The Hamziyya of Imam al-Busiri

Hamza Yusuf Hanson is the president of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California, the first accredited Muslim liberal arts college in the US. Ranked 23rd by The Muslim 500, he advocates for traditional liberal arts education and serves on the UAE’s top fatwa council under Shaykh Abdallah b. Bayyah. As co-president of Religions for Peace, he collaborates on initiatives with the Vatican and the UN. Hanson, a member of the Jordanian Royal Academy for Islamic Studies, works on peace initiatives between Muslims and Christians. He translated The Marrakesh Declaration, promoting rights of other faiths in Muslim-majority societies, and authored Purification of the Heart.

Ian Abdal Latif Whiteman is a designer and musician resident in Andalusia, Spain where he lives with his American wife. He has four children and eight grandchildren. In the 1960s he studied architecture in London where he also worked as a musician performing and recording with many notable artists. A founding member of the groups Mighty Baby and The Habibiyya, he entered Islam in 1971. His career since then has been in book and typographic design, working closely with pioneering organisations like Zaytuna College and Cambridge Muslim College. He is a specialist in Andalusian classical singing and calligraphy.

The Fes Singers, Morocco’s premier Sacred Music ensemble, bring decades of experience to the traditional art of Moroccan acappella vocals. With unparalleled intensity and a mastery of technical and artistic intricacies, they have consistently captivated audiences at the Fes Sacred Music Festival, establishing a formidable presence in the global music scene. Regular performers for the King of Morocco, the Fes Singers, led by the renowned Sidi Mohammed Bennis, will be joined by Taoufiq En-Noury, Driss Eddaoudi, and Abdellah El Idrissi Filali for this 2024 performance.