The 500 Most Influential Muslims - The Royal Islamic Strategic ...

144
Development
MOZAMBIQUE
cheba, sheikh muhamade aboulai
Cheba is the provincial director of 139 registered madrasahs (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 percent 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. Elmi 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.
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 on the development of the Muslim community, and the fair
treatment of Muslims. He has been active at major international conferences trying to deal with
the problem of Islamophobia.
NIGERIA
ashafa, imam muhammad
Ashafa 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 gained a wide audience
and mass interest in their particular story through speaking on the issue around the world.
Asia
AFGHANISTAN
sarabi, her excellency dr habiba
Habiba Sarabi became the first female governor in Afghanistan in 2005. She is a hematologist by
profession and encourages environmental reform. In 2008, she was honoured by Time Magazine
for her help in establishing Afghanistan’s first national park, Band-e Amir.
AZERBAIJAN
bayramov, vugar [new]
Vugar Bayramov is a leading economist and in 2009 was nominated for Person of the Year,
according to a public survey by local media network, Media FM. He is the chairman of a top