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

IRAQ
al sadr, his eminence ayatollah al faqih seyyed hussein ismail
Ayatollah al Faqih Seyyed Hussein Ismail Al Sadr is the most senior Shi‘a religious cleric in
Baghdad, Iraq. He heads the Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Ismail Al Sadr Foundation Trust, which
runs humanitarian, development, and peace and reconciliation projects in Iraq. His role as a social
leader and humanitarian has increased significantly during the recent hostilities in Iraq.
JORDAN
al abbadi, his excellency abdul salam
Al Abbadi is the current secretary general of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, based in Saudi
Arabia. The academy is the highest legal authority of the Organization of the Islamic Conference,
and the highest non-sectarian Islamic legal authority in the Muslim world. He is a professor of
Islamic jurisprudence, and former president of the Aal al Bayt University.
al qudah, his eminence sheikh dr nuh ali salman
Al Qudah is currently the Grand Mufti of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and has held other
notable positions in the past including Chief Islamic Justice of Jordan. He is formerly a religious
leader in the Jordanian army with the rank of Major General in 1992.
al saqqaf, sheikh seyyed hasan
Al Saqqaf is Director of Dar Al Imam Al Nawawi, an Amman-based publishing and distribution
organization.
LEBANON
fadlallah, his eminence grand ayatollah sayeed mohammad hussein
Grand Ayatollah Fadlallah is Lebanon’s highest Shi‘a religious authority. He has reached the status
of marja taqlid—the highest scholarly status in Usuli Twelver Islam. He has an important popular
following among the Shi‘a in Lebanon and has founded several orphanages, schools, Islamic
centers and religious schools including Lebanon’s Islamic Sharia Institute.
qabbani, his eminence dr mohammad rashid
Mohammad Rashid Qabbani is the Grand Mufti of Lebanon and therefore the country’s leading
Sunni scholar. He speaks out regularly against sectarianism and violence.
LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA
nayed, prof. dr aref ali
Nayed is an important scholar in the field of Christian-Muslim relations. He is a former professor
at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (Rome), a former professor at the
International Institute for Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC, Malaysia), and a senior
advisor to the Cambridge Interfaith Program at the Faculty of Divinity in Cambridge, UK.
MOROCCO
abdul-rahman, dr taha
Abdul-Rahman is a Moroccan philosopher famous for his work in trying to create an ethical
humanistic modernism on the basis of the ethics and values of Islam. He has taught logic in
Muhammad V University for over 30 years. He has won the Moroccan Book Prize twice, and was
awarded the ISESCO Prize for Islamic Philosophy in 2006. He is the president of the Wisdom
Circle of Thinkers, Morocco, and a member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.
92
SCHOLARLY