the 500 most influential muslims - The George Washington University

182 Pages·2011·6.61 MB·English

the 500 most
influential
muslims
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2011
The Muslim
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The 500 MosT
InfluenTIal MuslIMs
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2011
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� The 500 MosT �
InfluenTIal MuslIMs
· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · All rights reserved. No part of this book may be repro-
The Muslim 500: The 500 Most Influential Muslims duced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic
2011 (First Edition) or mechanic, inclding photocopying or recording or by any
ISBN: 978-9975-428-37-2 information storage and retrieval system, without the prior
· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · written permission of the publisher.
Views expressed in The Muslim 500 do not necessarily re-
Chief Editor: Prof. S. Abdallah Schleifer flect those of RISSC or its advisory board.
Researchers: Aftab Ahmed, Samir Ahmed, Zeinab Asfour, Photo of Abdul Hakim Murad provided courtesy of Aiysha
Besim Bruncaj, Sulmaan Hanif, Lamya Al-Khraisha, and Malik.
Mai Al-Khraisha
Image Copyrights: #29 Bazuki Muhammad / Reuters (Page
Designed & typeset by: Besim Bruncaj 75); #47 Wang zhou bj / AP (Page 84)

Technical consultant: Simon Hart Calligraphy and ornaments throughout the book used
courtesy of Irada Arts (http://www.IradaArts.com).
Special thanks to: Dr Joseph Lumbard, Amer Hamid, Sun-
dus Kelani, Mohammad Husni Naghawai, and Basim Salim.
English set in Garamond Premiere Pro & Myriad Pro
Printed in The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan by Jordanian
Press
© 2011 The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center
20 Sa’ed Bino Road, Dabuq
PO BOX 950361
Amman 11195, JORDAN
http://www.rissc.jo
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Contents
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1 Introduction
9 The House of Islam
21 The Top 50
87 Honorable Mentions
91 The Final 450
193 Scholarly
101 Political
109 Administration of Religious Affairs
115 Preachers & Spiritual Guides
119 Philanthropy, Charity & Development
123 Social Issues
129 Business
133 Science & Technology
135 Arts & Culture
139 Qur’an Recitors
141 Media
145 Celebrities & Sports Stars
147 Radicals
149 Issues of the Day
153 Obituaries
157 Appendix
165 Glossary
169 Index
III
IV
� The �
Intro-
duCtIon
1
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2
Foreword
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Welcome to the third annual issue of The 500 Most Influ- names will change gradually, rather than dramatically, year-
ential Muslims. on-year.

There are over 1.6 billion Muslims in the world today, mak- This list acts as an opportunity to shed some light on the
ing up approximately 23% of the world’s population, or many challenges and pioneering triumphs that are present
more than one-fifth of mankind. As well as being citizens at the very crux of shaping the Muslim community.
of their respective countries, they also have a sense of be-
longing to the ‘ummah’, the worldwide Muslim community.
What’s New
This publication sets out to ascertain the influence some
Muslims have on this community, or on behalf of the com- This year’s edition includes the following features and ad-
munity. Influence is: any person who has the power (be it ditions:
cultural, ideological, financial, political or otherwise) to
make a change that will have a significant impact on the • New size and layout
Muslim World. Note that the impact can be either posi- • Essay on Arab Spring
tive or negative. The influence can be of a religious scholar • Quotes from top 25 and select others
directly addressing Muslims and influencing their beliefs, • Stats about the top 25 and select others
ideas and behaviour, or it can be of a ruler shaping the so- • Expanded bios
cio-economic factors within which people live their lives, or • Arab Spring box for top 50 (arrows indicating impact
of artists forming popular culture. The first two examples of Arab Spring on their influence, not necessarily their
also point to the fact that the lists, and especially the Top 50, overall shift in influence)
are dominated by religious scholars and heads of state. Their • Award-winning photography
dominant and lasting influence cannot be denied, especially • Expanded Honorable Mentions section
the rulers, who in many cases also appoint religious schol- • New Obituaries section
ars to their respective positions. This doesn’t discount the • Updated Muslim population stats
influence from other sectors of society. • New maps
• Expanded glossary
The publication selects Muslim individuals from a range of
categories of influence, 14 in total: (Scholarly, Political, Ad- We also have some exciting plans for our website (www.
ministration of Religious Affairs, Preachers and Spiritual TheMuslim500.com) in the upcoming years and ask you to
Teachers, Philanthropy/Charity and Development, Social sign up to our email list and keep up with the latest devel-
Issues, Business, Science and Technology, Arts and Culture, opments.
Qur’an Recitors, Media, Celebrities and Sports Stars, Radi-
cals, and Issues of the Day).
The Editors
How to measure this influence is of course the most chal-
lenging aspect of the publication, and the one where opin-
ions diverge the most. Influence can sometimes be gauged
on a quantitative basis; the number of people influenced,
the amount of sales etc, but more often it is related to the
qualitative and lasting effect of that influence. The achieve-
ments of a lifetime are given more weight than achieve-
ments within the current year. This means that our lists of
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Introduction
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Prof. S. Abdallah Schleifer
uch of the Arab portion of the Islamic
King, Al-Malik, (20:114; 23:116; 59:23; 62:1); the
world has undergone either significant King of the Day of Judgement (1:4); the King of the
changes in its political leadership and Humankind (114:2), and the Owner of Kingship
(3:26). Sovereignty is in His Hand (67:1; 2:107; 5:40;
(as of publishing time) significant violence
7:158; 9:116 et al); He has no partner in Sovereign-
between Muslims in Libya, Yemen and Syria in
ty (17:111), and yet He gives it to whom He pleases
which non-violent protests turned, for various (3:26). Kingship is moreover a gift from God (3:26)
reasons, into armed struggle against those in and a grace (5:20); and it is further ‘strengthened’
by Him (38:20). He has given it to the descendents
authority—be they legitimate or illegitimate;
of the Prophet Abraham m(5:54). Indeed, it
or were simply crushed by overpowering state
first came as a result the supplication of a Prophet
violence; as in the case of Bahrain. (Samuel )e(2:224–247; see also 38:35) in order
that Children of Israel might defend themselves. It
came with the Sakinah (God’s Peace) as Divine Sign
The prevailing criteria for ‘Most Influential’ has reflected confirming it (2:248). At least two Prophets (David
the influence of Muslims as Muslims be they in Muslim  and Solomon ) were kings (38:20; 25:15–17),
countries or Muslim-minority communities, large (India) and God confirms in the Qur’an the hereditary
or small (Europe and the Americas) though this is some- principle in monarchy (27:16). Moreover, another
what less so in this year’s listings compared to 2010 and our Prophet (Joseph ) served a king as his Chief
first edition, in 2009. Nevertheless prominence in political Minister (‘al-aziz’—12:88), and he himself thus had
and religious affairs (particularly when political legitimacy ‘something of monarchy’ (12:101). Moreover, it is
overlaps with religious factors) remains, but the actual list- extremely significant to note that the (good) king
ings in these categories have been affected by the dramatic of Egypt whom Joseph  served is always called
events referred to as ‘The Arab Spring’. ‘king’, ‘al-malik’ (12:43 et al) in the Holy Qur’an,
Our listings do tend towards a more traditional under- whereas the (evil) king of Egypt who rejected Moses
standing of Islam than either Islamists (politically engaged s(2:49 et al.) is always called ‘Pharaoh’, ‘fir’awn’.
fundamentalists) or modernists would have it (see: The
House of Islam for the editors’ understanding of Traditional Similarly, in the Seerah [the biography of the
Islam), which means that considerations of what consti- Prophet Muhammad ], the Prophet Muhammad
tutes legitimate political rule does, to a degree, impact our  sent his cousin Ja’far to seek to the ‘just king’ of
ordering of the most influential in the political and reli- Abyssinia (see: Tafsir Al-Tabari, vol.9, p.249 on 8:39,
gious domains, but not exclusively so. And because of the and Tafsir Ibn Kathir, vol. 2, p.311 on 8:39). The
importance of ‘The Arab Spring’ in all its convoluted mani- Prophet Muhammad  also confirmed the king-
festations, our introduction to this year’s listings is inescap- ship of all those kings who entered Islam (such as
ably far more ‘political’ in concern than would ordinarily Himyar in the Yemen, Oman, and Bahrain), and
be the case. even predicted that monarchy would be in his
The traditional Islamic political philosophy of monarchy tribe, the Quraysh (106:1–3): ‘Kingship is from
is summarised by Ghazi bin Muhammad as follows: within Quraysh ….’ (Narrated by Al-Tirmithi in
Kitab al-Manaqib, Bab Fadl al-Yameen, no. 3936.)
‘Traditional, Orthodox Islam has always endorsed Indeed, the first four Caliphs—the Prophet’s 
monarchy as such. In the Holy Qur’an, God is the successors—were all kinsmen of the Prophet ,
in various degrees, from Quraysh (the Prophet 
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