A Brief Refutation of Hamza Yusuf Hanson
Written by: Faisal bin Abdul Qaadir bin Hassan Abu Sulaymaan
:اﻟﺤﻤﺪ ﷲ رب اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﯿﻦ واﻟﺼﻼة واﻟﺴﻼم ﻋﻠﻰ ﻧﺒﯿﻨﺎ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ وﻋﻠﻰ آﻟﻪ وﺻﺤﺒﻪ أﺟﻤﻌﯿﻦ أﻣﺎ ﺑﻌﺪ
Hamza Yusuf Hanson is a well-known Islamic caller who lives in Berkeley, California. He is the
president and co-founder of Zaytuna college and a popular speaker at many international
conferences. Hamza ascribes to Sufism and calls to a progressive version of Islam. Despite his fame,
he has long been a figure of controversy due to his many outlandish statements and erroneous
opinions. Statements and opinions which he attributes to Islam, but in reality Islam is free from. In
this brief work, I aim to prove why a Muslim should avoid taking any knowledge from Hamza Yusuf
and that he is in reality a caller to misguidance.
Hamza Yusuf and His Teachers
Hamza has studied under a number of teachers all across the Muslim world. From his foremost
teachers are Murabit al-Hajj, Abdullah bin Bayyah, and Habib Ali al-Jifri. Habib Ali al-Jifri is a
well-known Sufi of Yemeni descent. Hamza strongly praises al-Jifri and has a close relationship to
him as he describes here1. al-Jifri has been severely refuted by the Scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah due to
his deep innovation and even Shirk!
Shaikh Salih al-Fawzaan (may Allah preserve him) was asked:
Question: O Possessor of Virtue, this question comes from the women. What is your opinion
about Habib al-Jifri and is he from Ahlul-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah? We heard in this land some people
who say there is no harm in listening to him. Please clarify his Aqeedah because a great trial has
come due to his man.
Answer: "The tapes and books of this man have been judged. The man is an innovator, a
Khuraafi ( superstitious) person. He calls to the worshiping of the graves and shrines. He is
a superstitious man. His tapes are present with his voice and speech. He mocks Ahlul
Sunnah and the People of Tawheed. Yes”.2
1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft0ACuF8qZ0
2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3m1ExYfxrQ
1
Many Scholars besides Shaikh al-Fawzaan have refuted him and some have written entire books
exposing his Shirk3.
This is Hamza Yusuf's teacher and mentor. He is influenced by a man who progrpates Shirk and
spews statements of disblief, such that the allies of Allah can control the universe and are capable of
providing provision4! A Muslim should be cautious of where he/she takes their knowledge from as
Muhammad bin Sireen (may Allah have mercy upon him), the illustrious Tabi’ee, said:
َ ﯾﻦ َﻓﺎ ْﻧ ُﻈ ُﺮوا َﻋ ﱠﻤ ْﻦ َﺗْﺄ ُﺧُﺬ
ون ِدﯾَﻨ ُﻜ ْﻢ ٌ ِإ ﱠن َﻫَﺬا ْاﻟ ِﻌْﻠ َﻢ ِد
This Knowledge is Religion, so look from whom you take your Religion5
These are the types of people Hamza takes Religious Knowledge from and guidance.
Hamza Yusuf and the Books of Innovation
Hamza Yusuf teaches, promotes, and translates a number of texts that the People of Knowledge
have warned from. He translated the poem al-Burdah (the Poem of the Cloak) by al-Busiri. It is a
well-known Sufi poem in the praise of the Prophet ()ﷺ, however it includes statements of Major
Shirk! The Scholars have refuted this poem in the past6 and present7.
In fact, Hamza has recorded a recitation of this poem accompanied by Moroccan munshids
(singers)!8
In addition to this, he often teaches from the works of Imam al-Ghazali (may Allah have mercy
upon him), especially al-Ihyaa Uloom ud-Deen (The Revival of the Religious Sciences). This book is
considered a masterpiece by the Sufi’s, but the Scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah have severely warned
against it due to its many errors. Among the Scholars who have cautioned against al-Ihyaa Uloom
ud-Deen are:
3
For example, Shaikh Yahya bin Ali al-Hajuri’s refutation found here: https://www.sh-yahia.net/show_books_5.html
4
See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=117NWPGr5SA and Adillah az-Zakiyyah fi Bayan Aqwaal al-Jifri ash-Shirkiyyah
(pg 18-19)
5
Reported by Muslim in his Introduction ( no. 26) with a Saheeh chain of transmission
6
Such as Shaikhul-Islaam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab as found in his Mu’alafaat ( 5/14-15)
7
Such as the Permanent committee:
http://alifta.com/Search/ResultDetails.aspx?languagename=en&lang=en&view=result&fatwaNum=&FatwaNumID=
&ID=10576&searchScope=7&SearchScopeLevels1=&SearchScopeLevels2=&highLight=1&SearchType=exact&Search
Moesar=false&bookID=&LeftVal=0&RightVal=0&simple=&SearchCriteria=allwords&PagePath=&siteSection=1&sea
rchkeyword=098117114100097104#firstKeyWordFound
8
https://soundcloud.com/talha-mohiuddin/qasida-burda-morrocan-munshids
2
■ Qaadi ‘Iyyad bin Musa (may Allah have mercy upon him)9
■ Imam Ibn ul-Jawzi (may Allah have mercy upon him)10
■ Imam at-Tartushi (may Allah have mercy upon him)11
■ Shaikhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy upon him)12
And more. In response to these criticisms against the book al-Ihyaa, Hamza Yusuf said:
Even the greatest of the ulema have books...even the people accused him having
weak hadiths have books with weak hadiths in them like Ibn Jawzi critised some of
his books. In fact Talbis Iblis who a lot of people quote he has some criticisms of
Imam al-Ghazali, he got the name of his book from Imam al-Ghazali. Talbis Iblis
was, Imam al-Ghazali said I hope to write a book which I am going to entitle Talbis
Iblis to show how Iblis has tricked so many of the sufis and people so Ibn al Jawzi
wrote the book Talbis Iblis to show how the Sufis had been tricked by Iblis. He got
the idea from Imam al-Ghazali but he criticised Imam al-Ghazali in the book. Ibn al
Jawzi was a great alim, and he was from the people of wilaya insha’Allah. So the
ulema criticised each other and that is just part of what ulema do so I would not take
those things seriously. There is a lot of foolish people that read the criticisms of
ulema of other ulema. There are a lot of reasons why they criticise each other.
Sometimes it is just hasad, flat out, very common and sometimes it is because they
think that this is a genuine problem and they could be wrong and sometimes it is
because during their time they do have a problem.13
While it is true that Imam al-Ghazali (may Allah have mercy upon him) was planning on writing a
book entitled Talbis Iblis (The Devil’s Deception)14 and that Imam Ibn ul-Jawzi (may Allah have
mercy upon him) took the name and subject of the book from him, it does not detract at all from
his criticism on the book al-Ihyaa. It also does not detract from the criticism of other Scholars for
which Hamza does not comment on. It was not out of ‘hasad’ that Ali bin Yusuf Tashfin (may Allah
have mercy upon him), the ruler of al-Maghrib and al-Andalus during the 6th Hijri, commanded that
al-Ihyaa be burned based on the consensus of the Scholars of his time.15
Hafidh Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: "And al-Maazari wanted to burn his
(al-Ghazali’s) book Ihyaa Uloom ud-Deen and likewise others from the Maghribis. They said:
9
Siyar 'Alaam an-Nubala (19/327)
10
Mukhtasar Minhaaj al-Qaasideen (pg. 16-17) and Talbis Iblis (pg. 276) of the English translation by Darussunnah
11
Tabaqaat ash-Shafi'yyah al-Kubrah (6/243)
12
Majmoo’ al-Fatawaa (10/551-552)
13
http://shaykhhamza.com/transcript/Alchemy-of-Happiness
14
al-Ihya Uloom ad-Deen (3/30)
15
Siyar ‘Alaam an-Nubala (20/124) and al-Mi’yaar al-Mu’rib (12/185)
3
'This book is the revival of the sciences of his (al-Ghazli's) Religion. As for our Religion,
then the revival of its sciences is the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger ("’)ﷺ
16
So these are some of the examples of the sources that Hamza Yusuf relies on and teaches from.
Sources which the Scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah have warned from due to their misguidance. This is the
not characteristic of a reliable caller and teacher.
Hamza Yusuf and His Beliefs
Hamza Yusuf is an Ash’ari in Aqeedah and the Ashari’s are not upon the methodology of
Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah. The ‘Ash’aris have incorrect beliefs in regards to Imaan, the Names and
Attributes of Allah, Qadr etc. They are in fact followers of the Mu'tazilah. And so, Hamza has many
issues in his beliefs.
An example of that is Hamza Yusuf’s belief in relation to Buddha. In his paper entitled Buddha in the
Qu’ran?, Hamza writes:
Thus, rather than simply seeking to establish a historical connection or identification
between al-Khadir and the Buddha, one might also see the Buddha as one
manifestation of the spiritual archetype articulated by the Qur’anic figure al-Khadir .
This point of view is substantiated by the remarkable parallels one sees between the
two figures17.
To substantiate his view, Hamza uses a quote from Abul-Fath ash-Shahrastaani (may Allah have
mercy upon him) taken from his book al-Milal wan-Nihal on the discussion of Buddhism. He
translates ash-Shahrastaani (may Allah have mercy upon him) as saying: “Based upon their
description of the Buddha, if they are accurate, it would seem that he is none other than
al-Khadir,whom Muslims acknowledge, upon him be peace”18
However, Hamza mistranslates the statement of Abdul-Fath ash-Shahrastaani (may Allah have
mercy upon him) to make his claim. The original words of the ash-Shahrastaani are the following:
16
al-Bidayaah wan-Nihaayah (12/174)
17
Buddha in the Qu’ran? as found in the book Common Ground between Islam and Buddhism (pg. 119)
18
al-Milal wan-Nihal (pg. 712)
4
“. . . And there is none who compares to Buddha according to what they describe him with,
if they are truthful in that, except al-Khidr who the People of Islam affirm (may peace be
upon him)”19 .
And you can see how Hamza, may Allah guide him, mistranslates this statement of Abul-Fath
ash-Shahrastaani (may Allah have mercy upon him) to suit his opinion and desires. Abdul-Fath
ash-Shahrastaani (may Allah have mercy upon him) did not state that Buddha was al-Khidr nor a
manifestation of him or the likes. Rather he only a draws a comparison between the status of
Buddha in Buddhism and al-Khidr (may peace be upon him) in the Islamic tradition20.
Muhammad bin Naasir Suhaybaani wrote highlighting some of the errors of Abul-Fath
ash-Shahrastaani in his work saying: “His belief in the eternal existence of al-Khidr and his
permanence, and that his rank is like the rank of Buddha among the People of India. He
does not give birth, nor marry, nor eat, nor drink, nor get old, nor die when the author said:
‘And there is none who compares to Buddha according to what they describe him with, if
they are truthful in that, except al-Khidr who the People of Islam affirm (may peace be upon
him)’”21.
Even Orientalist writers have understood the statement of ash-Shahrastaani (may Allah have mercy
upon him) to be comparison between Buddha and al-Khidr and nothing more.
Bruce Lawrence wrote22:
19
al-Milal wan-Nihal (pg. 712)
20
It is important to note that ash-Shahrastaani’s view on al-Khidr is exaggerated and influenced by Sufism. For more on
that see: Manhaj ash-Shahrastaani fi Kitabihi al-Milal wan-Nihal ( pg. 644) by Muhammad bin Naasir Suhaybaani
21
Manhaj ash-Shahrastaani fi Kitabihi al-Milal wan-Nihal (pg. 644)
22
Shahrastani on the Indian Religions (pg. 113)
5
Johan Elverskog writes23:
So even Orientalist writers have understood the intent of Abul-Fath ash-Shahrastaani (may Allah
have mercy upon him) to imply a comparison between the two figures, and not that Buddha was
al-Khidr himself or a spiritual archetype. How did Hamza Yusuf arrived at such a conclusion and
why he would even suggest such an idea? What would motivate him to do so? What is certain is that
Hamza’s view on Buddha and al-Khidr is mere conjecture and it just goes to show his integrity as a
researcher.
On the same topic of ‘Aqeedah, we find that Hamza Yusuf has a translation and annotation on the
classic text Aqeedatul-Tahawiyyah. Here he clearly affirms the Ash’ari mathhab and also makes
erroneous statements.
An example of his erroneous statements include:
24
Theology is a synonym for the word creed, which is the Arabic word ‘Aqeedah. If the Quran is not a
book of theology (‘Aqeedah), then which book is! If the Prophet ()ﷺ was not a theologian, then
who is a theologian!
23
Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road (pg. 89)
24
The Creed of Imam Tahawi by Hamza Yusuf (pg. 16)
6
Compare the speech of this man to the speech of the Permanent Committee when they were asked:
Q 4: What is the best book on Tawhid (monotheism) and ‘Aqidah (creed) and how can a person get
that?
A: “The greatest and best book to clarify the sound ‘Aqidah (creed) is the Glorious Book of
Allah, the Qur’an, then the Hadith of His Messenger (peace be upon him). The following is
a list of some of the most beneficial books on this subject:
Fathul-Majid, Al-‘Aqidah Al-Wasitiyyah, Al-‘Uluw Lil-‘Aliy Al-Ghaffar, Al-Tawassul
wal-Wasilah, Al-Sawa‘iq Al-Mursalah Abridged, Tathir Al-I‘tiqad and Sharh Al-Tahawiyyah.
May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his
family, and Companions”25
And Shaikh Bin Baz (may Allah have mercy upon him) was asked:
Q 23: Which books you recommend for knowledge seekers to read on `Aqidah (creed)? What do
you advise the Da`y (caller to Islam) who instructs Bedouins and lay people, who need to learn the
principles of `Aqidah?
A: "The Qur'an is the greatest and most useful book on the subject of `Aqidah. It is Allah's
book, which has a light and guidance. Everyone, young, old, male and female, is
recommended to focus on the Qur'an and endeavor to memorize and recite it often. It
includes the best illustration of `Aqidah, gives guidance and useful remedies. Allah
(Glorified and Exalted be He) says: Verily, this Qur’ân guides to that which is most just
and right And: Say: “It is for those who believe, a guide and a healing.
It is a book of guidance to the right path. Every Muslim, male or female, Arab or non-Arab,
is advised to hold fast to the Qur'an, glorify it, act upon its teachings and frequently recite it
wherever they are from the Mus-haf and by heart. . . ."26
25
http://www.alifta.net/Fatawa/FatawaSubjects.aspx?languagename=en&View=Page&HajjEntryID=0&HajjEntryName=&Ramadan
EntryID=0&RamadanEntryName=&NodeID=4270&PageID=618&SectionID=7&SubjectPageTitlesID=616&MarkIndex=4&0#W
hatisthebestbookonTawhid
26
http://www.alifta.net/fatawa/fatawaDetails.aspx?languagename=en&View=Page&PageID=5352&PageNo=1&BookI
D=14
7
So according to the Scholars, the Quran clarifies the sound creed and theology. This statement of
Hamza is ignorance. Elsewhere in the book, Hamza writes:
27
So he affirms the Ash’ari school that he follows and propagates. The statement of only affirming
twenty attributes of Allah is without proof in the Quran, the Sunnah, and the understanding of the
Salaf. It not the belief of Ahlul-Sunnah wal-Jama'aah. We do not restrict the Attributes of Allah to a
specific number. This is because the Names of Allah are not restricted to a specific number and
included in every Name of Allah is an attribute.28
He also writes:
29
27
The Creed of Imam Tahawi by Hamza Yusuf (pg. 110)
28
See: Sifaat Allah ‘Azza wa Jall Waaridah fil Kitab was-Sunnah of Alawi bin Abdul Qaadir as-Saqqaf (pg. 30) and
http://www.alifta.net/Fatawa/FatawaChapters.aspx?languagename=en&View=Page&PageID=11057&PageNo=1&Bo
okID=7
29
The Creed of Imam Tahawi by Hamza Yusuf (pg. 111)
8
He incorrectly states that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) did not discuss the
uncreatedness of the Quran. This is clearly false and shows the deception of this man.
Imam al-Laalakaai (may Allah have mercy upon him) wrote the following in his masterpiece Sharh
Usool al-'Itiqaad Ahlul Sunnah wal-Jama'ah:
"Chapter: Narrations that were reported regarding the Consensus of the Companions that
the Quran is not created
It was reported from Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said on the Day of Siffin:
"I do not rule the Quran to be created but I rule it is the Quran”. And the Companions of
the Messenger of Allah ()ﷺ were with him and with Mu'awiyyah (may Allah be pleased
with him) there were more. So it is a consensus due to the manifestation of that statement,
its circulation, and that the ending of that time period came without any differing [in
regards to that statement], nor detestation.
It was likewise reported from Ibn 'Abbas, Ibn 'Umar, and Ibn Masud (may Allah be pleased
with them).
'Amr bin Dinar (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: "I met nine of the Companions of
the Messenger of Allah ( )ﷺsaying: "Whoever says the Quran is created is a disbeliever".
'Amr bin Dinar met Ibn 'Abbas, Ibn 'Umar, Ibnul-Zubayr, Jabir bin Abdullah, al-Miswar
bin Makhramah, Sa'd bin 'Aidh al-Qaradhi the muadhin of the Messenger of Allah ()ﷺ,
as-Saa’ib bin Yazeed al-Kindi, and Abu Tufayl 'Amir ibn Waathilah. He also reported from
Anas and these are nine (may Allah have mercy upon all of them"30
So this is clear evidence that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) spoke about the
uncreatedness of the Quran well before the fitnah of the Mu’tazilah occurred. In fact, it was a
consensus among them that the Quran was uncreated. So it goes to show the deception of Hamza
Yusuf for writing that they did not speak about it. He has made it a consistent habit of his to
misrepresent and misreport various issues related to Islam.
This is just a brief sample of the deviations of Hamza Yusuf, which prove that a Muslim should
avoid taking any knowledge from him. It is important that we are sincere in our Religion and not
attach ourselves to personalities, but rather to the truth.
30
Sharh Usool al-'Itiqaad Ahlul Sunnah wal-Jama'ah (2/167)
9
May Allah guide us all to the straight path.
* * *
10
