THE 500 MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSLIMS - CESD

Politicalmillion people. Deby holds great domestic authority through his ability to consolidate power inChad. Chad was previously affected by a high frequency of coup d’états. He participated in thenegotiated peace agreement in February 2010 between the rebel groups of the Justice and EqualityMovement and the Sudanese government.East AfricaSOMALIAahmed, his excellency president sheikh sharif sheikhAhmed is the ninth president of Somalia and former commander in chief of the Islamic CourtsUnion—a previously militaristic organization that had significant control over the country, whichhas now reformed into a Somalian political party. Ahmed was educated in sharia in Sudan andLibya and is a Hafiz of the Qur’an (one who has memorized the entire Qur’an) and the spiritualleader of the Idriseeyah order of Sufi Islam in Somalia.aweys, sheikh hassan dahirAweys is an influential Somali leader. He is a Salafi and the former head of the Shura Council of theIslamic Courts Union of Somalia. In April 2009 Aweys returned to Somalia and declared war onthe African Peace Keeping Forces (AMISOM). Although marginalized from mainstream Somalipolitics, he continues to enjoy significant support from the Al Shabbab resistance movement inSomalia.West AfricaMALItouré, his excellency president amadou toumaniTouré is the president of Mali which has a 95 percent majority of Muslims. He overthrew themilitary ruler, Moussa Traoré in 1991, then handed power to civilian authorities the next year.Touré won the presidential elections in 2002, with a broad coalition of support and was easily reelectedin 2007.AsiaAFGHANISTANkarzai, his excellency president hamidHamid Karzai was elected as president of Afghanistan for a full five-year term in September 2004,becoming the first directly-elected president in the country’s history. He was then reelected to asubsequent five-year term in a controversial election in 2009. Karzai has been able to build upconsiderable support from the Afghans. Under his presidency Afghanistan’s economy has beengrowing rapidly for the first time in many years. His administration does, however, suffer fromwidespread allegations of corruption.AZERBAIJANaliyev, his excellency president ilhamAliyev is the current president of Azerbaijan and the chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party.Although not outwardly religious, he is a Muslim and his advocacy of a moderate cultural Islamis representative of the demands of the population of the country. Azerbaijan, with a populationof approximately 7.5 million Muslims is an active member of the Organization of the IslamicConference.BANGLADESHwazed, her excellency sheikha hasinaSheikha Hasina Wazed is the current prime minister of Bangladesh and the president of one of110