the 500 most influential muslims - The Royal Islamic Strategic ...

activist and has taken it upon himself to present the need to address social issues as religious duties.
He works on health issues, exploitation, and has built bridges with the non-Muslims in Malawi. He
has also fought against the forced teaching of religious texts to schoolchildren.
MOZAMBIQUE
cheba, sheikh muhamade aboulai
Cheba is the provincial director of 139 registered madrassas (Islamic schools), where pupils start
learning about HIV/AIDS as early as six years of age. He raises awareness that the disease is not a
divine punishment, and sees mosques as the perfect place for the dissemination of such knowledge.
HIV/AIDS affects roughly 15% of the adult population of Mozambique.
SOMALIA
elmi, asha haji
Asha Haji Elmi is a peace activist in Somalia who in 2008 won the Right Livelihood Award (known as
the alternative Nobel Prize). She is an activist for women’s rights and formed the Six Clan movement
when women were excluded from the peace process in Somalia that involved the five traditional
clans. She is also the founder of Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC) and campaigns internationally
against female genital mutilation in Somalia and in other areas of Africa.
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DEvELOPMENT
WEST AFRICA
BURKINA FASO
aboubakary, maiga
Aboubakary is the secretary general of the Burkina Faso Islamic Organization for Population and
Development. His organization promotes family-planning in mosques around the country. The
tremendous growth rate in Burkina Faso has put great strain on the economy there, and threatens
to sharpen the already serious problem of poverty.
COTE D’IVOIRE (IVORY COAST)
abdoulaziz, sheikh sarba
Abdoulaziz is the leader of the Association Soulatine Pour Les Actions De Bienfaisance. He works in
Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso to achieve a sustainable development of Islam, and a fair treatment
of Muslims. He has been active at major international conferences trying to deal with the problem
of Islamophobia.
NIGERIA
ashafa, imam muhammad
IAshafa is the co-director of the Muslim-Christian Interfaith Mediation Centre in the city of
Kaduna, Northern Nigeria—leading task forces to resolve conflicts across the country. He works
with Christian Pastor James Wuye to promote peace between religions. Both were injured and
affected by inter-religious violence. Pastor Wuye and Imam Ashafa have received a wide audience
and mass interest in their particular story through speaking on the issue around the world.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
SOUTH AFRICA
cajee, zeinoul abedien
Cajee is the CEO of the National Awqaf Foundation of South Africa. The National Awqaf Foundation
is an independent community-based and community-owned trust, dedicated to the institution
of Waqf and the empowerment of communities.