Hamza Yusuf is the current president of Zaytuna College, located in Berkeley, California. He is an advisor to Stanford University’s Program in Islamic Studies and the Center for Islamic Studies at Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union. He also serves as vice-president for the Global Center for Guidance and Renewal, which was founded and is currently presided over by Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, one of the top jurists and masters of Islamic sciences in the world. For almost a decade, Hamza Yusuf was consecutively ranked as “The Western word’s most influential Islamic scholar” by The 500 Most Influential Muslims, edited by John Esposito and Ibrahim Kalin, (2009).

Yusuf is one of the leading proponents of classical learning in Islam. He has promoted Islamic sciences and classical teaching methodologies throughout the world. He has also been a strong advocate for social justice, peace, and conviviality among peoples and places. For several years, he has argued that the “them versus us” problem is fundamentally flawed, as he considers himself one of “them” as well as one of “us.”

He has served as an advisor to many organizations, leaders, and heads of state. Yusuf has been an innovator in modern Islamic education, founding the highly imitated Deen Intensives, and with Shaykh Ibrahim Osi-Afa, he started the first Rihla program in England, which has been running for over fifteen years. Dozens of young Muslims who were influenced by his call to reviving traditional Islamic studies in the West went to the Muslim lands in the nineties and early part of the current decade to study, many of who are now teachers in their own right. Hamza Yusuf’s contribution to the development of Islam in England has been described as “immense”, “considerable”, and “enormous”, by the academic Haifaa Jawad in her recent book, Towards Building a British Islam.

With Eissa Bougari, Hamza Yusuf initiated a media challenge to the Arab world that resulted in a highly successful cultural religious program that he hosted for three years and was one of the most watched programs in the Arab world during Ramadan. Cambridge Media Studies stated that this program had a profound influence on subsequent religious programming in the Arab world. He has also been interviewed on BBC several times and was the subject of a BBC documentary segment The Faces of Islam, ushering in the new millennium, as it aired at 11:30pm on December 31st 1999.

Hamza Yusuf has been a passionate and outspoken critic of American foreign policy as well as Islamic extremist responses to those policies. He has drawn criticism from both the extreme right in the West and Muslim extremists in the East. Ed Hussain has written that Hamza Yusuf’s teachings were instrumental to his abandoning extremism.

Hamza Yusuf has also authored several encyclopedia articles and research papers. His published books include The Burda (2003), Purification of the Heart (2004), The Content of Character (2004), The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi (2007), Agenda to Change our Condition (2007), Walk on Water (2010), and The Prayer of the Oppressed (2010).

sandala.org/hamza-yusuf/

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson

Qasa'id & more

qasidaat

أسماء الله الحسنى - للحبيب عمر بن حفيظ

"Qad Kafani `Ilmu Rabbi" (My Lord's Knowledge Suffices Me) is a powerful statement of reliance and trust on Allah, authored by Imam Abdullah b. Alawi al-Haddad (1634 CE [1044 Hijri] - 1720 CE [1132 Hijri]), the great Islamic scholar and spiritual guide from Hadhramawt, Yemen. Imam al-Haddad was a distinguished poet, and this particular qasida (devotional song) is one of his most-recited poems. A brief bio of the Imam may be found here:http://www.alhaddad.org/blog/?p=382. Information taken by Nader Khan.

The Qasida was sung on the bus route to Dar al Mustafa by Belal Nikro (AUS) and brothers who attended the 2013 annual dowra. Picture taken by Belal Nikro.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION: 
(the lyrics in Arabic, along with the translation, may be downloaded from:http://www.halaqa.org/Media/Docs/Qad%20kafani%20english.pdf)

My Lord’s knowledge has sufficed me 
 from asking or choosing 
For my du’a and my agonising supplication 
 is a witness to my poverty. 
For this secret (reason) I make supplication  
in times of ease and times of difficulty 
I am a slave whose pride  
is in his poverty and obligation 
---------- 
O my Lord and my King 
 You know my state 
And what has settled in my heart  
of agonies and preoccupations 
Save me with a gentleness  
from You, O Lord of Lords 
Oh save me, Most Generous  
before I run out of patience (with myself) 
---------- 
O One who is swift in sending aid 
 I ask for aid that will arrive to me swiftly 
It will defeat all difficulty  
and it will bring all that I hope for 
O Near One Who answers  
and All-Knowing and All-Hearing 
I have attained realisation through my incapacity,  
my submission and my brokenness 
---------- 
I am still standing by the door, so please my Lord 
 have mercy on my standing 
And in the valley of generosity, I am in i’tikaf (solitary retreat)   
So, Allah, make my retreat here permanent 
And I’m abiding by good opinion (of You) 
 For it is my friend and ally 
And it is the one that sits by me and keeps me company  
All day and night 
---------- 
There is a need in my soul, O Allah  
so please fulfill it, O Best of Fulfillers 
And comfort my secret and my heart 
 from its burning and its shrapnel 
In pleasure and in happiness  and 
as long as You are pleased with me 
For joy and expansion is my state  
and my motto and my cover 
----------

Qad Kafani (My Lord is Sufficient) - Belal Nikro (Dowra 2013)

President Hamza Yusuf shares a new poem about the beautiful character and example of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, encouraging us all to “Be Like Ahmad.”

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Be Like Ahmad - Poem by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

Salaamun - Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson

Qamlaka - Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson

Recorded in Cambridge on Friday the 7th of March, 2014

Consider expressing your enjoyment of this qasida by donating to the Cambridge Mosque Project: http://www.justgiving.com/muslimacademic/donate

Na't al-Baratina

Celtic Salawat

This rendition is by Shaykh Diya Abd al-Qadir of Amman, recorded as a Sadaqah Jariya in memory of Shaykh Faraz Rabbani's grandmother.

Sayyid Muhammad ibn 'Alawi al-Maliki reports that Sayyid Ahmad ibn Hassan al-Attas said, "Wherever this poem is recited, the Prophet ﷺ is present there." 

Qasida Mudariyyah - Imam Busiri

Spring’s Gift
Hamza Yusuf

I envy the sand that met his feet
I’m jealous of honey he tasted sweet
Of birds that hovered above his head
Of spiders who spun their sacred web
To save him from his enemies
I envy clouds formed from the seas
That gave him cover from the heat
Of a sun whose light could not compete
With his, whose face did shine so bright
That all was clear in blinding night
I envy sightless trees that gazed
Upon his form completely dazed
Not knowing if the sun had risen
But felt themselves in unison
With those who prayed, and fasted too
Simply because he told them to
With truth and kindness, charity
From God who gave such clarity
His mercy comes in one He sent
To mold our hearts more heaven bent
I envy all there at his side
Who watched the turning of the tide
As truth prevailed and falsehood fled
And hope restored life to the dead
Men and Women through him found grace
To seek together God’s noble face
I envy the cup that gave him drink
His thoughts that helped us all to think
To be one thought that passed his mind
Inspiring him to act so kind
For me this world is not one jot
If I could simply be a thought
From him to God throughout the ages
As revelation came in stages
I pity all who think it odd
To hear him say there is one God
Or he was sent by God to men
To hone their spirits’ acumen
It’s pride that blinds us from the sight
That helps good men to see his light
He taught us all to be God’s slaves
And he will be the one who saves
Humanity from sinful pride
Muhammad has God on his side
So on this day be blessed and sing
For he was born to grace our Spring
With lilies, flowers, life’s rebirth
In a dome of green like his on earth

Poem - Spring's Gift - Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

Post fajr Nasheed Ramadan 2017 day 1 May 27 2017- New Masjid in Fremont Masjid Zakariyyah.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJNBg60DQrs

Nahnu Fiy Rawdati Rasooli Huduroon- Uthman Ames

From the Diwan of Shaykh Muhammad ibn al Habib 

نحن في روضة الرسول حضور * طالبين الرضى وحسن قبول
جئنا يا خير مـن إليه الملاذ * بانكسار وذلة وذهول
فاسأل الله فينا كل عناية * لننال المنى في وقت الحلول
لك قدر عظيم ليس يضاهى * ورساله تفوق كل رسول
أنت باب الإله في كل خير * من أتى فاز بالرضى والوصول
كل سر في الأنبيا قد أتاهم * من علاكم مؤيدا بنقول
قد تشفعت في أموري إلاهي * بانبي المشفع المقبول
كل من حط رحله بكريم * نال أقصى المنى و كل السول
قد شكرنا الإله في كل وقت * حيث من بزورة للرسول
وكذاك لكل من في بقيع * من صحاب كذاك نسل البتول
وكذاك لكل زوج و بنت * وابن منجي الانام يوم الحلول
وكذاك لكل من في أحد * من شهيد كذاك عم الرسول
قد طلبنا بهم تمام السلامه * في مسير لأرضنا والدخول
وطلبنا النجاة في يوم حشر * وسلاما من كل فظ جهول
رب صل على النبي وال * وصحاب وتابع بشمول

Nahnu fi Rawda - Sidi Usama Canon

*** For all our Muslim brothers and sisters everywhere, especially those in the blessed lands of Syria and Palestine. ***

A beautiful and powerful prayer composed in verse by Sidi Muhammad bin Nasir al-Dar`i (d. 1085H/1674CE), founder of the Nasiriyya Zawiya in the Moroccan village of Tamgrout. 

This exquisite rendition by the traditional singers of Fez was recorded and produced by Sandala (formerly Alhambra) Productions under the guidance of Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, may Allah preserve him. 

More information here (including a translation): http://sandala.org/blog/2011/04/27/the-prayer-of-the-oppressed-al-du’a-al-nasiri/
To purchase: http://sandala.org/store/books/the-prayer-of-the-oppressed/

Dua Nasiri - The Prayer of the Oppressed - Fez Singers - الدعاء الناصري - منشدي مدينة الفاس

Download link:  http://haqqbahu.webs.com/wirdallatif.htm 
As with all the litanies of Imam al-Haddad, al-Wird al-Latif is made up of nothing but the 'prayers' of the Prophet-peace be upon him and the formulae that he instructed his community to recite mornings and evenings. 

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf explains Wird Latif

Dūa Khatm Al Qurān

LOVE ALWAYS WORKS (LAW)
Lead Vocals: Nader Khan
Written by: WUC, Nader Khan
Percussion: Nader Khan, The Blacksmiths (Dean Morrison, Dr. Faisal Haq Shaheen, Abubaker Al-Kaff)
Composition & Arrangement: Nader Khan
Backing Vocals: Nader Khan, The Blacksmiths, Mikhail Abdul Latif 
Mixing & Mastering: Electric-Bear Productions 
Executive Producer: Dr. Bano Murtuja

Love Always Works

LOVE ALWAYS WORKS (full song) -- Nader Khan And The Blacksmiths

مولد الضياء اللامع

Tala' al Badru 'Alayna - Shaykh Abdul Rahman Hammami

Qasida led by Sidi Usama Canon
Chicago Mawlid on March 23rd, 2013

Allah Ya Mawlana led by Usama Canon

A resource for traditional qasidas (poems, odes), naats and nasheeds taken from around the world, most of which are written by various spiritual masters of the sacred path of sufism (tassawuf - the Islamic science of spirituality).

'The aim of qasidas or spiritual odes is to worship the creator, by turning the hearts to the Divine, who says 'And when My servants ask you of Me, truly I am close' (Quran 2:186).

The purpose of qasidas in the Sufi path is to convey the experiential gnosis of forebears to subsequent generations, for what comes from the heart goes into the heart, and most of the poets who wrote them where Shaykhs of the spiritual paths (tariqa) who addressed their words to those with experiences like themselves or to aspirants.

The person who can benefit from such qasidas is someone whose way lies with the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and whose heart lies with Allah'

Source: Echoes from Eternity (Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller)

The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

“Truly, in some poetry, there is wisdom.” [Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud]

Be Like Ahmad - Poem by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

Mawlid Man