Shaykh Hamza was raised in Northern California after being born in Washington State. He converted to Islam in 1977, after which he spent ten years studying in North and West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. From several renowned scholars in several nations, he acquired teaching licenses in a range of Islamic disciplines. He returned to the United States after ten years of study overseas and completed degrees in Religious Studies and Health Care.
He has lectured on Islam all around the world. He also established the Zaytuna Institute, which has gained recognition for portraying a traditional image of Islam in the West and is committed to reviving conventional study techniques and Islamic sciences. Shaykh Hamza is the first instructor from the United States to have a position at the prominent and oldest university in Morocco, the Qarawiyin in Fes. He has also translated a number of traditional Arabic writings and poems into contemporary English. With his wife and five kids, Shaykh Hamza presently resides in Northern California.
Zaytuna College, which is based in Berkeley, California, was founded by Hamza Yusuf. He serves as a consultant for the Center for Islamic Studies at Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union as well as the Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford University. He also holds the position of vice president for the Global Center for Guidance and Renewal, which Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, one of the most eminent jurists and experts in Islamic studies in the world, founded and presently leads.
The 500 Most Prominent Muslims has named Hamza Yusuf “the Western world’s most influential Islamic scholar.” Additionally, research papers and encyclopedia articles have been written by Hamza Yusuf. His writings include Walk on Water (2010), The Prayer of the Oppressed, The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi, The Purification of the Heart, The Content of Character, The Burda (2003), and The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi (2010).