Majority of Nigerian Muslims were on Monday in shock after reports that popular Televangelist, Adnan Oktar, famously known by his pen name, Harun Yahya has been convicted in Turkey for sex crimes and belonging to a criminal organisation.
Several Turkish and international media reported that a Turkish court sentenced Mr Oktar to over 1,000 years in prison for separate crimes, including attempting political and military espionage, torture, abduction, illegal wiretapping, fraud, among others.
He was described as a cult leader, who surrounded himself with scantily clad women he called “kittens”.
The news took many Nigerian Muslims who have benefited immensely from Mr. Oktar’s several books and series of documentaries on Islam and evolution, by surprise, as they begin to ask:
“Is he Harun Yahya, the popular writer and documentator?” — Sherifat Rauf, asked.
Abuu Yaasir Tawfeeq-Olakunle An-Nigeriyy also asked, “Harun Yahya, a renowned author of hundreds of different books, refuting Charles Darwins on the the theory of evolution? Is he a criminal or a cultist? What exactly is his offence? What led him there?”
Another person, Omasoro Oli Ovie posted on Twitter, “Imam Harun Yahya sent to 1,000 years in prison. He told the judge he’s sleeping with 1,000 girlfriends and they found 69,000 contraceptives in his home😁. This guy books were popular in MSSN those days . He is an infamous science denier too.
https://twitter.com/OvieSheikh/status/1348634983108370432?s=19
Several others also reacted to the news, as compiled by Muslim News
“Is this another Harun Yahya or the famous researcher with popular documentary series? Somebody answer me pleeeease🥵 I spent a lot of money, buying VCD & CD of his documentaries in those days,” – Abu Abdul Warith.
In his reaction, Yusuf Taiwo said, “Those days in secondary schools and higher institutions, we bought his books! Expensive stuff! A good chunk of my monthly allowance went to buying those books then. And I always loved to buy the original, imported and expensive versions, not the pirated, Nigerian versions.
“Definitely. We learnt a lot from him. Valuable knowledge too. On our end, we gained, because we were rewarded by our sincere quest for knowledge and spiritual development. As for him, he lost, because all he did was a ruse, a mask, a smokescreen for a far more nefarious reality, which has now been exposed for the world to see,” he added.
His real name is Adnan Oktar. He uses the name Harun Yahya as a pen name. He was never an Imam. He has been refuted by prominent scholars in Islam because some of his claims were against Islam. Islam has no issue with science except the evolution theory.
— PMB – THE BEST EVER (@BNkenny) January 11, 2021
Some Muslim were also shocked by the news. Adil Uddin from Oman said,” During my high school days this guy was very popular throughout the Muslim world and Muslim diaspora in Western nations. He was of the opinion that Darwinism leads to Nazism.
“He was highest Freemason Grandmaster in Turkey but disguised himself as a religious preacher under the pen name “Haroon Yahya,” which was also not his real name,” Ali Ahmed Khan from Pakistan joined the discussion on Facebook.
needless to say, I am intrigued by HOW he justified this, since his whole image was ''see what this Ayat really means it has been proven''. How did he reach the conclusion that Allah was cool with him doing… whatever this is?
— g h a u r a (@ghauraghaura) January 11, 2021
Turkish televangelist & cult leader Harun Yahya jailed 1,000 years for sex crimes https://t.co/Dh7SiqqiiH
Real name Adnan Oktar, he rejects the Darwinian theory of evolution & is a popular writer commonly cited by Muslim creationists across the world, including in Malaysia. pic.twitter.com/UrRaDMItGc
— Zurairi A.R. (@zurairi) January 12, 2021
By Allah, this is so heart wrenching. I used to read his books back in my university days.
Honestly, I don’t know what to believe. Are those pictures with nude ladies photoshopped or what?
Is it a case of giving a dog a bad name in order to nail it, or what?
Allah, the one who sees and knows all things, both hidden and manifest, will surely expose the truth either in this world or on the day of Qiyaamah.
Personally, I refuse to join the public in pouring vituperation on the man because, I don’t know what to believe. Honestly, I don’t.
Allahu a’alaam