Sheikh Hamza Yusuf Hanson is one of the most influential Islamic figures in the Western world. He serves as President of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California, the first accredited Muslim liberal arts college in the U.S., and many consider him one of the foremost authorities on Islam in the West.
Birth: 1 January 1958 (Age: 66)
Source of Influence: Preachers & Spiritual Guides, Scholarly
Influence: Scholarly. Leading Islamic voice for English- speaking Muslims
School of Thought: Sunni, Traditional Sunni, Maliki
Status: Featured in current year
Sheikh Hamza Yusuf Hanson is one of the most influential Islamic figures in the Western world. He serves as President of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California, the first accredited Muslim liberal arts college in the U.S., and many consider him one of the foremost authorities on Islam in the West.
Islamic Scholar: In 1977, at the age of eighteen, Hanson converted to Islam. Thereafter, he spent over a decade learning Arabic and studying the Islamic sciences with some of the Muslim world’s most prominent and well-respected scholars. He pursued knowledge in several countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Morocco, and West Africa. In Mauritania, he studied and lived with the renowned polymath Murabit Al-Hajj Ould Fahfu (d. 2018). He continues to study with scholars and has earned several ijazaat in traditional Islamic sciences. In 1988, Hanson returned to the U.S. and began teaching Islamic Studies and leading Friday prayers at various mosques. He has also translated several Arabic works of prose and poetry. In addition to his traditional studies, he later earned a PhD from UC Berkeley/GTU in history with an emphasis on North- and West-African intellectual history; he also holds undergraduate degrees in Religious Studies, English, and Nursing.
Speaker and Educator: A popular public lecturer, Hanson has given many broadly viewed interviews. Through speeches and teaching short intense study programmes, including the Deen Intensive, Rihla, and Reviving the Islamic Spirit, he has helped strengthen traditional Sunni orthodoxy in the West. A whole generation of English-speaking Muslims were inspired by his work to study Arabic and Islamic sciences. Many of his students have become teachers in their own right. His work has contributed to the development of a more confident and faithful Islamic identity in the vertiginous times of the 21st century.
Advisor: Hanson was a member of the WEF’s C-100 under the leadership of Lord Carrey, the Archbishop of Canterbury. In addition, Hanson served as a U.S. Federal Commissioner on Human Rights. He was also a member of the UN, Vatican, and Religions for Peace initiative, Ethics in Action. Currently, under the leadership of his teacher and primary mentor, Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah, Hanson serves as a member of the UAE’s Supreme Fatwa Council and Vice-President for the UAE-based Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies. He also serves as a board member for the Classical Learning Test and the Acton Institute. During various crises, he has been called on to advise officials in several governments: this has opened him up to attacks from certain quarters of the Muslim community.
Controversies: Despite being in the public eye for over three decades, Hanson has managed to stay clear of most controversies and continues to reach a large, diverse audience. Some personal attacks have questioned his advice to a U.S. president, his ties to the UAE government, and the like, yet he remains one of the most beloved scholars in the world. Arguably, he is one of the most intellectually widely read and formidable Western Muslim scholars today.
“The weak are dominated by their ego, the wise dominate their ego, and the intelligent are in a constant struggle against their ego.”
17 age when he converted to Islam
2008 CE is the year he co-founded Zaytuna College
