THE 500 MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSLIMS - CESD

ScholarlyNorth AmericaCANADAmattson, ingridIngrid Mattson is the director of the Islamic Chaplaincy Program and professor at the HartfordSeminary in Hartford, Connecticut. In 2001 she was elected vice president of ISNA and in 2006 shewas elected president, becoming the first woman and the first convert to hold such high positionswithin the organization. ISNA is the largest Muslim organization in North America, and is anumbrella organization for numerous local and regional Muslim societies and groups in the UnitedStates and Canada.UNITED STATESal alwani, dr taha jaberAl Alwani is an active academic and organizer in the international community of Sunni Muslimscholars. He is the president of Cordoba University, a former chairman of The Fiqh Councilof North America, a member of the OIC’s International Islamic Fiqh Academy, and a formerpresident of the US office of the International Institute of Islamic Thought. Al Alwani is also theauthor of acclaimed works such as: Source Methodology in Islamic Jurisprudence; Towards a Fiqhfor Minorities; The Ethics of Disagreement in Islam; Ijtihad; and The Quran and the Sunnah: TheTime-Space Factor. He is also a senior fellow of the Aal al Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought inJordan.estes, sheikh yusufSheikh Yusuf Estes is a well-known Muslim preacher of a moderate Salafi background who lecturesall over the world. He is the former national Muslim chaplain for the US Bureau of Prisons anduses technology, such as uploading lectures on the Internet and appearing on television to spreadIslam in an accessible manner. His website has over 8 million unique hits.keller, sheikh nuhKeller is a scholar and specialist in Islamic law. He holds the distinction of writing the firstIslamic legal work in a European language to receive certification from Al Azhar—the secondoldest university in the world, founded in 975 CE. Keller possesses a number of ijazas in Islamicjurisprudence, and teaches students from all over the world. He is a Sheikh of the Shadilyyah Sufiorder.nyang, sulayman sNyang is a professor of African Studies at Howard University and writes extensively on Islam inAfrica. He is a former deputy ambassador and head of chancery at the Gambian Embassy in SaudiArabia, and a former consultant to several national and international agencies.shakir, imam zaidShakir is an influential Islamic scholar currently affiliated with the Zaytuna Institute. He foundedMasjid al Islam in Connecticut, founded the Tri-State Muslim Education Initiative and theConnecticut Muslim Coordinating Committee. He has worked with Shiekh Hamza Yusuf todevelop the first American Islamic seminary, which graduated its inaugural class in 2008. Theyhave since co-founded Zaytuna College, which aspires to become a fully accredited institution.siddiqui, prof. dr muzammil hProfessor Siddiqui is chairman of the Fiqh Council of North America. He is a prolific lecturer,adjunct professor of Islamic Studies, director of the Islamic Society of the Orange County Mosque,with around 7,000 members, and is the former president of the Islamic Society of North America.He is very active in interfaith efforts and is the author of a weekly column on Islamic law.106