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

SCHOLARLY
MOROCCO
azzouzi, prof. dr abdelhaq
President of CMIESI, the Moroccan Center for Interdisciplinary International and Strategic
Studies. CMIESI is a significant organization working in innovative ways to address issues of
concern whether they be social, geopolitical, diplomatic, or political.
al murini, dr al jilani
Al Murini is a professor at Sidi Mohammad bin Abdullah University in Fez. He is an expert on
Islamic Philosophy and Muslim Spain and speaks at numerous international conferences on these
topics.
PALESTINE
al tamimi, his eminence justice sheikh dr tayseer rajab
Al Tamimi is a leading scholar and chief Islamic justice of Palestine. He is the head of the Palestinian
Center for Religion and Civilization Dialogue. He is popular as an outspoken thinker and leader
on Palestinian-Israeli relations.
SAUDI ARABIA
al qarni, dr aaidh
Dr Aaidh al Qarni is a prominent Saudi scholar, author, and activist preacher, best known for his
popular self-help book Don’t Be Sad (La Tahzan), which has sold millions of copies around the
world. Dr al Qarni has over 800 Islamic audio lectures and is a prolific writer and preacher for
tolerance.
al saffar, sheikh hasan musa
Hasan Musa al Saffar is a Saudi Shi‘a reformist leader who has made significant progress in
communicating with Salafi leaders and other senior officials in Saudi Arabia. This is important
as sectarian tensions throughout the Muslim world have risen with the increased Sunni-Shi'a
hostilities in Iraq.
SYRIA
al bizm, his eminence dr abdul-fattah
Al Bizm is the Grand Mufti of Damascus and the director of the Al Fatih Islamic Institute, Syria.
The Al Fatih Islamic Institute is one of the leading educational institutes in Syria. Al Bizm teaches
law at the institute and has cited the environment as a central responsibility for Muslims.
bugha, mustafa
Bugha is a famous Syrian religious thinker, and jurist. He was formerly a lecturer at the respected
al Fatih Islamic Institute in Damascus before moving to Jordan.
hassoun, his eminence sheikh dr ahmad badr al din
Hassoun is the Grand Mufti of the Republic of Syria. He graduated in sharia studies at Al Azhar
in Egypt—the second oldest university in the world, founded in 975 CE. Hassoun was mufti of
Aleppo until the death of Ahmed Kuftaro in 2004. He is an advocate of interfaith dialogue, and is
very vocal in his opinion that states should be ruled on a civil rather than religious basis, believing
that secularism is not synonymous with atheism, a sentiment that holds great sway in Syria’s
religiously diverse society.
TUNISIA
ennaifer, h’mida
Ennaifer is a key player in worldwide efforts towards better Muslim-Christian relations. He is
a lecturer in Muslim theology at the Higher Institute of Theology at the Zeituna University in
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