Yusuf Estes, PhD. (born 1944 in Ohio), is an American convert to Islam and Director of "the Islamic Mission Foundation International", an Islamic research group dedicated to presenting the message of Islam in English according to the Quran, Sunnah.[1]
He was brought up in Texas in a Protestant Christian family; as members of the Disciples of Christ. Yusuf Estes was known then as "Skip Estes".
From 1962 until 1990, he had a career in the music industry, entertainment, marketing, music instructor and music minister and owned several musical instrument companies including Estes Piano and Organ Company. He produced and directed live entertainment programs throughout the United States from the mid 1960's until his last endeavor for cable TV in Florida, etitled "Estes Music Jamboree".[2]
In 1991, Estes had business dealings with a Muslim named Mohamed from Egypt. He learned about the religion of Islam firsthand and converted to Islam after seeing a Catholic priest friend enter Islam. He was then followed by his wife, father, daughters and step mother. He has since pursued Arabic language and Quranic studies in Egypt, Morocco and Turkey.
Since 2005, Yusuf Estes has been regularly appearing on IslamChannel in the UK, as well as Peace TV and on Huda TV which are 24/7 Islamic channels broadcasting in many countries around the globe, via satellite and the website WatchIslam.com