Print Edition

Humane Being

Learning to Be Human

Our prophetic tradition teaches that every child is born with a natural disposition, or fitra. The great minds of all religious traditions grounded their outlook about human beings in this universal reality. Today, however, this profound first principle has been lost, and our distinctiveness as human beings is challenged by contemporary fields, from biology to psychology to social sciences and beyond. How do we then know the truth of our shared natural disposition? In other words, how do we learn to be human? 

Join us for an address on the human fitra by Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah, the American Muslim theologian and scholar, followed by an on-stage conversation with Hamza Yusuf, president of Zaytuna College and editor-in-chief of Renovatio

Reception begins 5:30 pm PST | Thursday, April 5, 2018

Program and livestream begin 6:30 pm PST 

Venue: Zaytuna College, Berkeley, California

This is a free event hosted by Renovatio: The Journal of Zaytuna College.

Umar Faruq Abd-Allah

Umar Faruq Abd-Allah

Umar Faruq Abd-Allah is an independent researcher, writer, and teacher who specializes in Islamic theology.

After receiving his Ph.D. on the origins of Islamic Law in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Chicago in 1978, he has taught courses in Arabic, Islamic studies, and comparative religions across the globe in North America, Africa, and Europe.

Hamza Yusuf

Hamza Yusuf

Hamza Yusuf is president of Zaytuna College.

He is an advisor to the Center for Islamic Studies at Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union. He also serves as vice-president for the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, which was founded and is currently presided over by Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, one of the top jurists and masters of the Islamic sciences in the world.

keyboard_arrow_up