Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
I have heard Ahle Sunnah Jamaah Muslims accusing Sheikh Hamza Yusuf as being a Deviant. what is your view on this matter?
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate
May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon His Messenger Muhammad, his folk, companions, and followers
The ulema I know have the highest of love, respect, and admiration for Shaykh Hamza Yusuf.
There are few scholars, if any, in the West who have conveyed the guidance of Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) as far or as effectively. Thousands have been guided through his lectures and lessons. Many of those who have gone abroad to study, including this writer, did so because of the guidance and inspiration of this great man.
Shaykh Hamza also made the way of traditional Sunni Islam–with its richness, depth, tolerance, and meaningfulness–manifest in Islamic discourse in the West. Before he and a few other leading Western scholars appeared on the scene in the early 1990s, the influence traditional Sunni Islam was far less visible, especially in the major Islamic organizations, and on university campuses and in youth groups. This has changed dramatically.
Shaykh Hamza not only taught the way of traditional Islam–as represented by Sunni scholarship in beliefs, practice, and spirituality–but also explained its importance, need, wisdom, richness, relevance, and benefit, both in his words and exemplified it in his person.
Does this mean that one has to agree with the noble shaykh (may Allah preserve him and continue to shower him with His favors) in everything? No. It is rare for two humans to agree on everything. However, the way of traditional scholars is that they are respectful when they disagree even with those who are opposed to them, for such scholars are the inheritors of the Best of Creation (peace and blessings be upon him), whom Allah Himself describes as being of tremendous character & conduct.
As for disagreements of understanding among Sunni scholars, this is a manifestation of Divine Mercy. We don’t say that everyone is right. However, we also respect the right of those of learning to exercise their judgement. When scholars err, other scholars correct them, and the resultant discourse enriches the community–whether by making the truth manifest, or by showing the various possible paths to the truth.
If you ask the scholars in the Arab lands–in Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, the Hejaz, and elsewhere–who know Shaykh Hamza, you’ll find that they have only the highest of regards and praise for him.
May Allah show us the way of the Messenger of Mercy (peace and blessings be upon him). May He make us of those who are firm on the truth, and gentle & loving among ourselves, and united in agreement and in disagreement. And He alone gives success.
Wassalam.
Faraz Rabbani