13 Facts About Zaid Shakir

Zaid Shakir is an American Muslim scholar and co-founder of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California.

Zaid Shakir teaches courses on Arabic, law, history, and Islamic spirituality.

Zaid Shakir 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.

Zaid Shakir assumed leadership of the Muslim Alliance in North America from 2020 until 2022, which is a broad-based alliance of Muslims which strives for justice and promotes what they deem as the "life-giving truth" of Islam.

Zaid Shakir has been listed in the 500 Most Influential Muslims, an annual publication compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman, Jordan, which ranks the most influential Muslims in the world.

Zaid Shakir is one of many signatories to a statement prepared by religious leaders from around the world who presented the UN Secretary General with a declaration in support of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Zaid Shakir was born in 1956 in Berkeley, California as Ricky Daryl Mitchell to a family descended from African, Irish and Native American roots.

Zaid Shakir converted to Islam in 1977 while serving in the United States Air Force and shortly after changed his name to Zaid Salim Shakir.

Zaid Shakir then left for Syria to pursue his studies in the traditional Islamic Sciences.

In 2003, as a scholar-in-residence at Zaytuna Institute located in California, Zaid Shakir began to teach Arabic, Law, and Islamic spirituality.

Zaid Shakir is as approachable a man as I've ever met.

Imam Zaid Shakir spoke the last words Ali heard on his deathbed.

Zaid Shakir was, in Shakir's description, "a praying man" who understood he belonged to Allah.