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Hamza Yusuf

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Sheikh Hamza Yusuf
Hamza Yusuf
Born
Mark Hanson

1960 (age 63–64)
Walla Walla, Washington, United States
Occupation(s)Islamic scholar, teacher
WebsiteZaytuna College

Sheikh Hamza Yusuf Hanson is an Islamic scholar, teacher, and co-founder of Zaytuna College in Berkeley California, United States. He is a prominent American convert to Islam, and is one of the signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders, calling for peace and understanding.

Biography

Hamza Yusuf was born in Washington State and raised in Northern California. In 1977, he became Muslim and subsequently traveled to the Muslim world and studied for ten years in the U. A. E., Saudi Arabia, as well as North and West Africa.[1] Hamza Yusuf is a cofounder of Zaytuna College, located in Berkeley, California. He is an advisor to Stanford University's Program in Islamic Studies and the Center for Islamic Studies at Berkeley's Graduate Theological Union. He also serves as a member of the board of advisors of George Russell's One Nation, a national philanthropic initiative that promotes pluralism and inclusion in America. In addition, he serves as vice-president for the Global Center for Guidance and Renewal, which was founded and is currently presided over by Abdallah Bin Bayyah, one of the top jurists and masters of Islamic sciences in the world.

Hamza Yusuf is one of the leading proponents of classical learning in Islam. He has promoted Islamic sciences and classical teaching methodologies throughout the world. He has also been a strong advocate for social justice, peace, and conviviality among peoples and places. For several years, he has argued that the "them versus us" problem is fundamentally flawed, as he considers himself one of "them" as well as one of "us."

Hamza Yusuf has served as an advisor to many organizations, leaders, and heads of state. He has been an innovator in modern Islamic education, founding the highly imitated Deen Intensives, and with Shaykh Ibrahim Osi-Afa, he started the first Rihla program in England, which has been running for over fifteen years. Dozens of young Muslims who were influenced by his call to reviving traditional Islamic studies in the West went to the Muslim lands in the nineties and early part of the current decade to study, many of who are now teachers in their own right.

With Eissa Bougari, Hamza Yusuf initiated a media challenge to the Arab world that resulted in a highly successful cultural religious program that he hosted for three years and was one of the most watched programs in the Arab world during Ramadan. Cambridge Media Studies stated that this program had a profound influence on subsequent religious programming in the Arab world. He has also been interviewed on BBC several times and was the subject of a BBC documentary segment The Faces of Islam, ushering in the new millennium, as it aired at 11:30pm on Dec. 31st 1999.

Hamza Yusuf has been a passionate and outspoken critic of American foreign policy as well as Islamic extremist responses to those policies. He has drawn criticism from both the extreme right in the West and Muslim extremists in the East. Ed Hussain has written that Hamza Yusuf's teachings were instrumental to his abandoning extremism.

He founded the Zaytuna Institute in 1996, which has established an international reputation for presenting a classical picture of Islam in the West and which is dedicated to the revival of traditional study methods and the sciences of Islam. Hamza Yusuf currently resides in Northern California with his wife and five children.[2]

Hamza Yusuf has also authored several encyclopedia articles and research papers. His published books include The Burda (2003), Purification of the Heart (2004), The Content of Character (2004), The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi (2007), Agenda to Change our Condition (2007), and Walking on Water (2010). Forthcoming are The Prayer of the Oppressed, and The Helpful Guide.

Hamza Yusuf is the first American lecturer to teach in Morocco's prestigious and oldest university, the University of Al-Karaouine in Fes.[citation needed] He is married and has five children, all boys.

Critical Reception

The British newspaper The Guardian called him "one of the West's most influential Muslim scholars." Jordan's Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre placed him on its list of the top 50 most influential Muslims in the world. The magazine Egypt Today described him as a kind of theological rock star, "the Elvis Presley of western Muslims." [3] Recently, Hamza Yusuf was ranked as "the Western world's most influential Islamic scholar" by The 500 Most Influential Muslims, edited by John Esposito and Ibrahim Kalin, (2009).

Publications

Books Authored

  • The Burda (2003)
  • Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart (2004)
  • The Content of Character (2004)
  • The State We Are In: Identity, Terror, and the Law of Jihad (contributing Author), (2006)
  • The Creed of Imam Al-Tahawi The Creed of Imam Al-Tahawi (2007)
  • Agenda to Change our Condition co-authored with Imam Zaid Shakir(2007)
  • Walking on Water (2010)
  • Educating your Child in Modern Times

Books with Foreword or note

  • Instruction of the Student : The Method of Learning
  • The Prophetic Invocations By Mostafa Al-Badawi

Books Edited

Papers

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.zaytunacollege.org/academics/faculty
  2. ^ http://www.zaytunacollege.org/teacherMore.asp?id=9
  3. ^ http://public.elmhurst.edu/home/news/84987267.html
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Websites

Articles, interviews

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