Nouman Ali Khan

Nouman Ali Khan (born 1978) is an American Islamic scholar who founded the Bayyinah Institute for Arabic and Qur’anic Studies after serving as an instructor of Arabic at Nassau Community College. He has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan.

Early and personal life
Khan was born on May 4, 1978, in East Germany to a Pakistani Punjabi family and spent his preschool years in the former East Berlin. His father then worked for the Pakistan Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Khan attended the Pakistan Embassy school from grades 2 to 8. He described living in Saudi Arabia at the time as a “very innocent society for children”. His father moved the family to New York when Khan was in his teens. Khan struggled with his faith as a teenager and at one point identified as an atheist.

He was previously married to Sofia Sharieff.

Controversies
In September 2017, Khan was involved in a sexting scandal and accused of spiritual abuse and "luring women into sexual relationships disguised as secret marriages". Khan responded that the leaked text conversations were "between consenting adults" and that the women were marriage prospects, noting that he had been divorced for two years.

Six eminent Muslim clerics and academics, led by Imam Mohamed Magid, began their own inquiry into the allegations and released a joint statement, asserting that Khan "had engaged in conduct unbecoming of any believer, much less someone who teaches about the Holy Qur’an." Khan had attempted to prevent the release of the statement.

Some women who spoke out against Khan faced significant backlash.