Yousaf is the son of immigrants who arrived in the UK during the 1960s: his mother came from Kenya and his father from Pakistan. Yousaf was educated at Hutchesons’ Grammar School, an independent school in Glasgow. Where he took Modern Studies, it was Modern Studies that inspired him to become involved in politics. He studied Politics at the University of Glasgow, graduating with an MA in 2007. Whilst at University, Yousaf was President of the Glasgow University Muslim Students Association (GUMSA) as well as a prominent figure involved in student politics in the Students’ representative council.

Yousaf worked as a Parliamentary assistant for Bashir Ahmad, from Ahmad’s election as Scotland’s first Muslim MSP in 2007 until Ahmad’s death two years later. Ahmad was a personal influence. Yousaf then worked as Parliamentary assistant for a few other MSPs including: Anne McLaughlin, Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond who was the-then First Minister. In 2008, whilst working as an aide, Yousaf took part in the IVLP programme, an exchange that is run by the US State Department. He was awarded the “Future Force of Politics” at the Young Scottish Minority Ethnic Awards in 2009, which was presented to him in Glasgow City Chambers.

In May 2011, Yousaf was elected to the Scottish Parliament as an additional member for the Glasgow region. At just 25 years of age, he was the youngest MSP to be elected to the Scottish Parliament. When being sworn in, he took his oath in English then Urdu reflecting his Scottish-Pakistani identity; he was dressed in a traditional sherwani decorated with a Partick Thistle tartan touch and a plaid draped over his shoulder. Yousaf was appointed to the Justice and Public Audit Committees. On 25 May 2011 he was appointed as a Parliamentary Liaison Officer to the Office of the First Minister, remaining in this post until 4 September 2012.

On 5 September 2012, Yousaf became the Minister for External Affairs and International Development after Alex Salmond had undertaken his first major cabinet reshuffle of the parliamentary session. This junior ministerial appointment saw him working under the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs. He is the first Scottish Asian and Muslim to be appointed as a Minister to the Scottish Government.

When Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister in November 2014, she kept Yousaf as a junior minister, although the name of the position he held was changed to the Minister for Europe and International Development. On 18 May 2016, he was moved to the position of Minister for Transport and the Islands in a reshuffle.

In November 2016 Yousaf was fined £300 and had six penalty points added to his driving licence, after being caught by police for driving a friend’s car without being properly insured to drive it. Yousaf accepted full responsibility saying: “I totally accept the decision. I paid the fine and told my insurers about the points. This was an honest mistake, and the result of my personal circumstances during my separation.”

On 26 June 2018, Yousaf was moved to the position of Justice Secretary in the Cabinet. One of his flagship policies was the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill which he promised would streamline existing legislation as well as add additional protections to persecuted minorities while maintaining rights to freedom of speech and freedom of expression. The bill has been criticised by the Catholic Church, the National Secular Society as well as writers, and in September 2020 it was amended to remove prosecution for cases of unintendedly stirring up hate, which could theoretically include libraries stocking contentious books. In October 2020, Yousaf said that the exception to the Public Order Act 1986 which allows people to use otherwise illegal language in their own homes should be abolished.

In 2019, Yousaf married SNP worker Nadia El-Nakla and has one child with her. He was married to former SNP Executive Committee member Gail Lythgoe between 2010 and 2017.