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

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HIS EMINENCE SHEIKH AL AZHAR
DR MUHAMMAD SAYYID TANTAWI
Grand Sheikh of the Al Azhar University,
Grand Imam of the Al Azhar Mosque
Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi is the Grand
Imam of the Al Azhar Mosque and the Grand
Sheikh of the Al Azhar University—the second
oldest university in the world, founded in 975 CE.
He is the leading authority for the vast majority of
Sunni Muslims, and the head of the foremost Islamic
educational institution.
Spiritual Leader of Al Azhar University
Tantawi's central influence comes from his position
Country: Egypt
Date of Birth: 28 October 1928
Source of Influence: Scholarly,
Administrative
Influence: Highest scholarly
authority for a majority of Sunni
Muslims
School of Thought: Traditional
Sunni
as the current head of the Al Azhar University. Al Azhar is the second oldest university
in the world, and is the premier institution for Sunni Islamic scholarship, with a global
outreach through 72 feeder schools, and more affiliated organizations. At any one time
there are close to 300,000 students studying at Al Azhar, whose degrees will make them
well-respected scholars of Islam in their communities. Including schools that are part
of Al Azhar waqf initiatives there are close to 2 million students. This immense size and
grounded respect make the head of Al Azhar an extraordinarily powerful and academically
influential person. His position at the head of such an organization is due to his education
in the leading institutions of Islamic education around the world. He has been a student
of the Islamic sciences for over 60 years—studying in Egypt and Libya before leading
the postgraduate department of Qur’anic commentary (tafsir) at the Islamic University
of Medina in Saudi Arabia. In the mid-eighties Tantawi moved back to Egypt to head
Al Azhar's faculty of Islamic Studies and Arabic, before being made Mufti of Egypt—a
position he held for 10 years until he became the Grand Sheikh of Al Azhar.
Key Commentator on the Qur’an
Tantawi's ability to talk about Islam and his scholarly influence are founded on the
Islamic practice of tafsir, that is, commentary on the Qur’an. His current influence is
seen in his close participation with the creation of the first online tafsir database (www.
altafsir.com).
Moderate Authority
Tantawi has secured his place as the bastion of Islamic moderation through a number of
pragmatic legal rulings. He has been most influential as the moderate voice of the Islamic
establishment. On thorny issues of the day, Tantawi has kept a cool head seeking judicious
and restrained responses. On the issue of terrorism, Tantawi was quick to brand the
perpetrators of terrorist acts as heretics, stating that it is not courageous 'to kill an innocent
person, or to kill thousands of people, including men and women and children'. On other
controversial issues such as apostasy, abortion in cases of rape, and female circumcision
Tantawi has bucked popular trends and taken a liberal view.
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