Zaid Shakir
Zaid Shakir is an American Muslim scholar and co-founder of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California. He teaches courses on Arabic, law, history, and Islamic spirituality.
Early life
Shakir was born in 1956 in Berkeley, California as Ricky Daryl Mitchell to a family descended from African, Irish and Native Americans in [the United States|Native American] roots. His formative years were spent in housing projects in New Britain, Connecticut. He converted to Islam in 1977 while serving in the United States Air Force and shortly after changed his name to Zaid Salim Shakir."The Cambridge Companion to American Islam / Converts and Conversations", https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-american-islam/converts-and-conversions/397C72A1EFD4CF418BC4FA78EB91D805Education
Shakir obtained a BA in International Relations at American University in Washington, D.C., and later earned his MA in Political Science at Rutgers University. He then left for Syria to pursue his studies in traditional Islamic Sciences. For seven years in Syria, and briefly in Morocco, Shakir immersed himself in an intense study of Arabic, Islamic law, Quranic studies, and spirituality with Islamic scholars such as Sheikh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Shāghūrī and Sheikh Mustafa Al-Turkmani. In 2001, he was the first American male graduate from Syria's Abu Nour University with a BA in Islamic Sciences.Career
Shakir is one of the signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders, calling for peace and understanding.He assumed leadership of the Muslim Alliance in North America from 2020 until 2022.
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 2020, Shakir partnered with Green Faith to develop programming with religious groups centered on sustainable development and climate change.
Shakir is one of many signatories to a statement prepared by religious leaders from around the world who presented the UN Secretary General with a declaration in support of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Zaytuna College
In 2003, as a scholar-in-residence at Berkeley, California based Zaytuna Institute, Shakir began to teach Arabic, Law, and Islamic spirituality. In 2004, he initiated a pilot seminary program at Zaytuna Institute.
in the fall of 2010, Shakir and colleagues Hamza Yusuf, and Hatem Bazian reorganized the institute into Zaytuna 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. In 2015, he signed the official Memorandum of Understanding between Zaytuna College and Hartford Seminary in Connecticut.
In 2016, Zaytuna College became the first accredited Muslim campus in the United States after it received approval from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
Views
In 2010, Zaid Shakir appeared with nine other influential Muslim scholars in a YouTube video denouncing militant Islam.Reception
The 500 Most Influential Muslims of the world edition 2020 describes Zaid Shakir as "an influential Islamic scholar and a voice of conscience for American Muslims and non-Muslims alike", edited by John Esposito and Ibrahim KalinTikkun Daily states that he is "one of the most thoughtful and dynamic teachers about the true nature of Islam in America today".
Zaid Shakir was named in CNN's 2018 list of "25 Influential American Muslims", where he was described as "one of the West's most respected Muslim scholars."