LA PERCEPCIÓN DE SALUD EN SU CONTEXTO SOCIAL

Y usuf Estes

Born in 1944 in the US and a convert to Islam in 1991(I2), he is one o f the televangelists o f the oldest generation. He is described in The 500 Most Influential M uslims by Esposito and Kalin (2009:101) as "a well- known Muslim preacher who lectures all over the

world. He is the former national Muslim chaplain for the US Bureau o f Prisons and uses technology, such as uploading lectures on the Internet and appearing on television to spread Islam in an easily understood manner. His website has close to seven million unique hits".

An overview o f the sermons by Yusuf Estes shows that Estes not only addresses Muslims but also non-Muslims. Quite often, he starts his sermons by asking: "How many non-Muslims are there? Raise up your hand", which indicates his missionary agenda o f identifying non-Muslims as target audience. His personal w ebsite1-3, one among many, has a picture o f him as a young man before turning to Islam and has a reply he has written to a journalist explaining how he, being an ex- Christian preacher, has converted to Islam. Trying to convert an Egyptian Muslim man from Cairo, whom he saw as an "infidel", yet apparently was impressed by his "good morals", he engaged in debates after which he decided to "embrace" Islam 14. In his sermons, he repeatedly refers to his "conversion story". His website has links

12 See h is F a c e b o o k p ag e: h ttp ://w w w .fa e e b o o k .e o m /# l/is la m n e w s ro o m 1J Y u s u f E ste s " w e b site: h ttp ://v u s u fe s te s .c o m / L ast a c c e s se d 6th A p ril 2 015

to video and audio-excerpts accompanied by a caption: "Watch/hear Sheik Yusuf Estes help 1000 enter Islam around the world". In short, his main interest seems to pass information to non-Muslims about Islam (shall we say invite, convert?), which he repeatedly says is an important objective for a M uslim 15. He is featured on many TV channels (e.g. Peace TV, Guide US TV and Huda TV) and his programmes are widely accessible on YouTube and other Islamic channels (e.g. Halal Tube). In addition, some o f his sermons, mediated on YouTube, are given in varied Muslim contexts: in the United Kingdom, the United States, India and Dubai. Judging by his fans on Facebook, one can deduce that Yusuf Estes enjoys relatively wide popularity with approximately 527,000 fans that apparently follow his news including updates o f his tours, pictures and fund raising projects.

H am za Y usuf

Born in 1958 in the United States o f America and a convert to Islam in 1977, Hamza Yusuf carries the title o f an "Islamic scholar" and "an intellectual"16. According to the book by Esposito and Kalin referred to above (2009:78), Yusuf is "the Western world's most

15 F o r in sta n c e , in o n e se rm o n , e n title d "W ake up", h e a rg u es th a t it is im p o rta n t th a t M u s lim s are in v o lv e d in " g u id in g " o th e r n o n -b e lie v e rs to Islam .

16 F o r in sta n c e , see G illia t-R a y 2 0 1 0 :1 6 6 on H a m za Y usuf. I d e fin e th e in te lle ctu a l h e re as a p e rs o n o f re c o g n iz e d in te lle c tu a l a tta in m e n ts w h o sp e a k s o u t in th e p u b lic a re n a , g e n e ra lly in w a y s th a t call e s ta b lis h e d so c ie ty o r d o m in a n t id e o lo g ie s to a c c o u n t in th e n a m e o f p rin c ip le o r on b e h a lf o f th e o p p re s s e d ” (H e w itt, 2 0 0 3 :1 4 5 ).

influential Islamic scholar who has built a huge grassroots following, particularly among young western Muslims". He has established one college in California, the Zaytuna College, which mixes traditional Islamic studies with contemporary Western thought. It aims to "train students in the varied sciences o f Islam, while also instilling in them a sophisticated understanding o f the intellectual history and culture o f the W est"17. In addition, he is an advisor to some academic institutions on Islam and some philanthropic organizations; for instance, Stanford University Program in Islamic Studies and George Russell's "One nation" that promotes pluralism in A m erica18.

Lending further support to scholars who have indicated that discourses on Islam in the West are undergoing changes (e.g. M andaville 1999:18; 2007; see Chapter 3), we can safely classify him as one o f those who “critique” contemporary M uslim discourses from w ithin19. For instance, one o f his published articles argues that denying the Holocaust undermines Islam which attempts to defy anti-semitic discourses in Muslim contexts (e.g. see KhosraviNik (2010) on the anti-semitic discourses by the former politican M ahmoud Ahmadinejad). On another occasion in 2006, Hamza Yusuf claims that when some Muslims burnt the

17 The w ebsite o f Zaytuna college: Last accessed 6th April 20 1 5http://www. /.aytunacol I ege.org/about/

18 A ccording to Hamza Y usuf's website, htt p ://sa n d a I a. org/abo ut/ham zayus uf/ Last accessed 6th April

2015

19 The term is taken from Mandaville (1999:18), which he refers to as a "notion that has gained particular currency in recent years among diasporic Muslim intellectuals in the West".