Hamza Yusuf – The Pilgrimage of Malcolm X

Hamza YusufApril 23, 20090 comments

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American Islam Islamic History Seerah Interfaith Hajj Tawbah Justice & Oppression Da'wah

About this lecture

In this powerful lecture, Sheikh Hamza Yusuf reflects on the life and spiritual transformation of Malcolm X — known in Islam as Malik Shabazz — connecting his journey through the Hajj to universal themes of justice, human dignity, and the oneness of humanity. Drawing on the Qur'an, classical Islamic scholars like Ibn Khaldun and al-Ghazali, and thinkers from Plato to Dostoevsky, Hamza Yusuf explores how Malcolm's pilgrimage to Mecca shifted his worldview from righteous anger to transformative compassion. The lecture offers a rich meditation on Islam's call to peace, the shared roots of world religions, and what it means to truly change one's heart.

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf is one of the most influential Islamic scholars in the Western world. Born Mark Hanson in Washington State in 1958, he embraced Islam in 1977 and spent over a decade studying the traditional Islamic sciences in the UAE, Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania, most notably under the Mauritanian sage Murabit al-Hajj. He is the co-founder and president of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California — the first accredited Muslim liberal arts college in the United States — and has translated numerous classical texts, including "The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi" and "Purification of the Heart." His lectures on spirituality, classical scholarship, and the crisis of modernity have shaped a generation of Western Muslims.

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