Hamza Yusuf (born Mark Hanson; 1958)^[5] is an American Islamic neo-traditionalist,^[6][7] Islamic scholar,^[3][8] and co-founder of Zaytuna College.^[2][9] He is a proponent of classical learning in Islam and has promoted Islamic sciences and classical teaching methodologies throughout the world.^[10]

He is an advisor to both the Center for Islamic Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and the Islamic Studies programme at Stanford University.^[11][12][13] In addition, he serves as vice-president for the Global Center for Guidance and Renewal, which was founded and is currently presided over by Abdallah bin Bayyah.^[14][15] He also serves as vice-president of the UAE-based Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, where Abdallah bin Bayyah also serves as president.^[16] The Forum has attracted huge controversy for its close ties to the UAE dictatorship as well as Hamza Yusuf’s personal support for authoritarian leaders since the Arab Spring.^[17][18][19]

The Guardian has referred to Yusuf as “arguably the West’s most influential Islamic scholar”.^[20] The New Yorker magazine also called him “perhaps the most influential Islamic scholar in the Western world”,^[21] and journalist Graeme Wood has called him “one the two most prominent Muslim scholars in the United States today”.^[22] He has been listed in the top 50 of The 500 Most Influential Muslims.^[23]