hamza yusuf cropped
President of Zaytuna College

Hamza Yusuf

Email: [email protected]

Biography

Hamza Yusuf serves as president of Zaytuna College. In addition to teaching several subjects in Zaytuna’s curriculum, he has authored encyclopedia entries, academic papers, and articles on Muslim bioethics, legal theory, abortion, and many other topics. His books and translations include The Content of Character: Ethical Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad; The Prayer of the Oppressed; The Creed of Imam al-TahawiPurification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms, and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart; and Caesarean Moon Births: Calculations, Moon Sighting, and the Prophetic Way. He is a member of the Supreme Fatwa Council serving under his mentor, Shaykh Abdallah b. Bayyah, and serves as vice president for the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, an international initiative which seeks to address the root causes that can lead to radicalism and militancy. He holds licentia docendi in several Islamic subjects, a BA in Religious Studies, and a PhD in North and West African intellectual history.


Education

Graduate Theological Union, CA

PhD, Islamic Studies, 2020

San Jose State University, CA

B.A., Religious Studies,
magna cum laude, 1997

Imperial Valley College, CA

A.A., English &
A.S., Nursing, 1990

Additional Education and Books

Zaytuna University, Tunisia. \LHonorary Doctorate, conferred by Shaykh Shadhili Naifer, Dean of Zaytuna University, Tunisia, 1991. 

Granada, Spain. Madrasah Studies, 1987.\L

Medina, Saudi Arabia. Madrasah Studies, 1986.\L

Twaymarat, Mauritania. Madrasah Studies, 1984–1985.\L

Madrasah Bilal ibn Abi Rabah, Tizi, Algeria. Madrasah Studies, 1984.\L

Islamic Institute of al-Ain, Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Madrasah Studies, 1981–1984.

Norwich, England. Islamic Studies, 1977–1980.\L

Studied grammar, prosody, literature, logic, philosophy, and rhetoric
with his father, David J. Hanson.

Studied philosophy and educational theory in seminar format
with Mortimer Adler.

Private Studies
with Shaykh Abdallah Ould Ahmadna, Shaykh Murabit Muhammad Amin, Shaykh Iqbal Ahmad al-Adhami, Shaykh Ahmad Badawi Tayyid al-Asma, Shaykh Muhammad Fatatri al-Azhari, Shaykh Murabit al-Hajj, Shaykh Abd al-Rahman Ould Murabit al-Hajj, Shaykh Murabit Muhammad Hassan Ould al- Hassan, Shaykh Abdal Hayy al-Imrawi, Shaykh Abdallah al-Kadi, Shaykh Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki, Shaykh Hamid Omar al-Wali, Shaykh Muhammad al- Yaqoubi, Shaykh Abdallah Bin Bayyah, Shaykh Murabit Ahmad Fal, Shaykh Ahmad Jabir Jibran, Shaykh Anas Abu Murad, Shaykh Abdal Aziz Qassar, Sidi Abu Said, Shaykh Bayyah Ould Salik, Mufti Muhammad Ahmad Shaybani, Shaykh Abdallah Ould Siddiq, Shaykh Muhammad Mahmoud Ould Zaydan, Shaykh Salih al-Ghursi 1980–present.

San Jose State University, CA. BA, Religious Studies, magna cum laude, 1997

Imperial Valley College, CA. AA, English and AS, Nursing, 1990

Received Teaching Licenses (ijāzah al-tadrīs) in the following subjects:
Qur’anic Sciences; Arabic Grammar, Morphology, Elocution (tajwīd), Rhetoric (balāghah), Dialectics (bahth wa munādharah); Legal Theory (usūl al-fiqh); Mālikī Jurisprudence (fiqh); Hadith Sciences, Theology ('aqīdah), Timekeeping (Sacred Astronomy), Logic, Ethics, Traditional Psychology (tasawwuf), 1987–2013

The Burda of al-Busiri: The Poem of the Cloak
2002 – view publication

Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms, and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart
2004 – view publication

The Content of Character: Ethical Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad
2005 – view publication

Caesarean Moon Births: Calculations, Moon Sighting, and the Prophetic Way
2007 – view publication

The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi
2007 – view publication

Agenda to Change our Condition
2008 

The Prayer of the Oppressed
2010 – view publication

Walk on Water: The Wisdom of Jesus from Traditional Arabic Sources
2010 

Pearls of the Faith
2017 – view publication