Hamza Yusuf

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Hamza Yusuf Hanson

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson (born 1960 as Mark Hanson in Walla Walla, Washington) is a traditionalist Islamic scholar.

He was raised in Northern California in a Greek Orthodox family, the son of a US academic father and activist mother. At the age of 17, in 1977, Hanson became a Muslim in Santa Barbara, California, after having a near-death experience in a car accident which led him to read the Qur'an and eventually to convert to Islam.

Years abroad

Yusuf spent some four years in the United Arab Emirates, where he became a Muezzin (caller to Prayer) and Imam at a local mosque. It was also during this time that he met various West African scholars who kindled an interest in studying traditional Islam as is still being taught in West Africa today. These scholars did much in the way of his personal tuition before his aspirations of studying in West Africa were finally realised.

He 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. 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, Hanson 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 Islamic spirituality and contemporary issues. Hanson has translated several classical texts from Arabic and presently oversees an effort to establish an Islamic seminary in Hayward, California. He has hosted three seasons of "Rihla (Journeys) With Sheikh Hamza" on the Arabic-language MBC satellite channel.

He advised President George W. Bush shortly after September 11th attacks, the Arab League, and global leaders at the World Economic Forum at Davos. Sheikh Hamza has been a prominent Muslim voice denouncing terror and extremism, while promoting cooperation and education.

Shaykh Hamza is the first American lecturer to teach in Morocco's prestigious and oldest University, the Karaouine in Fes. In addition, he has translated several classical Arabic traditional texts and poems into modern English. [1]

He is married and has five children-all boys.

Controversy

Hamza Yusuf has occasionally found himself mired in controversy. He has been accused, by Daniel Pipes among others, of promoting a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. Within the Muslim community, he has sometimes been accused of opportunism, most notably for his meeting with President Bush immediately after 9/11, and for his fatwa against burning the American flag.[2][3]

Related articles

• Traditionalist Islam

External links

• Zaytuna Institute Many audio lectures from around the world, as well as newspaper articles and interviews.
• Alhambra Productions The official source for Shaykh Hamza Yusuf's products including books, DVDs, CDs, audio tapes, and much more.
• MeccaOne Media "Mercy To Humanity" Radio interview with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

• New York Times Feature on Shaykh Hamza and Zaytuna Institute in the New York Times - "U.S. Muslim Clerics Seek a Modern Middle Ground"

• Video "Changing The Tide" video with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

• DeenPort "Interview with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf"
• Convert Plays Leadership Role in Muslim Community, Morning Edition interview by Steve Inskeep, broadcast 12 September 2006

• Short Biography from Doha Debates

• SheikhHamza.com List of books recommended by Sheikh Hamza