters and words in the Qur'an. In 1974 he claimed that he discovered an intricate numerical pattern in the text of the Qur'an involving the number 19 mentioned in verse 30 of chapter 74 of the Qur'an. The details of this analysis including tables are available in the back of his book, Quran, the Final Testament.[2]

Khalifa's research did not receive much attention in the West. The first comment appeared in Scientific American of September 1980, p. 22. Martin Gardner wrote of Khalifa's initial publication in the West: "It's an ingenious study of the Quran." Gardner later wrote a more extensive and critical review of Khalifa and his work.[3]

Many popular magazines and newspapers in the Muslim world reported his discoveries. Khalifa's first publicized report appeared in the Egyptian magazine Akher Sa'a (January 24, 1973). Updates of his research were subsequently published by the same magazine (November 28, 1973 and December 31, 1975). Many other magazines and newspaper articles by and about Khalifa appeared throughout the world in many languages.

Various Muslim organisations however have criticised Dr. Rashad's studies, accusing him of spreading heresy and ignorance. His proclamation of himself as a prophet enraged fundamentalist Muslims, one of whom managed to assassinate him.


Dr. Rashad Khalifa always proclaimed and taught that Muhammad was the last Prophet. He never claimed to be a Prophet and explained very clearly the difference between a Prophet and a Messenger of God in his translation, newsletters and other works. [4]

Dr. Rashad's theories have also come under criticism by Islamic purists, who have rebuked his theories by pointing to his selective and biased methods of counting used to propound his theory.

Criminal Charges

In October, 1979, Khalifa was accused of sexual assault, sexual abuse, and sexual contact with a minor. The accuser, a 16-year-old-girl, testified at a hearing that Khalifa sexually molested her while recruiting her for research on the human aura. There was no evidence of intercourse found when the girl was examined at a local hospital. Justice of the Peace James P. West ruled there was probable cause to hold Khalifa for trial on the charges.[5]

Assassination

On January 31, 1990, Khalifa was murdered at Masjid Tucson. He was stabbed multiple times and his body drenched in xylol but not set alight. Although nobody has been convicted of his murder, James Williams, an alleged member of the Jamaat ul-Fuqra organization, was convicted of conspiracy in the slaying.[6] Williams disappeared on the day of his sentencing and could not be found.[7] In 2000 Williams was apprehended attempting to re-enter the United States and sentenced to serve 69 years in prison. His convictions were upheld on appeal by the Colorado Court of Appeals except for one count of forgery. [8][9]

CBS News reported that Muslim extremist Wadih el-Hage was "connected to the 1990 stabbing death of... Rashad Khalifa [who] was hated by Muslim extremists [that were] opposed to his teachings. El-Hage who was indicted for lying about the case, called the assassination 'a good thing.'" [10]

On Tuesday, April 28, 2009 the Calgary Police Services of Canada arrested Glen Cusford Francis, a 52-year-old citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, on suspicion of killing Rashad Khalifa.[11] Investigators in Tucson learned that Francis who was going by the name Benjamin Phillips had began his studies under Khalifa in January 1990. Phillips disappeared shortly after the slaying,[11] and was said to have left the country. An investigation revealed Phillips and Francis were the same man upon discovering finger prints found in Phillips apartment. A specialty unit of the Tucson Police Department furthered in its investigation in 2006 and in December of 2008 and was able to use DNA testing on forensic evidence from the crime scene to tie Francis to the assassination.[12]

References

  1. ^ Rashad Khalifa (1989). "Why the name change" (PDF). Submission Perspective. 57: 1. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  2. ^ Khalifa, Rashad. Quran, the Final Testament.
  3. ^ The numerology of Dr. Rashad Khalifa - scientist, Martin Gardner, Skeptical Inquirer, Sept-Oct, 1997]
  4. ^ Rashad's Quran translations, footnotes of 33:40, 40:34, Appendix 2 (A Quranic Truth); Rashad Khalifa (1988). "MUSLIM DIGEST PROVIDES EVIDENCE THAT RASHAD KHALIFA IS THE APOSTLE OF THE" (PDF). Muslim Perspective: 2,3. {{cite journal}}: Text "COVENANT" ignored (help); Text "volume" ignored (help)
  5. ^ "Tucson man faces trial in alleged rape of teen". Tucson Citizen. 1979-10-06. pp. 2B.
  6. ^ Eric Anderson, Slain Islamic leader was outspoken; Khalifa's teachings from Tucson angered Muslims worldwide, Denver Post, 21 October 1993, p21.
  7. ^ Dick Foster, Extremist is 'not to be found'; Little hope held of finding Al-Fuqra fugitive, Rocky Mountain News, 25 February 1994, p8.
  8. ^ People v. James D. Williams, (Colo. App. 01CA0781, Aug. 7, 2003) (not selected for official publication)
  9. ^ "Attorney General Announces Sentence" (html). Colorado Department of Law. 2001-03-16. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  10. ^ "Terrorists Take To Arizona" (html). CBS Worldwide Inc. 2001-10-26. Retrieved 2007-09-29. El-Hage has also been connected to the 1990 stabbing death of a Tucson mosque leader. Rashad Khalifa was hated by Muslim extremists opposed to his teachings. El-Hage, who was indicted for lying about the case, called the assassination "a good thing."
  11. ^ a b Massinon, Stephane (April 30, 2009). "Calgary police nab suspect in imam killing". National Post. The National Post Company. Retrieved 2009-05-23.
  12. ^ Slade, Daryl (May 22, 2009). "Fugitive held in slaying of American imam denied bail". The Vancouver Sun. Canwest Publishing Inc. Retrieved 2009-05-23.

See also

Resources

  • R. Khalifa, Quran: Visual Presentation of the Miracle, Islamic Productions International, 1982. ISBN 0-934894-30-2
  • R. Khalifa, [1],Authorized English Translation
  • R. Khalifa, [2],Authorized English Translation
  • R. Khalifa, The Computer Speaks: God's Message to the World, Islamic Productions International, 1981. ISBN 0-934894-38-8
  • R. Khalifa, Quran, Hadith, And Islam, Universal Unity, 2000. ISBN 1-881893-04-9.
  • Y.Y. Haddad and J.I. Smith, Mission to America; Five Islamic Sectarian Communities in North America, University Press of Florida, 1993. ISBN 0-8130-1216-3.
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