Imam Zaid Shakir

Imam Zaid Shakir is amongst the most respected and influential Islamic scholars in the West. As an American Muslim who came of age during the civil rights struggles, he has brought both sensitivity about race and poverty issues and scholarly discipline to his faith-based work.

Born in Berkeley, California, he accepted Islam in 1977 while serving in the United States Air Force. He obtained a BA with honors in International Relations at American University in Washington D.C. and later earned his MA in Political Science at Rutgers University. While at Rutgers, he led a successful campaign for divestment from South Africa, and co-founded New Brunswick Islamic Center formerly Masjid al-Huda.

After a year of studying Arabic in Cairo, Egypt, he settled in New Haven, Connecticut and continued his community activism, co-founding Masjid Al-Islam, the Tri-State Muslim Education Initiative, and the Connecticut Muslim Coordinating Committee. As Imam of Masjid Al-Islam from 1988 to 1994 he spear-headed a community renewal and grassroots anti-drug effort, and also taught political science and Arabic at Southern Connecticut State University. He served as an interfaith council Chaplain at Yale Universityand developed the Chaplaincy Sensitivity Training for physicians at Yale New Haven Hospital. He then left for Syria to pursue his studies in the traditional Islamic sciences.

For seven years in Syria, and briefly in Morocco, he immersed himself in an intense study of Arabic, Islamic law, Quranic studies, and spirituality with some of the top Muslim scholars of our age. In 2001, he became the first American graduate of Syria's prestigious Abu Noor University and returned to Connecticut, serving again as the Imam of Masjid al-Islam, and writing and speaking frequently on a host of issues. That same year, his translation from Arabic into English of The Heirs of the Prophets was published by Starlatch Press.

In 2003, he moved to Hayward, California to serve as a scholar-in-residence and lecturer at Zaytuna Institute. In 2009, he co-founded Zaytuna College, where he now teaches Islamic law and history.

Imam Zaid has also authored numerous articles on a wide range of topics. In 2005, Zaytuna Institute published, Scattered Pictures: Reflections of An American Muslim, an anthology of diverse essays penned by Zaid Shakir. In 2008, he authored an award-winning text, Treatise for the Seekers of Guidance, a translation and commentary on Imam Harith al-Muhasibi’s work, Risala al-Mustarshideen. His most recent work is Where I'm Coming From: The Year In Review, a new collection of his essays from 2010.

He is a frequent speaker at local and national Muslim events and has emerged as one of the nation’s top Islamic scholars and a voice of conscience for American Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Imam Zaid has served as an advisor to many organizations, and influential leaders. Recently, Imam Zaid was ranked as “one of America’s most influential Scholars” in the West; by The 500 Most Influential Muslims, edited by John Esposito and Ibrahim Kalin, (2009).

Upcoming Events

• SRVIC Fundraiser
  November 14, 2010, 5:00 PM
  San Ramon Marriott
  2600 Bishop Drive, San Ramon, CA 94583.
  Learn more.
• Mind, Body & Soul: A Holistic Approach to Modern Life
  November 27th, 9:30 am – 5:00 pm
  San Ramon Marriott
  2600 Bishop Drive, San Ramon, CA 94583.
  Learn more.

Recent Articles

• Beyond Petroleum
  At a recent closed-door session with members of the Unites States government representatives of the oil giant BP revealed that upwards to 60,000 barrels of oil have been gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, daily, with no relief in sight.
  
• A Higher Ground for our Marriages
  In the literature discussing Futuwwa, which has been translated as Muslim chivalry, there is the story of a young man who was engaged to marry a particularly beautiful woman.
  
• Graveyard Detroit 
  Detroit, Michigan is an historic American city. From its humble roots as a French trading post in the early Eighteenth Century, it grew to become one of the largest cities in the United States.

» More at New Islamic Directions.com