The Purpose of Creation

Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips is a Jamaican-Canadian Muslim scholar, author, and founder of the International Open University, one of the most widely recognized da'wah educators in the English-speaking Muslim world. Born Dennis Bradley Philips in Jamaica on 7 January 1947 / 14 Safar 1366, he was raised in Canada and embraced Islam in 1972 during his university years. He completed his bachelor's degree in Islamic Studies from the Islamic University of Madinah in 1979, his master's in Islamic Theology from King Sa'ud University in Riyadh in 1985, and his PhD in Islamic Theology from the University of Wales, Lampeter in 1994.

Philips taught Arabic and Islamic Studies in Riyadh public schools for ten years before relocating to the United Arab Emirates, where he founded the Islamic Information Center in Dubai and lectured at the American University in Dubai and at the Knowledge Village. In 2007 he founded the Islamic Online University, now known as the International Open University (IOU), based in Doha, Qatar — a tuition-free Islamic distance-learning institution offering accredited bachelor's and master's degrees in Islamic Studies, education, business, and other fields, with hundreds of thousands of registered students worldwide. His many books, published primarily through the International Islamic Publishing House and his own presses, include The Fundamentals of Tawheed, The Evolution of Fiqh, Islamic Studies (a multi-grade school curriculum), and Funeral Rites in Islam.

Philips has been a prominent figure in international da'wah for more than four decades, with extensive lecture tours and a substantial online following. He continues to lead IOU from Qatar and to publish extensively in Islamic education and da'wah.