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Zaid Shakir
Zaid
Shakir is amongst the most respected and influential Islamic scholars in
the West. As an American Muslim who came of age during the civil rights
struggles, he has brought both sensitivity about race and poverty issues
and scholarly discipline to his faith-based work.
Born in Berkeley, California, he accepted Islam in 1977 while serving in
the United States Air Force. He obtained a BA with honors in International
Relations at American University in Washington D.C. and later earned his
MA in Political Science at Rutgers University. While at Rutgers, he led a
successful campaign for disinvestment from South Africa, and co-founded a
local Islamic center, Masjid al-Huda.
After a year of studying Arabic in Cairo, Egypt, he settled in New Haven,
Connecticut and continued his community activism, co-founding Masjid
al-Islam, the Tri-State Muslim Education Initiative, and the Connecticut
Muslim Coordinating Committee. As Imam of Masjid al-Islam from 1988 to
1994 he spear-headed a community renewal and grassroots anti-drug effort,
and also taught political science and Arabic at Southern Connecticut State
University. He then left for Syria to pursue his studies in the
traditional Islamic sciences.
For seven years in Syria, and briefly in Morocco, he immersed himself in
an intense study of Arabic, Islamic law, Quranic studies, and spirituality
with some of the top Muslim scholars of our age. In 2001, he graduated
from Syria's prestigious Abu Noor University and returned to Connecticut,
serving again as the Imam of Masjid al-Islam, and writing and speaking
frequently on a host of issues. That same year, his translation from
Arabic into English of The Heirs of the Prophets was published by
Starlatch Press.
In 2003, he moved to Hayward, California to serve as a
scholar-in-residence and lecturer at Zaytuna Institute, where he now
teaches courses on Arabic, Islamic law, history, and Islamic spirituality.
In 2005, Zaytuna Institute published Scattered Pictures, an anthology of
diverse essays penned by Zaid Shakir.
He is a frequent speaker at local and national Muslim events and has
emerged as one of the nation’s top Islamic scholars and a voice of
conscience for American Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
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