Dr. Imtiyaz Yusuf: A Samurai of Knowledge and Compassion

Before stepping into the story of Dr. Imtiyaz Yusuf, imagine the spirit of the Samurai—the warrior-scholar who lived with discipline, embraced impermanence, and carried the courage to face death without fear. Shaped by Zen Buddhism, the Samurai lived not for glory but for virtue.

Dr. Imtiyaz Yusuf is a Samurai of our age—not wielding swords, but knowledge. His armor is his intellect, his weapon is dialogue, and his battlefield is a fractured world in need of compassion and understanding.

Born into a Muslim family in Pune, India, young Imtiyaz’s early years gave little hint of the path he would later walk. His local imam predicted he would never even finish reading the Qur’an. His father worried about his choice to study political science. His brother doubted his future altogether, imagining he might end up shining shoes for a living. Only an uncle believed there might be a spark of promise in him.

Such words could have crushed him. But in the heart of every Samurai is resilience—the refusal to let others define destiny.

One ordinary Friday changed everything. With little interest in religion, Imtiyaz wandered into a mosque simply because he had nothing else to do. There, he met Mukarram Chowdhury, a PhD chemistry student, who noticed the stranger and handed him two books: The Fundamentals of Islam and Milestones.

The young man read them with care. Something stirred. He whispered to himself, “I too want to become a Muslim.”

That moment was not just a spiritual awakening—it was the first strike of the hammer that forged his identity as a seeker of truth.

Hungry for knowledge, Imtiyaz enrolled at Aligarh Muslim University, where he immersed himself in Islamic history, theology, and philosophy. He drew inspiration from giants like Ismail Raji al-Faruqi, whose vision of Islam’s role in the modern world gave him direction.

Step by step, he built his credentials:

• BA in Politics, Poona University

• MA in Islamic Studies, Aligarh Muslim University

• PhD in Religion, Temple University (USA), under the mentorship of Al-Farabi

This was no longer the boy predicted to fail. This was a man sharpening his sword of knowledge, preparing to become a bridge between civilizations.

Dr. Yusuf’s journey carried him across continents. He spent decades teaching at Mahidol University, Assumption University, and Prince of Songkhla University in Thailand, eventually serving as Director of the Center for Buddhist-Muslim Understanding. Later, he joined ISTAC-IIUM in Malaysia as Associate Professor and Deputy Dean, where he expanded programs on Islam and Buddhism.

Internationally, his expertise was recognized when he was appointed to the Malaysia Chair of Islam in Southeast Asia at Georgetown University’s ACMCU and later became a Senior Fellow there.

He contributed to some of the world’s most respected reference works—Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Encyclopedia of the Qur’an—cementing his place as a global scholar.

Dr. Yusuf’s writings and lectures reveal a mind trained not only in academic rigor but in spiritual wisdom:

• On shared truths: He notes how tawḥīd (Islamic monotheism) resonates with śūnyatā (Buddhist emptiness). Both point to realities beyond the self.

• On compassion: Quoting the Prophet Muhammad, “If you don’t give love, you don’t receive love,” he draws parallels to Buddhist teachings of boundless compassion.

• On heritage: He praises Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, for preserving Borobudur—the largest Buddhist monument—as a model of respect.

• On conflict: He reminds us that violence in places like Myanmar and Sri Lanka is not religious at its core, but driven by ethnic nationalism. Religion, when rightly understood, is a force for peace.

From a boy once dismissed as incapable of reading the Qur’an, Dr. Imtiyaz Yusuf rose to become one of the rare Muslim scholars deeply immersed in Buddhist thought. His journey is nothing less than transformational:

• From marginal beginnings to global leadership

• From doubt to faith with purpose

• From academic curiosity to interfaith wisdom

Like a Samurai, he embraced discipline and impermanence. Like a scholar, he sought truth across traditions. Like a believer, he anchored his life in compassion.

Dr. Yusuf’s vision is not just for academics or religious leaders. It is for everyone of us. He teaches that Muslims and Buddhists—together making up nearly half the world’s population—must learn from each other if humanity is to find balance.

He reminds us that ummatan wasaṭan (“the middle nation” in the Qur’an) and the Buddha’s majjhima-patipada (“the middle way”) both call us toward balance, justice, and compassion.

His life tells us this: no prediction, no doubt, no limitation imposed by others can stop a determined spirit.

Dr. Imtiyaz Yusuf is a Samurai of the modern world—not of war, but of peace. He demonstrates that true strength lies not in weapons or dominance, but in the courage to understand, the discipline to learn, and the vision to unite.

His story is a mirror for us all: to reject despair, embrace purpose, and build bridges where others build walls.