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

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Development
a founding member of a microfinancing organization aimed at Muslim and indigenous women—
the Muslim Professional and Business Women’s Association of the Philippines. As a founding
member of the Magbassa Kita Foundation, she was responsible for raising $2 million to fund the
foundation’s program for literacy in the Muslim and indigenous communities.
THAILAND
sabur, m abdus
Sabur is the secretary general and co-founder of the Asian Resource Foundation and the Asian
Muslim Action Network. He is also co-director of the School of Peace Studies and Conflict
Transformation in Bangkok. In the nineties Sabur served as coordinator of the Asian Cultural
Forum on Development (ACFOD). He has edited a number of publications on peace and
dialogue in Southeast Asia including Understanding Human Rights: Perspectives from South
Asia, Interfaith Conference on the Culture of Peace, Globalization and Asian Perspectives for an
Alternative Development and Towards Peace in Multi-Ethnic Asia.
Europe
BELARUS
kanapatsky, ibragim
Kanapatsky is the deputy chairman of the Islamic Association of Belarus. The Islamic Association
is currently developing the infrastructure for Muslim communities in Belarus, building a mosque
in Minsk, as well as renovating the ancient mosque in Smilovichi and the Muslim cemeteries that
exist throughout the country.
BOSNIA
mahmutcehajic, his excellency prof. dr rusmir
Mahmutcehajic is the president of the International Forum Bosnia, and a former vice president
of Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has been incredibly important in efforts to heal the ethnic, religious
and social divisions that happened as a result of the Bosnian War in the mid-1990s. His projects
are some of the most successful at producing real healing between communities. He works in his
hometown of Stolac, which is one of the most deeply divided towns in Bosnia.
BULGARIA
hadzhi, his eminence mustafa alish
Hadzhi is Bulgaria’s chief mufti. Bulgaria has recently been referred to as ‘Istanbulgaria’ because of
the importance of Turkish-Bulgarian relations. Hadzhi is important as the leader of the Muslim
community in a predominantly Christian state with a large influx of Muslims. Bulgaria’s mufti,
Mustafa Alish Hadzhi, has recently been in the news because of a decision to prevent the building
of a new mosque; he is taking the case to the EU.
FINLAND
ismail, atik
Ismail is a famous former professional footballer and a Tatar community leader in the city of
Kuopio, Finland. He regularly speaks on television to explain the indigenous brand of Islam of
his Tatar community, and debate exponents of more radical interpretations of Islam. He is wellreceived
by the Finnish public who can identify with him.
ITALY
qaddorah, jamal [new]
Qaddorah is a representative of Italy’s largest trade union CGIL. In 2010, he helped to organize the
‘A Day Without Us’ immigrant rally across Italy. The strike drew well over 20,000 participants and
helped to highlight the important role that immigrants play in the Italian economy. A significant
portion of immigrants come to Italy from countries such as Nigeria, Morocco, and Bangladesh
and make up about 8 percent of the labour force there.