21 Facts About Hamza Yusuf

Hamza Yusuf was born on Mark Hanson; 1958 and is an American Islamic scholar, neo-traditionalist, and co-founder of Zaytuna College.

Hamza Yusuf is a proponent of classical learning in Islam and has promoted Islamic sciences and classical teaching methodologies throughout the world.

Hamza Yusuf 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.

Hamza Yusuf serves as vice-president of the United Arab Emirates-based Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, where bin Bayyah serves as president.

Hamza Yusuf has been listed in the top 50 of The 500 Most Influential Muslims publication.

Hamza Yusuf's detractors have widely criticised him for his stance on race, politics, the Syrian revolution, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Hamza Yusuf was born as Mark Hanson in Walla Walla, Washington to two academics working at Whitman College, and was raised in northern California.

Hamza Yusuf grew up as a practicing Irish Catholic Christian and attended prep schools on both the East and West coasts.

In 1979, Hamza Yusuf moved to Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates where he spent the next four years studying Sharia sciences at the Islamic Studies Institute of the United Arab Emirates University, more often on a one-on-one basis with Islamic scholars.

Hamza Yusuf became fluent in the Arabic language and learned Qur'anic recitation, rhetoric, poetry, law and theology among other classical Islamic disciplines.

In 1984, Hamza 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.

Hamza Yusuf moved to North Africa in 1984 and studied in Algeria and Morocco, as well as Spain and Mauritania.

Hamza Yusuf was joined by Zaid Shakir and Hatem Bazian in establishing what was then Zaytuna Institute.

Hamza Yusuf stated that "We hope, God willing, that there will be more such Muslim colleges and universities to come".

Hamza Yusuf participates in the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies hosted by the UAE.

Hamza Yusuf 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.

Hamza Yusuf has taken a stance against religious justifications for terrorist attacks.

Hamza Yusuf 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.

Hamza Yusuf was one of the signatories of an open letter to former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi that sought to refute the principles promoted by the terrorist organization.

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".

In December 2016, Hamza Yusuf made comments that were perceived as critical of the tactics employed by the Black Lives Matter movement.