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

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HIS EMINENCE SHEIKH ABDULLAH BIN BAYYAH
Deputy-Head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars
Sheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah’s influence is derived from
his scholarship, teaching and preaching. Uniquely, all of
the different sects and schools of Muslims respect him as
a scholar. Testament to this is the notable fact that whilst
he is not a Salafi, the Saudi government promulgates his
fatwas as authoritative. He is an instructor at King Abdul
Aziz University in Jeddah and is the deputy head of the
Union of Muslim Scholars, under Yusuf al Qaradawi.
Diplomat
As a member of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy or Al Majma’ al Fiqhi of the
Organization of the Islamic Conference, Bin Bayyah is at the forefront of the legal arm of a
dynamic organization with a permanent delegation to the United Nations.
Author
Having written numerous texts, his scholarly explorations have gone global through speaking
engagements that draw crowds of tens of thousands of Muslims. He has spoken at length
about the endurance of the Islamic legal tradition and also written extensively on rulings for
Muslims living as minorities in foreign lands, or fiqh al aqaliyaat.
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SHEIKHA MUNIRA QUBEYSI
Leader of the Qubeysi Movement
Country: Mauritania
Date of Birth: 1935
Source of Influence: Scholarly
Influence: Significant influence
as a leading contemporary
scholar of Islamic Jurisprudence
School of Thought: Traditional
Sunni, Maliki
Munira Qubeysi is the head of the largest women-only
Islamic movement in the world. It offers Islamic education
exclusively to girls and women. Qubeysi commands
around 80 schools in Damascus alone, teaching more than
75 thousand students. She is one of the most significant
Islamic scholars in the world; her movement focuses on
learning the Qur’an and six Hadith collections by heart.
She is the most influential Muslim woman in the world,
albeit in great discretion.
Country: Syria
Date of Birth: 1933
Source of Influence: Scholarly
Influence: More than 75
thousand students in Damascus
alone
School of Thought: Traditional
Sunni
Female Muslim Order
Qubeysi is influential as the leader of an incredibly successful educational movement. The
religious education of women had previously been neglected so the emergence of a femalespecific
educational initiative has become very popular, making the al Qubaisiat, in numbers,
the leading Islamic movement in Syria.
Leading an Islamic Revival in Syria
Qubeysi’s influence in Syria is due to the fact that she has been able to grow a very large
network of madrassas (religious schools) without attracting the criticism of the government,
which has traditionally been dubious of large networks of Muslim organizations.
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