Sheikh Hamza Yusuf is not endorsing the Lahore Ahmadis, but he is differentiating between them and the Qadianis. Quite a few notable Muslim figures such as Muhammad Pickthall, Maulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi, Muhammad Iqbal, Maulana Mawdudi and Dr Israr Ahmad consider Lahore Ahmadis (not Qadianis) to be Muslims of a sort. As for Sheikh Hamza Yusuf's saying that Maulana Muhammad Ali was a substantive scholar (although explaining that he was an innovator whose books should best be avoided). it is probably based upon things such as the following,