Abu Lahya’s IMA course looks extremely predatory from the way it is being marketed.
I’m not here to debate whether the course has useful information or not. The real issue is the way the dream is being sold.
From what I’ve seen, the marketing targets a very real insecurity among Western Muslim men: the fear of not being successful enough, not being able to provide, and not becoming the man they feel Islam and the community expect them to be.
Then the pitch comes in with religious language:
“You’re a Muslim, you need to build wealth.”
“You need to become a provider.”
“You need to step up.”
When that message is tied to a $7,000 course, it stops feeling like motivation and starts feeling like pressure.
What is being sold is not just education. It is a dream. The dream of finally being enough, escaping financial stress, and proving yourself as a Muslim man.
If the numbers being discussed are true, and he is closing around 90 students per month while only around 1% actually make money, then this is not empowerment. It means almost everyone else is left with nothing but a lighter bank account and a broken dream.
At that point, we need to ask: are Muslim men being helped, or are vulnerable brothers being sold hope while someone else fills his pockets with the community’s money?
Using Islam, guilt, masculinity, and financial insecurity to push a high-ticket offer is not harmless.
It feels like emotional exploitation.