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Hamza Yusuf

Not to be confused with the Scottish politician Humza Yousaf.
Hamza Yusuf
Yusuf in 2022
TitleShaykh
Personal life
Born
Mark Hanson

1958 (age 66–67)
Walla Walla, Washington, U.S.
Main interest(s)Tasawwuf, Aqida, Fiqh, Islamic Eschatology
Education
OccupationIslamic scholar, Author
Religious life
ReligionIslam
DenominationSunni
JurisprudenceMaliki[3]
CreedAsh'ari
MovementIslamic neo-traditionalism
Websitesandala.org

Hamza Yusuf (born Mark Hanson; 1958)[4] is an American Islamic scholar, neo-traditionalist,[5][6][2][7] and co-founder of Zaytuna College.[1][8] He is a proponent of classical learning in Islam and has promoted Islamic sciences and classical teaching methodologies throughout the world.[9]

He is an advisor to both the Center for Islamic Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and the Islamic Studies programme at Stanford University.[10][11][12] 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.[13][14] He also serves as vice-president of the United Arab Emirates-based Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, where bin Bayyah also serves as president.[15] The Forum has attracted huge controversy for its close ties to the UAE government, Yusuf's personal support for authoritarian leaders since the Arab Spring, and Yusuf's support for the Abraham Accords between Israel and the UAE.[16][17][18][19]

Yusuf has been listed in the top 50 of The 500 Most Influential Muslims publication.[20] His detractors, however, have widely criticised him for his stance on race, politics, the Syrian revolution, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]

Early life and education

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Yusuf was born as Mark Hanson in Walla Walla, Washington to two academics working at Whitman College, and was raised in northern California.[1] He grew up as a practicing Irish Catholic Christian and attended prep schools on both the East and West coasts. In 1977, after a near-death experience in a car accident and reading the Qur'an, he converted to Islam.[1][30] Yusuf has Irish, Scottish and Greek ancestry.[31]

After being impressed by a young couple from Saudi Arabia who were followers of Abdalqadir as-Sufi[32]—a Scottish convert to Islam and leader of the Darqawa Sufi order and the Murabitun World Movement—Yusuf moved to Norwich, England to study directly under as-Sufi.[33][34] In 1979, Yusuf moved to Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates where he spent the next four years studying Sharia sciences at the Islamic Studies Institute of the United Arab Emirates University,[35] more often on a one-on-one basis with Islamic scholars.[33] Yusuf became fluent in the Arabic language and also learned Qur'anic recitation (tajwid), rhetoric, poetry, law (fiqha) and theology (aqidah) among other classical Islamic disciplines.[33]

In 1984, Yusuf formally disassociated himself from as-Sufi's teachings and moved in a different intellectual direction, having been influenced by a number of Mauritanian scholars residing in the Emirates. He moved to North Africa in 1984 and studied in Algeria and Morocco, as well as Spain and Mauritania.[36] In Mauritania he developed his most lasting and powerful relationship with Islamic scholar Sidi Muhammad Ould Fahfu al-Massumi, known as Murabit al-Hajj.[33]

In 2020, Yusuf completed his Ph.D. at the Graduate Theological Union. His dissertation was titled, "The Normative Islamic Tradition in North and West Africa: A Case Study of Transmission of Authority and Distillation of Knowledge in Ibn Ashir’s Al-Murshid al-Mu’in (The Helpful Guide)." Yusuf previously earned an associate degree in nursing from Imperial Valley College and a bachelor's degree in religious studies from San José State University.[37]

Scholarly career

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Zaytuna College

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He and other colleagues founded the Zaytuna Institute in Berkeley, California, United States, in 1996,[1] dedicated to the revival of traditional study methods and the sciences of Islam.[38] He was joined by Zaid Shakir and Hatem Bazian in establishing what was then Zaytuna Institute. In fall 2010, it opened its doors as Zaytuna College, a four-year Muslim liberal arts college, the first of its kind in the United States.[39] It incorporates Yusuf's vision of combining the classical liberal arts—based in the trivium and quadrivium—with rigorous training in traditional Islamic disciplines. It aims to "educate and prepare morally committed professional, intellectual, and spiritual leaders".[40] Zaytuna College became the first accredited Muslim campus in the United States after it received approval from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.[41][42] Yusuf stated that "We hope, God willing, that there will be more such Muslim colleges and universities to come".[41]

Interfaith

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Yusuf participates in the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies hosted by the UAE. He praised the UAE for its increasing tolerance and its adoption of multi-faith initiatives and plans to build a multi-faith centre in Abu Dhabi.[43]

Views and influence

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Jordan's Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre currently places him 36th on its list of the top 500 most influential Muslims in the world.[44][45] In its 2016 edition, Yusuf is described "as one of the foremost authorities on Islam outside of the Muslim world" by The 500 Most Influential Muslims, edited by John Esposito and Ibrahim Kalin.[44] Additionally, Journalist Graeme Wood has referred to Yusuf "one the two most prominent Muslim scholars in the United States today".[46]

Yusuf has taken a stance against religious justifications for terrorist attacks.[47] He described the 9/11 attacks as "an act of mass murder, pure and simple". Condemning the attacks, he also stated that "Islam was hijacked ... on that plane as an innocent victim."[48]

Yusuf is one of the signatories[49] of A Common Word Between Us and You, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders calling for peace and understanding. Yusuf was also one of the signatories of an open letter to former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi that sought to refute the principles promoted by the terrorist organization.[50][non-primary source needed]

Hamza Yusuf has been involved in controversies in recent years on issues of race, politics, and the Arab revolutions, including as a result of his support for the Abraham Accords and UAE government, and for "positing blame on the Palestinians for their suffering".[21][22][23][24][25][26][18][27]

Comments on the Syrian Revolution

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In 2019, in reference to Arab Spring protests against Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, Yusuf criticized the Syrian Revolution, stating that "If you humiliate a ruler, God will humiliate you." Although some viewed these comments as supportive of the Syrian regime, this has been rejected by Yusuf, who made a statement of response.[23][51][52][53]

2016 Black Lives Matter comments

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In December 2016, Yusuf made comments that were perceived as critical of the tactics employed by the Black Lives Matter movement. He argued that, "The United States is probably, in terms of its laws, one of the least racist societies in the world." He also stated that, “We have between 15,000 and 18,000 homicides per year. Fifty percent are black-on-black crime, literally." He added, "There are twice as many whites that have been shot by police, but nobody ever shows those videos.”[54] Yusuf was criticized for these comments, including on social media.[24][54] Zaid Shakir, co-founder of Zaytuna College, defended Yusuf, writing that "I can say with absolute confidence that there is not a racist bone in Shaykh Hamza’s body. A racist is someone who believes in the superiority of one race over another. Shaykh Hamza, like any serious Muslim, totally rejects that idea."[55]

Publications

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Publications and works by Hamza Yusuf
Title Description Year Type
Agenda to Change our Condition[56] Co-authored with Zaid Shakir 1999 Books and Pamphlets
Imām al-Zarnūjī, Instruction of the Student: The Method of Learning Translated by G.E. Von Grunebaum. 2001 Books with a foreword or introduction
Beyond schooling: building communities where learning really matters Also includes essays by John Taylor Gatto, Dorothy L Sayers and Nabila Hanson. Re-edited in 2010 as Educating Your Child in Modern Times: How to Raise an Intelligent, Sovereign & Ethical Human Being. 2003 Books and Pamphlets
Imām Busiri, The Burda: Poem of the Cloak[57] Includes a CD of performances by The Fez Singers feat. Bennis Abdelfettah. 2003 Translations
Mostafa Al-Badawî, The Prophetic Invocations 2003 Books with a foreword or introduction
Shaykh Al-Amin Mazrui, The Content of Character Foreword by Ali Mazrui, son of the author. 2004 Translations
Imām Mawlūd, Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart[58] Translation and commentary of the poem Maṭharat al-Qulūb composed by a 19th-century Mauritanian scholar. 2004 Translations
Imām Ṭaḥāwī, The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi 2007 Translations
Caesarean Moon Births: Calculations, Moon Sighting, and the Prophetic Way[59][60] Available in 2008 Books and Pamphlets
Climbing Mount Purgatorio Archived 2014-09-05 at the Wayback Machine 2008 Papers
The Prayer of the Oppressed by Imām Muhammad bin Nasir al-Dar'i [61] Includes a CD of performances by The Fez Singers. 2010 Translations
Joseph Lumbard, Submission, faith and beauty: the religion of Islam Co-edited with Zaid Shakir. 2009 Edited Books
Hamza Yusuf, Walk on Water: The Wisdom of Jesus from Traditional Islamic Sources[62] 2010 Article
Reza Shah-Kazemi, Common Ground Between Islam and Buddhism: Spiritual and Ethical Affinities 2010 Books with a foreword or introduction
Asad Tarsin, Being Muslim: A Practical Guide 2015 Books with a foreword or introduction
Shaykh Al-Amin Ali Mazrui, The Content of Character: Ethical Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ[63][64] Translation and Introduction by Hamza Yusuf. Collected by Shaykh Al-Amin Ali Mazrui 2015 Translation and Introduction
Edwin Arnold, Pearls of the Faith[65] 2017 Edited and Prefaced
Scott F. Crider, The Art of Persuasion Aristotle's Rhetoric for Everybody[66] The Zaytuna Curriculum Series 2019 Books with a foreword or introduction
Shaykh Ahmad Badawi Tayyib al-Asma, The Mindful Messenger: Occasional Supplications of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ [67] 2022 Translations

Poems

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  • Spring's Gift
  • Be Like Ahmed, a poem dedicated to the Prophet Mohammed, recited at the ceremony of the Prophet's birthday on the 12th of Rabi' al-Awwal (9th of October 2022).

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e E. Curtis, Edward (2009). The Columbia Sourcebook of Muslims in the United States. Columbia University Press. p. 405. ISBN 978-0231139571.
  2. ^ a b Cesari, Jocelyne (2004). When Islam and Democracy Meet: Muslims in Europe and in the United States. Pelgrave MacMillan. p. 150. ISBN 1403978565.
  3. ^ "Prominent Malikis in the American milieu include the founder of the Zaytuna Institute Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson". Jocelyne Cesari, Encyclopedia of Islam in the United States, p 23.
  4. ^ "إضاءات :. حمزة يوسف". youtube.com. 5 October 2011. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12.
  5. ^ al-Azami, U. (2019-09-26). Neo-traditionalist Sufis and Arab politics: a preliminary mapping of the transnational networks of counter-revolutionary scholars after the Arab revolutions. C.Hurst & Co. Ltd. ISBN 978-1-78738-134-6.
  6. ^ Quisay, Walaa (2019). Neo-traditionalism in the West: navigating modernity, tradition, and politics (PhD thesis). University of Oxford.
  7. ^ Multiple sources :
  8. ^ Grewal, Zareena (2014). Islam Is a Foreign Country: American Muslims and the Global Crisis of Authority. New York University Press. p. 377. ISBN 978-1479800568.
  9. ^ Cesari, Jocelyne (2007). Encyclopedia of Islam in the United States. Greenwood Press. p. 643. ISBN 978-0313336256.
  10. ^ "Carnegie Workshop Biographies". 10 May 2012.
  11. ^ Affairs, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World. "Hamza Yusuf". berkleycenter.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ "Sheikh Hamza Yusuf Hanson". Religions for Peace. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  13. ^ "Introducing global center for renewal and guidance « Bin Bayyah". binbayyah.net. Archived from the original on 2012-11-12.
  14. ^ Haque, Mozammel. "Introducing global center for renewal and guidance". Saudi Gazette. Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  15. ^ Yusuf, Hamza (2016-06-24). "Opinion | The Orlando shooter Googled my name. I wish he had reached out to me". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
  16. ^ Sarant, Louise (2015-07-22). "UAE's Masdar launches first models to predict Emirates' climate evolution". Nature Middle East. doi:10.1038/nmiddleeast.2015.121. ISSN 2042-6046.
  17. ^ Parikh, Crystal (2009-04-13), "Epilogue: The Traitors in Our Midst", An Ethics of Betrayal, Fordham University Press, pp. 160–172, doi:10.5422/fso/9780823230426.003.0006, ISBN 9780823230426, S2CID 183278363, retrieved 2023-03-14
  18. ^ a b "Influential Muslim scholar Hamza Yusuf criticised for backing UAE-Israel deal". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  19. ^ AL-AZAMI, USAAMA (2022). ISLAM AND THE ARAB REVOLUTIONS : the ulama between democracy and autocracy. [S.l.]: C HURST & CO PUB LTD. ISBN 978-1-78738-822-2. OCLC 1304817590.
  20. ^ "Hamza Yusuf Hanson". The Muslim 500. 27 May 2018. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  21. ^ a b "Sheikh Hamza Yusuf Hanson". The Muslim 500. 27 May 2018. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  22. ^ a b Bokth, Noshin (2019-07-19). "The controversy of Hamza Yusuf being appointed Human Rights Adviser to the Trump administration - TMV". Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  23. ^ a b c Hamza Yusuf under fire for comments about the Syrian revolution, 11 September 2019, archived from the original on 2021-12-12, retrieved 2019-09-28
  24. ^ a b c Hilal, Maha. "It's time for Muslim Americans to condemn Hamza Yusuf". aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  25. ^ a b "Hamza Yusuf and the struggle for the soul of western Islam". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  26. ^ a b 5Pillars (2016-12-25). "Hamza Yusuf stokes controversy with comments about Black Lives Matter and political Islam". 5Pillars. Retrieved 2019-09-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ a b "Influential Muslim scholar criticised for calling the UAE a 'tolerant country'". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  28. ^ al-Azami, Dr Usaama (2019-09-15). "Shaykh Hamza Yusuf And The Question of Rebellion In The Islamic Tradition". MuslimMatters.org. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  29. ^ "American Islamic scholar Hamza Yusuf interrupted at Canada conference over Gaza remarks – Middle East Monitor".
  30. ^ O'Sullivan, Jack (October 7, 2001). "If you hate the west, emigrate to a Muslim country". The Guardian. London.
  31. ^ O'Sullivan, Jack (October 7, 2001). "If you hate the west, emigrate to a Muslim country". The Guardian. London. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
  32. ^ Read Secret Practices of the Sufi Freemasons Online by Baron Rudolf von Sebottendorff | Books.
  33. ^ a b c d Grewal, Zareena Islam Is a Foreign Country: American Muslims and the Global Crisis of Authority p 160-171
  34. ^ Ukeles, Raquel The Evolving Muslim Community in America: The Impact of 9/11 p 101
  35. ^ Tariq, Aisha. "From student to honoured guest". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  36. ^ Grewal, Zareena (2014). Islam Is a Foreign Country: American Muslims and the Global Crisis of Authority. New York University Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-1479800568.
  37. ^ "Hamza Yusuf". zaytuna.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  38. ^ Daniel Brumberg, Dina Shehata, Conflict, Identity, and Reform in the Muslim World: Challenges for U.S Engagement, p 367
  39. ^ Romig, Rollo (May 20, 2013). "Where Islam Meets America". New Yorker. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  40. ^ "Zaytuna College". zaytunacollege.org. Archived from the original on 2014-04-10. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  41. ^ a b Song, Jason (March 11, 2015). "Muslim college gains accreditation". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  42. ^ "US gets its first accredited Muslim college". The Express Tribune. March 12, 2015. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  43. ^ "Plans for multi-faith centre in Abu Dhabi presented to the UN". The National. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  44. ^ a b "The 2016 Edition is Here!" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-26. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  45. ^ Esposito, J. (2009). The 500 Most Influential Muslims. Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre. p. 86. ISBN 978-9957-428-37-2.
  46. ^ Wood, Graeme (2016). "The War of the End of Time". The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State. Random House. p. 214. ISBN 9780812988765.
  47. ^ Cohen, Charles L.; Numbers, Ronald L. (2013). Gods in America: Religious Pluralism in the United States. Oxford University Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-0199931927.
  48. ^ O'Sullivan, Jack (2001-10-08). "If you hate the west, emigrate to a Muslim country". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  49. ^ "Signatories - A Common Word Between Us and You". acommonword.com.
  50. ^ College, Zaytuna [@zaytunacollege] (2014-09-24). "A Letter responding to #ISIS leader al-Baghdadi and signed by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf as well as 125 Sunni scholars... http://fb.me/6M9gDKUy1" (Tweet). Retrieved 2020-01-16 – via Twitter.
  51. ^ "Hamza Yusuf issues apology for 'hurting feelings' with Syria comments". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  52. ^ Arab, The New (10 September 2019). "Outrage as Hamza Yusuf releases video mocking Syrian refugees". alaraby. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  53. ^ Yusuf, Hamza (13 September 2019). "Don't Curse the People of Syria". Youtube.
  54. ^ a b Green, Emma (2017-03-11). "Muslim Americans Are United by Trump—and Divided by Race". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  55. ^ "Imam Zaid Shakir". facebook.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  56. ^ "Agenda to Change Our Condition". Zaytuna College Bookstore. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  57. ^ "The Burda of Al-Busiri - The Poem of the Cloak". Zaytuna College Bookstore. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  58. ^ "Purification of the Heart". Zaytuna College Bookstore. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  59. ^ "Caesarean Moon Births | 2nd Edition". Zaytuna College Bookstore. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  60. ^ Yusuf, Hamza (2008-09-01). Caesarean Moon Births: Calculations, Moon Sighting, and the Prophetic Way. Fons Vitae. ISBN 978-0-9702843-2-7.
  61. ^ "The Prayer of the Oppressed". Zaytuna College Bookstore. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  62. ^ Team, Content (2010-01-02). "Walk on Water: The Wisdom of Jesus from Traditional Islamic Sources - Shaykh Hamza Yusuf". SeekersGuidance. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  63. ^ "Hamza Yusuf". zaytuna.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  64. ^ "The Content of Character". Zaytuna College Bookstore. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  65. ^ "Pearls of the Faith". Zaytuna College Bookstore. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  66. ^ "The Art of Persuasion: Aristotle's Rhetoric for Everybody". Zaytuna College Bookstore. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  67. ^ "zaytuna Publisher Publications". Issuu. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
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Photos

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