Hamza Yusuf

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson (born 1960 as Mark Hanson in Walla Walla, Washington) is considered one of the most well-versed and vibrant Islamic scholars in the West. He was raised in Northern California in a Greek Orthodox family. At the age of 17, in 1977, Hanson became a Muslim in Santa Barbara, California. He 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 for many years under numerous scholars. In 1996, Hanson cofounded the Hayward, California-based Zaytuna Institute, dedicated to the revival of Islamic Sciences and the preservation of traditional teaching methods.

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Hamza Yusuf Hanson

He received teaching licenses in various Islamic subjects from several well-known scholars in various countries. Trained for more than a decade by some of the best Islamic scholars in the UAE, Arabia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauretania, Yusuf returned to the United States and took degrees in nursing from Imperial Valley College and religious studies at San Jose State University.

He has traveled all over the world lecturing about Islamic spirituality and contemporary issues. Hanson has translated several classical texts from Arabic and presently oversees an effort to establish an Islamic seminary in Hayward, California. He currently hosts "Journeys with Hamza Yusuf", a television series in the Middle East.

Having advised President George W. Bush, the Arab League, and global leaders at the World Economic Forum at Davos, he has become a bridge between Islam and The West. Yusuf has been vocal against the hijackers of Septemer 11 and defending Islam against such acts.

Yusuf has translated into modern English several classical Arabic traditional texts and poems. He is married and has five sons.

External links

Books

Hamza Yusuf, Purification of the Heart ISBN 1929694156..