Zaid Shakir

Zaid Shakir(Arabic:زيد شاكر;bornRicky Daryl Mitchell,May 24, 1956)is an American Muslim scholarand co-founder ofZaytuna CollegeinBerkeley, California.He teaches courses onArabic,law,history, and Islamicspirituality.

Zaid Shakir
Zaid Shakir presides over "The People's Champ"Muhammad Alimemorial service in Louisville, KY., 2016.
Title	Imam
Personal life
Born	Ricky D. Mitchell (1956-05-24)May 24, 1956 Berkeley, California,United States
Era	Modern era
Education	Rutgers University,M.A.International Relations American University,B.A. Political Science Abu Nour University,B.A. Islamic Law, Arabic Language Teaching Institute of Damascus, Syria
Occupation	Islamic Scholar, Author
Religious life
Denomination	Sunni
Jurisprudence	Shafi
Creed	Ashari
YouTube information
Channel	Zaid Shakir
Years active	September 29, 2009–present
Subscribers	11.3 thousand
Total views	401.4 thousand
Associated acts	Zaytuna College
Last updated:26 October 2022
Website	newislamicdirections

Shakir is co-founder and chairman of United For Change,whose stated goal is to leverage the diversity of the Muslim and interfaith community and address divisive obstacles.In 2015, he signed the official Memorandum of Understanding betweenZaytuna CollegeandHartford SeminaryinConnecticut.He is one of the signatoriesofA Common Word Between Us and You,an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders, calling for peace and understanding.

Shakir assumed leadership of the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA) from 2020 until 2022, which is a broad-based alliance of Muslims which strives for justice and promotes what they deem as the "life-giving truth" of Islam.He has been listed in the 500 Most Influential Muslims (also known as The Muslim 500), an annual publication compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre inAmman, Jordan,which ranks the most influential Muslims in the world.

Inspired to work with religious groups onsustainable developmentandclimate change,he has taken "action for the earth" in partnership with the organization Green Faith.The organizations mission is to "inspire, educate, organize, and mobilize people of diverse religious and spiritual backgrounds around the globe for environmental action."

Zaid Shakir is one of many signatories to a statement prepared by religious leaders from around the world who presented theUN Secretary Generalwith a declaration in support of theParis Climate Agreement.

Early life

Shakir was born in 1956inBerkeley, Californiaas Ricky Daryl Mitchell to a family descended fromAfrican,IrishandNative Americanroots. His formative years were spent in housing projects inNew Britain, Connecticut.He converted to Islam in 1977 while serving in theUnited States Air Forceand shortly after changed his name to Zaid Salim Shakir.

Education

A summa cum laude graduate, he obtained a BA inInternational RelationsatAmerican Universityin Washington, D.C., earned his MA inPolitical ScienceatRutgers University.He then left forSyriato pursue his studies in the traditionalIslamic Sciences.For seven years inSyria,and briefly inMorocco,he immersed himself in an intense study ofArabic,Islamic law,Quranic studies,andspiritualitywith Islamic scholars such as SheikhʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Shāghūrīand Sheikh Mustafa Al-Turkmani. In 2001, he was the first American male graduate from Syria'sAbu NourUniversitywith a BA in Islamic Sciences.

Recent work in the United States

Zaytuna College

In 2003, as a scholar-in-residence atZaytuna Institutelocated in California, Shakir began to teachArabic,Law, and Islamicspirituality.In 2004, he initiated a pilot seminary program at Zaytuna Institute, which was useful in Zaytuna College's refinement of its Islamic Studies curriculum and its educational philosophy. For four years, students in the pilot program were engaged in the study of contemporary and classical texts. And, in the fall of 2010, he and his colleagues Hamza Yusuf, and Hatem Bazian co-founded theBerkeley, CaliforniabasedZaytuna College,a four-year Muslim liberal arts college, the first of its kind in the United States,dedicated to "educate and prepare morally committed professional, intellectual, and spiritual leaders", who are grounded in the Islamic scholarly tradition and conversant with the cultural currents and critical ideas shaping modern society. In 2016, Zaytuna College became the first accredited Muslim campus in the United States after it received approval from theWestern Association of Schools and Colleges.

Views

As reported inThe New York Times,Zaid Shakir appeared with nine other influential Muslim scholars in a YouTube video denouncing militant Islam.The aftermath of 9/11 Shakir states, "People all over the world have felt the repercussions and the reprisals for the senseless brutality of 9/11's perpetrators. Our best hope is to attempt to move beyond the pain, strife and hatred unleashed. Trusting in the power and promise of God we will be able to do just that."

TheChronicle of Higher Educationhas praised him, stating, "Embodying an American story if ever there was one—including proverbial bootstraps, military service, political activism, and deep religious commitment—Zaid Shakir's message of social justice in the face of poverty and racism he has known first hand makes him endlessly and, it often seems, effortlessly relevant. He is as approachable a man as I've ever met."

Shakir states inScapegoats: How Islamophobia Helps Our Enemies & Threatens Our Freedoms,"Sharia forbids members of a Muslim minority [in Western societies] from engaging in clandestine acts of violence and paramilitary organizing... or from acting as political or military agents for a Muslim-majority country. Islamic law also forbids the disruption of public safety, many of the practices that the average person fearfully associates with some Muslims today, like killing innocent people (non-Muslims and Muslims alike) and stoning women."

Reception

The 500 Most Influential Muslimsof the world edition 2020 describes Zaid Shakir as "an influential Islamic scholar and a voice of conscience for American Muslimsand non-Muslims alike ", edited byJohn EspositoandIbrahim Kalin

Imam Zaid Shakir spoke the last words Ali heard on his deathbed. He leans over and with his mouth close to Ali's right ear, he sings, "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger." Shakir begins talking to Ali, entreating him, exhorting him, telling him, "Muhammad Ali, this is what it means, God is one; say it, repeat it, you've inspired so many, paradise is waiting --".He was, in Shakir's description, "a praying man" who understood he belonged to Allah. But he also knew he was Muhammad Ali, and so belonged to the world ".

— "The Greatest, At Rest", ESPN - The Magazine's June 12 World Fame Issue

Tikkun Dailystates that he is "one of the most thoughtful and dynamic teachers about the true nature of Islam in America today".

Zaid Shakir was named inCNN's 2018 list of "25 Influential American Muslims", where he was described as "one of the West's most respected Muslim scholars."

Imam Zaid Shakir (right) withHabib Umar bin Hafizin Oakland, CA, 2011

Publications

Publications and Articles by Zaid Shakir

Title	Description		Type
Where I'm Coming From: A Year In Review2010.	Author		Books and Pamphlets
Agenda To Change Our Condition2007.	co-authored withHamza Yusuf		Books and Pamphlets
Scattered Pictures: A Reflection of An American Muslim2005.	Author		Translations
Harith Al-Muhasibi,Treatise for The Seekers of Guidance(2008).	Translation, notes, and commentary ofRisala al-Mustarshidin,composed d.243/857 by anIraqischolar.		Translations
Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali,The Heirs of the Prophets(2000).	The translation and introduction ofAl-Ulama' Waratha Al-Anbiya,composed d.1375 by anIraqischolar.		Books with a foreword or introduction
Dawud Walid,Towards Sacred Activism(2018).			Books with a foreword or introduction
Arsalan Iftikhar and Reza Aslan,Scapegoats: How Islamophobia Helps Our Enemies and Threatens Our Freedoms(2016).	Endorsement		Books with a foreword or introduction
Muslims and The Climate Crisis: Responding To A Higher Call	Available in Creation at the Crossroads,(contrib. article) (2016) (2018).		Books with a foreword or introduction
Meraj Mohiuddin,Revelation: The Story of Muhammad (pbuh)2015.	Endorsement		Books with a foreword or introduction
Abdullah bin Hamid Ali,Tears Of The Yearners For The Meeting With God2015.			Books with a foreword or introduction
Ibrahim Abdul-Matin,Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet2010.	Editorial review		Books with a foreword or introduction
Maraqi'L-Sadat,Ascent to Felicity2010.	Editorial review		Books with a foreword or introduction
Sa'ad Quadri,The War within Our Hearts: Struggles of the Muslim Youth2010.	Introduction		Books with a foreword or introduction
Abdul Azeez Ahmad,Living With Blindness: Lessons from the Life of Imran Sabir2009.	Introduction		Books with a foreword or introduction
Sierra Club,A Gathering of Voices on Caring For Creation2008.	contributing articleThe Zaytuna Ruku Tree		Books with a foreword or introduction
Richelene Mitchell,Dear Self: A Year In The Life of A Welfare Mother2006			Books with a foreword or introduction
Aftab A. Malik and Ibrahim M Abu'- Rabi,The Empire and The Crescent: Global Implications For a New American Century2004.	contributing articleJehad as Perpetual War		Books with a foreword or introduction
Joseph Lumbard,Submission, faith and beauty: the religion of Islam(2009).	Co-edited withHamza Yusuf.		Edited Books
Where Islam and Nationalism Collide The Human in The Quran A Muslim Response to Pope Francis Laudato S' - "Muslims and The Climate Crisis: Responding To A Higher Call", (115 -119) Crescentwatch Position Change American Muslims, Human Rights, and the Challenge of September 11 Malcolm X (1925-1965) Islam, Prophet Muhammad, and Blackness			Papers

External links

• Media related toZaid Shakirat Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• AppearancesonC-SPAN
• Zaid Shakir Audio Lectures