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Hamza Yusuf
Born Mark Hanson
1960 (age 48–49)
Walla Walla, Washington, U.S.
Occupation Islamic scholar
Religious beliefs Sunni Islam
 Hamza
Yusuf Hanson (born Mark Hanson, 1960) is an Islamic scholar who teaches at
the Zaytuna Institute in California, United States. He is a prominent
American convert to Islam, and 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 born in Washington State and raised in Northern California. In
1977, Hanson reverted to Islam during college, just before his 18th
birthday in Santa Barbara, and changed his name from Mark Hanson to Hamza
Yusuf. After his reversion he subsequently traveled around the Muslim
world and studied Islam for ten years. He then 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] His ancestral origins are from Minnesota.
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 Abdallah Bin Bayyah, 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 U.S President
George W. Bush shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001[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 said 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.
Publications
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)
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
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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