How Hard is it to get HAMZA YOUSEF???????

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How Hard is it to get HAMZA YOUSEF???????
Doha
12/10/00 at 13:24:29
Salamalaikum

I'm an active member of my MSA and we just held an annual Ramadan Reception.  It's like a fancy dinner in a ballroom and we invite deans of the school, give out awards, etc.  We had a good local speaker address the audience but we're looking towards getting a big name next year.

So... the only place I've heard Hamza Yousef speak is ISNA.  Is it impossible to get him to speak to only 250-300 ppl audience?  Nevertheless in Boston?  He is from CA right??  Anyway, let me know what you guys think!!

salamalaikum
doha
Re: How Hard is it to get HAMZA YOUSEF???????
jannah
12/10/00 at 23:03:47
walaikum salaam wrt,

try it and let us know ;) there must be some contact info through zaytuna or something...


i would suggest that communities start utilizing and building up their local speakers.. there are a wealth of interesting, well educated people in our communities that could speak on different topics. unfortunately we don't utilize this enough and keep trying to go for "big name" speakers of which there are very few. and those that are.. travel almost continuously, wear themsleves and their families out... :(
Re: How Hard is it to get HAMZA YOUSEF???????
Saleema
12/11/00 at 00:40:58
Assalam ualykum,

Hey we had something similar at our college, but we had only about 35-40 people. :( Half non-Muslims and half Muslims. But oh well, MSA had been inactive for years so... I hope next year we can get as many people as you!

We invited a local brother, (brother Rodwon), he is awesome, I think he should speak at ISNA. He is my role model for public speaking. :) :)

That's about the only role model that I have, someone whom I admire very much in our community. He is such a help to the youth and the kids love him, he can reach to them like the other adults can't. I am sure there are other people in my community that are like that too, but they are hidding somewhere. I mean we have great scholars and everything but brother Rodwon is something else...

Anyway, I agree with Jannah, although we want to get some big names too next semester inshalah.

Hey, so Hamza Yosuf is convert? I didn't know that, I am surprised. So when did he convert? When did his interest in Islam begin?

Wassalam
Re: How Hard is it to get HAMZA YOUSEF???????
Al-Basha
12/11/00 at 02:32:07
Salamu Aliakom,
[quote]
Hey, so Hamza Yosuf is convert? I didn't know that, I am surprised. So when did he convert? When did his interest in Islam begin?
[/quote]

Well, i remember when i was living in the Bay Area I attended many of his khutba's, halaqaat, speeches etc, before he became super well known masha Allah. If I recall someone asked this same question, and he kind of dodged the question. I remember he said he embraced Islam when he was 17 or 18. Then he talked about how he went to Mauritania and learned Arabic, and fiqh from the scholars there.

That's basically all I know. I guess it really isn't that important to know how he came to Islam.
Re: How Hard is it to get HAMZA YOUSEF???????
se7en
12/11/00 at 13:20:44
"Hamza Yusuf embraced Islam in 1977.  In 1979 he moved to the UAE and studied in the Islamic Institute of Al-Ain for 4 years, augmenting his studies with lessons by leading scholars of the Islamic world. Some of the scholars he studied with included Shaykh Baya bin Salik, head of the Islamic court in Al-Ain, Shaykh Muhammad Shaybani Mufti of Abu Dhabi, Shaykh Hamad al-Wali and Shaykh Muhammad al Fatrati of Al-Azhar University. In 1984 he entered the Bilal ibn Rabah Madrassa of Tizi, Algeria and studied with Shaykh Sidi Bou Sai'd. After being expelled from Algeria by the government he traveled to Mauritania and studied with the noble scholar Murabit al-Hajj bin Fahfu, where he continues his studies periodically. Presently Hamza Yusuf is the director of Zaytuna Institute which he dedicated to the Revival of Islamic Sciences and the preservation of traditional teaching methods. He presently resides in Santa Clara County with his wife and two children."

He became Muslim at the age of 17!!
You can find his conversion story in "American Jihad: Islam after Malcolm X".

And he has three children (now) :)



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