Hamza Yusuf

Zaytuna College

Hamza Yusuf is a leading proponent of classical learning in Islam and president of Zaytuna College, a Muslim liberal arts college in Berkeley, California.

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Cultural Devolution

How the new victimhood culture rejects human dignity and divinity

“Dignity often eludes us. We know it to be a quality that reflects our worthiness, nobility, grace, character, esteem, and so on, but it remains something we sense rather than something we can clearly define and know, let alone point to. In other words, we know dignity when we see it. We also know its opposite and tend to sense when we have been denigrated or when we have debased ourselves. While honor is the self as perceived by others, dignity is conferred upon us by God because of our humanity: “We have indeed dignified the descendants of Adam” (Qur’an, 17:70). Dignity remains ours to protect and maintain, and cannot be taken away by others but can be diminished and even lost through our own actions.” —Hamza Yusuf

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