Daniel Reza Haghighat Jou (born 1985/1986), commonly known as Daniel Haqiqatjou, is an American Islamic apologist, writer, public speaker, and Islamic proselytizer. He is known for his online debates in favor of conservatism, critiques of modernism, pro-Islam polemics, and commentary on issues surrounding Muslims and modernity as well as the intersection of western philosophical thought and Islamic intellectual history.[1]
Haqiqatjou was born Daniel Reza Haghighat Jou in Houston, Texas, to Iranian parents Reza Haghighat Jou, a systems engineer at Boeing, and Nili Haghighat Jou, a real estate agent.[5][6] Haqiqatjou grew up in Houston, where he currently lives. He studied physics with a minor in philosophy at Harvard University and completed a master's degree in philosophy at Tufts University.[7] Haqiqatjou also studies the traditional Islamic sciences with Islamic scholars part-time.[1]
Career
Haqiqatjou was a writer for the online magazine Muslim Matters from 2014 until 2017.[8] Around 2015–2016, Haqiqatjou created the YouTube Channel Muslim Skeptic and also created a website with the same name, both providing personal research, and opinion outlet, particularly on interfaith critique, modernism, current events, family, and accountability reports on figures he claims are attempting to change Islam from within.[6][9]
In 2023, Haqiqatjou's invitation to several New York colleges sparked controversy among some of its Muslim students due to his controversial and alleged misogynistic opinions, namely his views on gender roles and women's education.[10]
In March 2024, the Anti-Defamation League claimed Haqiqatjou has engaged in anti-Semitism, promoting terrorism, conspiracy theories, and pushing extremist, prejudiced, misogynistic, and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.[11]
Personal life
Born into a nominal and secular Shia family, Haqiqatjou converted to Sunni Islam.[2]
Haqiqatjou's sister, Donna Haghighat Jou, aged 19, went missing in California in 2007 during a party and disappeared with convicted sex offender John Steven Burgess, who told the police that he had given her drugs on which she overdosed, and that he had discarded her body into the ocean, after which it was never found.[12][13][14]
Haqiqatjou has been married since 2008 to Umm Khalid, who was born in Egypt, but moved to the US as a child and also attended Harvard University, where she met Haqiqatjou. Haqiqatjou has four children with his wife and lives in the suburbs of Houston.[15]
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