http://www.zaytuna.org/Hamza Yusuf Hanson is an Islamic scholar who teaches at the Zaytuna Institute in California, U.S.. He is one of the signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders, calling for peace and understanding.
Hamza Yusuf was born as Mark Hanson in Walla Wall, Washington and was raised in Northern California in a Greek Orthodox family, the son of a US academic father, veteran of World War II, and activist mother. At the age of 17, in 1977, Hanson converted to Islam in Santa Barbara, California, after having a near-death experience in a car accident which led him to read the Qur'an and eventually become a Muslim. Shortly after converting to Islam, he changed his name to Hamza Yusuf.
Yusuf 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 under such scholars as Sheikh Murabit al Haaj; Sheikh Baya bin Salik, head of the Islamic court in Al-'Ain, United Arab Emirates; Sheikh Muhammad Shaybani, Mufti of Abu Dhabi; Sheikh Hamad al-Wali; and Sheikh Muhammad al-Fatrati of Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. After more than a decade abroad, he returned to the United States and earned degrees in nursing from Imperial Valley College and religious studies at San José State University. In 1996, Yusuf co-founded the Hayward, California-based Zaytuna Institute, dedicated to the revival of Islamic Sciences and the preservation of traditional teaching methods.
He has traveled all over the world lecturing about Islam and contemporary issues. Yusuf has translated several classical texts and poems from Arabic and presently oversees an effort to establish an Islamic seminary in Berkeley, California. He has hosted three seasons of "Rihla (Journeys) With Sheikh Hamza" on the Arabic-language MBC satellite channel.
At the recommendation of Abdullah bin Bayyah, he met with President George W Bush shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks. He also met with the Arab League, and global leaders at the World Economic Forum at Davos. Sheikh Hamza has denounced terrorism and extremism, while promoting cooperation and education.
Yusuf is the first American lecturer to teach in Morocco's prestigious and oldest university, the University of Al-Karaouine in Fes. He is married and has five children.