Hamza Yusuf Hanson is an Islamic scholar who teaches at the Zaytuna InstituteCalifornia, U.S.. He 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. in
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Basic Information
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 Islam for ten years. He ten returned to the United States and received degrees in Religious Studies and Health Care. He has travelled the world as a renowned Islamic lecturer. He founded the Zaytuna Institute, 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. Sheikh Hamza currently resides in Northern California with his wife and five children. [1]
[edit] Time Abroad
Yusuf spent four years studying in the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere in the Middle East. Later he traveled to West Africa and studied in Mauritania, Medina, Algeria, and Morocco under such scholars as Sheikh Murabit al Haaj; Sheikh Baya bin Salik, head of the Islamic court in Al-'Ain, United Arab Emirates; Sheikh Muhammad Shaybani, Mufti of Abu Dhabi; Sheikh Hamad al-Wali; and Sheikh Muhammad al-Fatrati of Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt[citation needed]. After more than a decade abroad, he returned to the United States and earned degrees in nursing from Imperial Valley College and religious studies at San José State University. In 1996, Yusuf co-founded the Hayward, California-based Zaytuna Institute, dedicated to the revival of Islamic Sciences and the preservation of traditional teaching methods.
He has traveled all over the world lecturing about Islam and contemporary issues. Yusuf has translated several classical texts and poems from Arabic[2] and presently oversees an effort to establish an Islamic seminary in Berkeley, California. He has hosted three seasons of "Rihla (Journeys) With Sheikh Hamza" on the Arabic-language MBC satellite channel.
At the recommendation of Abdullah bin Bayyah, he met with President George W Bush shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks[citation needed]. He also met with the Arab League, and global leaders at the World Economic Forum at Davos. Sheikh Hamza has denounced terrorism and extremism, while promoting cooperation and education.[citation needed]
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.
Yusuf, famously quipped, in a 2001 interview to The Guardian, "I would rather live as a Muslim in the west than in most of the Muslim countries, because I think the way Muslims are allowed to live in the west is closer to the Muslim way".[3]
[edit] Publications
[edit] Books authored
- The State We Are In: Identity, Terror, and the Law of Jihad (contributing Author), 2006.
- Educating your Child in Modern Times
- Agenda To Change Our Condition (Co-authored with Imam Zaid Shakir)
[edit] Books translated with additions
- Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart
- Content of Character
- The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi
[edit] Books which include his foreword or note
- Instruction of the Student : The Method of Learning
- The Prophetic Invocations By Mostafa Al-Badawi
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