Hamza Yusuf
Shaykh Hamza Yusuf is an American Islamic scholar and co-founder of Zaytuna College. He is a proponent of classical learning in Islam and has promoted Islamic sciences and classical teaching methodologies throughout the world.
He is an advisor to the Center for Islamic Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. 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. He also serves as vice-president of the UAE-based Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, where Abdullah bin Bayyah also serves as president.
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. Yusuf was also one of the signatories of an open letter to former-ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi that refuted the principles promoted by the terrorist organization. The Guardian has referred to Yusuf as "arguably the West's most influential Islamic scholar," and The New Yorker magazine also called him "perhaps the most influential Islamic scholar in the Western world.". He has been listed in the top 50 of The 500 Most Influential Muslims an annual publication compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman, Jordan, which ranks the most influential Muslims in the world.
Early life and education
Yusuf was born as Mark Hanson in Walla Walla, Washington to two academics working at Whitman College and he was raised in northern California. He grew up as a practicing Greek Orthodox 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 from Christianity to Islam. Yusuf has Irish, Scottish and Greek ancestry.After being impressed by a young couple from Saudi Arabia who were followers of Abdalqadir as-Sufi—a Scottish reverted 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. 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 Institute, more often on a one-on-one basis with Islamic scholars. Yusuf became fluent in the Arabic language and also studied Qur'anic recitation, rhetoric, poetry, law and theology among other classical Islamic disciplines.
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 studying in Algeria and Morocco, as well as Spain and Mauritania. In Mauritania he developed his most lasting and powerful relationship with Islamic scholar Sidi Muhammad Ould Fahfu al-Massumi, known as Murabit al-Hajj.
In 2020, Yusuf completed his PhD from the Graduate Theological Union with dissertation title: "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 ".
Zaytuna College
He and other colleagues founded the Zaytuna Institute in Berkeley, California, United States, in 1996, dedicated to the revival of traditional study methods and the sciences of Islam. He was joined by additional colleagues Zaid Shakir and Hatem Bazian in further establishing what was then Zaytuna Institute. Eventually, in the fall of 2010 it would open its doors as Zaytuna College, a four-year Muslim liberal arts college, the first of its kind in the United States. 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". Zaytuna College became the first accredited Muslim campus in the United States after it received approval from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Yusuf stated that "We hope, God willing, that there will be more such Muslim colleges and universities to come".Controversy
Hamza Yusuf has been involved in controversies in recent years on issues of race, politics, and the Arab revolutions.On Race
In December 2016, Yusuf made comments that may be perceived as critical of the tactics employed by the Black Lives Matter Movement. Yusuf claimed there were more endemic issues facing the black community within, such as the breakdown of family. This rhetoric is a well known dog whistle used to detract from the impact of to white supremacy on black communities He also raised concerns about racist sentiments in the muslim community, where the condemnation of 'white privilege' is fierce, but silent on 'Arab privilege', citing the treatment of Pakistanis and Indians in some parts of the Arab world. This set ablaze a storm of social media hate, but many scholars defended Shaykh Yusuf, such as Imam Zaid Shakir who stated, " 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.".Interfaith
Yusuf participates in the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies hosted by the UAE. He praised the UAE for its increasing tolerance, which has been evident as the UAE adopts multi-faith initiatives and plans to build a multi-faith centre in Abu Dhabi.Comments on the Syrian Revolution
In 2019, a video was released in which Yusuf urges patience and caution in relation to the Syrian crisis. Although some viewed these comments as supportive of the Syrian regime, this has been unequivocally rejected by Yusuf, who apologised for any hurt caused. Many critics of Yusuf do not accept the classical Sunni position that Yusuf applied to the Syrian crisis, which is recognised in all traditional Islamic books on revolutions. Yusuf translated a poem titled the 'Prayer of the Oppressed' in 2010, dedicated to all oppressed peoples all around the world.Views and influence
Yusuf has taken a stance against religious justifications for terrorist attacks. 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."Jordan's Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre currently places him 36th on its list of the top 500 most influential Muslims in the world.
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.