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]
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
Zaytuna College
He and other colleagues founded the Zaytuna Institute in Berkeley, California, United States, in 1996,[2] 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
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
Jordan'sRoyal 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]
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
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
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-fouder 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]
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.
Shaykh Ahmad Badawi Tayyib al-Asma, The Mindful Messenger: Occasional Supplications of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ[67]
2022
Translations
Poems
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).
^"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.
^ abcdeE. Curtis, Edward (2009). The Columbia Sourcebook of Muslims in the United States. Columbia University Press. p. 405. ISBN978-0231139571.
^Grewal, Zareena (2014). Islam Is a Foreign Country: American Muslims and the Global Crisis of Authority. New York University Press. p. 377. ISBN978-1479800568.
^Grewal, Zareena (2014). Islam Is a Foreign Country: American Muslims and the Global Crisis of Authority. New York University Press. p. 161. ISBN978-1479800568.
^Cohen, Charles L.; Numbers, Ronald L. (2013). Gods in America: Religious Pluralism in the United States. Oxford University Press. p. 186. ISBN978-0199931927.