Islam in America

Sheikh Hamza Yusuf

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf was born in Washington State and raised in Northern California. In 1977, he became Muslim and subsequently traveled to the Muslim world and studied for ten years in the U. A. E., Saudi Arabia, as well as North and West Africa. He received teaching licenses in various Islamic subjects from several well-known scholars in various countries. After a ten years of studies abroad, he returned to the USA and took degrees in Religious Studies and also in Health Care. He has traveled all over the world giving talks on Islam. He also founded Zaytuna Institute and Academy 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. Shaykh Hamza is the first American lecturer to teach in Morocco's prestigious and oldest University, the Kairoiuin in Fes. In addition, he has translated into modern English several classical Arabic traditional texts and poems. Shaykh Hamza currently resides in Northern California with his wife and four children.

He has appeared on many local, national, and international media outlets (such as BBC, CNN, and CBS's 60 Minutes show) to discuss the Islamic perspective on the September 11th Tragedy. Shaykh Hamza was also invited, soon after September 11th, to a meeting with President Bush in the White House to discuss issues related to Muslims in America.