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

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Her Majesty Queen
Rania al Abdullah
Queen of the Hashemite
Kingdom of Jordan
Country: Jordan
Date of Birth: 31 August 1970
Source of Influence: Philanthropy,
Women’s Issues, Media, Political
Influence: Over 1.3 million followers
on Twitter, about 200,000 fans on
Facebook and 27,000 subscribers on
YouTube channel; Queen of Jordan
School of Thought: Sunni in a Modern
Style
Rank: 2010:32
Her Majesty Queen Rania al Abdullah is
the wife by marriage of HM King Abdullah
II, but is also in her own right an educational
activist with global appeal. Through
sheer hard work, she has developed the
biggest virtual following of any Muslim in
the world, and she defends and humanizes
Islam and Arab causes in-and to-the West
as effectively as any Muslim scholar in the
world.
Educational Ambassador
HM Queen Rania is the initiator and key
leader behind the launch of educational
initiatives such as the Jordanian Madrasati,
‘My School’, a five-year project for the development
of Jordan’s public school system.
She is also the co-founder and global chair
of the ‘1 Goal: Education For All’ campaign
which is based around the 2010 FIFA World
Cup and calls for the complete primary
schooling of all boys and girls in the world
by 2015.
Intercultural Dialogue
Queen Rania has an amazingly popular
YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/
user/QueenRania) and website (www.
queenrania.jo). In April 2010, Queen Rania
launched her children’s book ‘The Sandwich
Swap’ (which made the New York Times
best-sellers list) through the United Nations
Bookshop in an initiative to promote crosscultural
understanding among youth.
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His Excellency
President Abdullah
Gül
President of the Republic of
Turkey
Country: Turkey
Date of Birth: 29 October 1950
Source of Influence: Political
Influence: Leads government of 77.4
million Turkish citizens
School of Thought: Traditional Sunni
Rank: 2010:33 · 2009:28
Abdullah Gül is the 11th president of the
Republic of Turkey and the first modern
Turkish head-of-state from an Islamist
background. Facing intense secularist opposition
to his political career, Gül has
maintained a focus on democratic reform.
As prime minister, and subsequently as
foreign minister, Gül pursued a pro-active
foreign policy and largely succeeded in
striking a balance between Turkey’s traditional
Western-anchored foreign policy
priorities and its new interests in the Middle
East and the Muslim world.
Influence through Pragmatic Leadership
Gül’s political influence in Turkey and
abroad derives from his ability to reconcile
the demands of a predominantly religious
electorate with those of the entrenched secularism
of the Turkish Republic. Together
with Erdogan, Gül has worked to expand
the sphere of democratic rights in Turkey,
which in turn have benefited the predominantly
traditional and religious segments
of Turkish society. Gül continues to play
a significant role in the current efforts to
find a lasting solution to Turkey’s Kurdish
issue. Gül was also the first Turkish politician
to visit Armenia.
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