Hamza Yusuf- Where did he go wrong?

By Yusuf Estes

Yusuf Estes was a Christian priest who entered Islam and has since worked to promote it. He has studied and spread the message of Islam all over the US and in many foreign countries. He is currently a Muslim chaplain for federal Institutions and prisons. He is also a Muslim delegate to the UN Interfaith conference for religious leaders. We are very grateful for his comments regarding our struggle to promote the true Islam.

He like Hamza Yusuf entered into Islam after being introduced to it. He has sat with Hamza Yusuf on many occasions and has visited his institute as well. Below are some emails he sent out after reading emails from other Brothers.

Message: 1

Subject: Hamza Yusuf - Where did he go wrong? (And why   didn't I say something sooner?)
From: Sheikh Yusuf Estes ( sheikyusuf@aol.com )
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 01:19:39 EDT

Bismillah Rahman Raheem
As-Salam Alaykum:
Re: Hamza Yusuf and his new teachings

I ask Allah to Forgive me and protect me from the evil one and from the evil within myself. I ask all of the brothers and sisters to pray for me that I be rightly guided in the future and forgive me for keeping silent so long on a very serious issue. For more than one year I have wrestled with the notion of whether or not to expose one of our scholars in Islam here in America for some very serious deviation in his teachings. In my defence, I thought perhaps he would come to his senses or that possibly myself or someone could have the opportunity to sit with him and correct him in these areas. I was wrong. Recently it has escalated to the extent that he is misquoting the Quran, denying certain verses, presenting wrong hadeeth and in general showing Islam in the wrong light. And to make matters worse, he is doing it on prime time television. Due to his fame and access to the media, this now presents a great problem for all of us.

This letter is in regard to the teachings and understandings of Hamza Yusuf. It is very difficult to write due to the sensitivity of the subject and the respect for all our scholars in Islam today. We are forced to mention certain things about the beliefs of one of our leaders in the USA and his teachings. In the process however, we must do so in the most delicate manner so as not to cause further separation and division in the Muslim community when this is definitely not the time to divide ourselves up. Even so, it is all the more important to say what I have to say about our brother Hamza's understandings and teachings and the way that he is misrepresenting us as Muslims to the media and to the non-Muslims in general. The hard part is to do so with the most consideration for him and for all those who have been following him.

First of all, I am not the first one to offer this information regarding some of the beliefs held or at least promoted by Hamza Yusuf. In fact, I may be guilty of holding back information all too long, for the sake of trying to keep the ummah together on the issue of the our brother Hamza Yusuf in California. If you have not heard of him, you should. He is a good speaker and knows how to hold the attention of a crowd. He has been promoted heavily in the past by well known Muslim organizations like: ISNA; ICNA; Sound Vision and others. He is an American who chose to come to Islam and then went to study in another country to learn more about Arabic and Islam. He has worked hard and produced a large following.

For several years people have been asking me about the rumors regarding Hamza Yusuf and his "Zaytunna Institute." I have tried to avoid saying anything in a way that would be considered backbiting or slanderous. Yet, I have had complaints from some of those who actually were in his community studying under his tutelage. I took the opportunity over a year ago to go out to California and visit him, at the request of those who were commenting on the "strange" things that bothered them. After my visit I was convinced that there was a problem, but I did not feel that the best way to handle the situation was to publicly "blow the whistle" on him. I know that the Muslims today have a tendency to overreact and often they will turn against the one trying to help in the matter, out of their ignorance of Islam's teachings on these types of issues.

It is all too easy to point the finger at someone who has said or done something that appears against the principles of Islam and call them misguided. And worse, these days anyone can be called a "kafar" (disbeliever) just for saying the someone else is not following Islam correctly.

Additionally, a factor came into play that I really did not want to upset. That is that so many people (including our own family) love the audios and videos that Shaikh Hamza has produced. If you realize that this is the kind of thing which helps keep Muslims together, then you must also realize that any criticism could hurt feelings and cause ruffled feathers amongst the ummah. There certain video and audio producers and distributors who are making a lot of money from the sale of Hamza's tapes and they have been notified on no uncertain terms that there are problems with Hamza's Manhaj (methodology) to say the least. They refused to do anything about it or even suggest anything was wrong. Why? Some have accused them of turning a blind eye to truth in favor of the money they make on Hamza's tapes. They couple this with the fact that these same distributors also offer tapes with music on them. I don't think that is fair, however.

Let me now come to the main point. While investigating charges leveled at Shaikh Hamza, I personally stood in his Zaytunna Institute in California and watched as Shaikh Muhammad Yaqubi from Syria was conducting a class in Sufi Dhikr. For hours his students sat there on the floor rocking back and forth saying only: "Allah. Allah. Allah." Over and over again. One of the complaints from a student was that a Shaikh at Zaytunna Institute was forcing them to do hundreds of different Dhikrs everyday. So much so, that they were not able to complete their daily chores, but if they tried to stop a shaytan would start beating them. I advised them to stop immediately and get away from anything dealing with the shaytan. Keep in mind this is not Hamza, but rather someone working in his "institute."

My other experiences with Hamza have shown me that he has a tendency toward exaggerating the meanings of words, especially when it comes to discussing issues of any type. I have heard him time and again give the wrong meanings to words and then go off on tangents trying to prove up some point that just is not there. I recall one instance when I offered him some scented oil and he pulled away and then said he needed to smell it first. After smelling it, he began to tell those gathering around that actually from the Sunnah he was able to understand that smells provided cures for diseases. He then mistranslated the word for fragrance (at-teeb) to be related to the word for doctor and then derived from that the meaning of prescription and then cure. From there he took off on a non-Muslim expert on scents and fragrances used for cures and began explaining that the plants have to be grown organically for them to still have the affect that they once had in the past. 

The relevance of the whole situation is that many people in the West have come to regard Hamza as a scholar of Islam. I don't think that he is trying to promote himself so much as a scholar but it is possible that he may just be trying to promote his understandings of different words. But in view of the recent increased attention and focus on all Muslims and especially our leaders, we are forced to come forward and clarify what is the true Islam and who are the true scholars.. We have to be up front and say what needs to be said, without fear of criticism from others.
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Message: 2

From: Sheikh Yusuf Estes ( sheikyusuf@aol.com )
To: (ADDRESS REMOVED) Someone who had complained about his first email
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 3:09 AM
Subject: May Allah forgive our mistakes, ameen. re: Article on Hamza Yousef

Bismillah Rahman Raheem
Salam Alaykum dear brother in Islam:

First, I begin by saying thank you for taking the time to write to me directly. I am amazed that someone criticized me to another person behind my back, for having criticized someone else, even though it was according to the teachings of Islam.

Also, up front we must say that no one is calling anyone else a nonbeliever (kafr). This all came about as an effort to clarify the correct teachings of Islam to many, including Muslims, who are very confused and concerned about what Islam does actually teach.

Before I begin, there is something that I should mention in all candidness. The organizations that I represent are not behind me in making these statements, at least they are not going to admit it publicly.

Additionally, the critique that was emailed out did not originate with me. Someone else with more knowledge and courage did a very through job on it and then forwarded it out and put in on the Internet. I did not take permission to reveal their identity, nor do I feel that it is necessary to disclose that information. If people want to be angry with me, so be it. At least it will not tear down years of work of a hard working scholar of Islam. By showing the identity what would be the benefit? Then the two scholars [Hamza & the other] may start to be against each other and divide the people up even further. If the whole matter stops at me, then there is actually very little loss. Right?

After all, who am I? I am just a brother who came to Islam some years ago, that goes around trying to bring others to Islam. I am merely a concerned Muslim who wants to do what Allah has ordered and what has been established by our righteous predecessors in Islam. If I am wrong, then I need to be shown proof from Quran and Sunnah regarding the matter in order to correct my mistakes and also to be able to go back to Allah in humility and beg for His Forgiveness.

Now to begin, inshallah. I love you for the sake of Allah. I pray that Allah Guide us both to truth and forgive any mistakes, ameen. I have been criticized for the way the brother treated the subject of Hamza Yusuf's comments on television as being "fitnah." But there is a lot of truth in what he said. He definitely used the right word: "fitnah." -- This word is particularly used in Islam to mean the things which could take someone out of Islam. It is the same word that Allah used when He told us that our wives, children, property and so on would all be "fitnah" [hard trials] for us.

The predictions of our beloved prophet, peace be upon him, are coming true faster than pearls fallen from a broken neckless.

Consider that he told us in the Last Days that the true scholars would be taken away and ignorance would be everywhere and the people without knowledge would be perceived as people with knowledge.

All of this is of course a test for all of us. Consider the recent events and how Muslims around the world are responding:

• Afghanis blew up Buddhist statues -- what was our response?

• Suicide bombers went into gatherings of Jews in Palestine -- what did we say?

• Attacks came against America -- the blame went to Muslims immediately -- what did we do?

• America is now destroying Muslim property, Muslim lives and thousands are homeless and dying as a result -- what are we doing?

• And certain individuals are promoting their distorted views of Islam, while raising themselves to be close to those who are doing these things. What would you like me to say?

I will not apologize for being a Muslim. Nor will I apologize for what Muslims have NOT DONE. Additionally I refuse to back down from the fact that Islam is the only valid answer to the problems facing our world today. We must stand up now before it is too late. Mark my words. This is not a time to play and think that things are going to go back to "normal" for the Muslims in this or any other country. Allah has made it clear for us. Now we must carry this message or suffer the real consequences.

I have fallen under criticism for more than one year because I have not spoken out about what I know on this issue. I was trying to use the time to do exactly what you have said. Many others have expressed concerns over these same matters. I delayed for more than one year saying anything publicly.

I regret only that we did not move earlier on this subject. You see this has been well known to a number of us here in the states as well as abroad. Hamza has totally disregarded our efforts to speak to him on these or any subjects. He immediately begins to give lectures in the middle of discussions and goes off on definitions of words that have no meaning whatsoever to the conversation. (and they are incorrect in meaning as well).

I met with him a year ago in July at his place in California. [he ignored me]

I sat next to him in a very important meeting of imams for America in Chicago last year at ISNA. [he talked over me - and everyone else]

And then again I spoke with him at the ISNA Conference in Chicago. [he had his own agenda -- which included publicly attacking the belief of the Salaf as Saleeh (The companions and rightly guided early generations of Muslims) in the form of saying something twisted about "Wahabees" in his main lecture to thousands.]

I have referred new Muslims to his "Zaytunna Institute" only to find that they were not being taught Islam at all, they were being forced into doing "Sufi Dhikr." One lady complained to me over the phone and then when I went out there she told me that the shaytan were punishing her for not obeying the head "Shaikh" at Zaytunna. (This was Muhammad Yaqubi from Syria - who happens to be one of the muftis of the Shadaleyah Tareeqah). I personally went in and found his followers sitting on the floor reciting the word "Allah" over and over again for hours without stopping. Their eyes were closed and they were swaying back and forth as in a trance. This is not the proper way to introduce people to Islam.

When people begin learning "Islam" from these types it is very difficult for them to simply break away. Some are afraid that the jinn will bother them. Others think that the dead shaikhs have some mystical powers. The list goes on.

We have only produced exactly what he has said on the most important occasion of trying to bring about a better understanding of what Islam is all about. I realize that all of us, especially me make mistakes in our presentations. Sometimes, like last Sunday, I put things in the wrong order and loose valuable time and even the attention of some of the listeners. I ask Allah to forgive me for that. But when it comes to the material that is presented, if it is not in conjunction with what the Quran and the Sunnah teach, what would you suggest?

Would you accept that someone says something to a non-Muslim about the Quran that can open doors to huge attacks against Islam for no reason?

Is it right to sit silent while someone is making our Deen appear to have mistakes in it?

In fact, that is why I have been criticized so heavily in the recent weeks. I had received admonition during the summer just before leaving for Egypt from some of our brothers who study at one of our Islamic institutes in Virginia. They insisted that we begin exposing Hamza's institute before he did his last big nationwide drive for enrollment. But I thought I should wait a little longer. Now look what has happened.

There are others involved in this "Sufi" movement as well. I have not sat with them personally nor have they corresponded with me. However, I can assure you that the teachings coming from their sources have serious errors in them and could even be considered leading out of Islam completely.

All this time, this groups such as "sufees" And "Shiites" and "Nation of Islam" and "Ahmadiyyans" and "Rastafarians" and "Moorish Science Temple" and "Ansar Allah" and "Five Percenters" and "Submitters International" are actually doing the thing that you are complaining against me: They are dividing up the Muslims through their various cults and tareeqahs. We ask everyone to come together and unify according to what Allah has ordered us in the first place, and that is to unify under the Quran and the Sunnah.

Thank you again for coming straight to me with this subject. If I chose to reveal the topic, I will conceal your identity, inshaallah.

Salam Alaykum wa Rahmatulah,
Your brother in Islam,
Yusuf

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