THE 500 MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSLIMS - CESD

AdministrativeMALDIVESsaeed, mohamed shaheem ali [new]Saeed is the minister of state for Islamic Affairs for the Republic of Maldives. His knowledge ofIslam has provided good leadership to his ministry, especially in the drafting of regulations underthe Religious Unity Act of the Maldives which, he believes, would provide a legal framework toprotect Islam. Saeed is also collaborating with the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation tointroduce a new television channel which would focus on relating Islam to the broader issues ofsociety. He was a member of the World Islamic People’s Leadership and the Islamic Fiqh Academyin the Maldives.PAKISTANsiddiqui, dr anwar hussain [new]Siddiqui is the president of the International Islamic University in Islamabad, a school aiming toproduce scholars and practitioners able to use their Islamic learning to meet the economic, social,political, and intellectual needs of the ummah.SRI LANKAmufthi, m.i.m. rizvi [new]M.I.M. Rizvi Mufthi is the head of All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), an organization thatplays an active role as the Islamic religious higher authority of Sri Lanka with 3000 active membersunder its 22 districts and 15 divisional branches. ACJU has recently established a Halal CertificationAuthority in Sri Lanka and also publishes a quarterly which lists halal-certified organisations andproducts. One of the pioneering scholars in the field of Islamic banking and finance, Mufthi is amember of the sharia advisory councils for a number of Islamic financial institutions in Sri Lanka.UZBEKISTANalemov, his eminence usmanAlemov has been the chief mufti of Uzbekistan since 2006. He is respected for his moderate stanceand proven record in coping with extremists in the Samarkand region where he was formerly amufti. Alemov was instrumental in making Tashkent the ISESCO Capital of Islamic Culture for2007.EuropeALBANIAkoci, hafiz sabriHafiz Sabri Koci is chairman of the Albanian Islamic Community, which is the country’s rulingIslamic body. He spent 27 years in a prison labour camp under the communist rule during whichhe authored many books about Islam. These works were so inspiring that he was elected as leaderof Albanian Muslims after his release.AUSTRIAshakfeh, annasShakfeh is the head of the Islamic Faith Community in Austria (IGGIOe). He has been itspresident for around a decade, building a close relationship with the Austrian state on communityintegration. Shakfeh also leads the Islamic Education Authority. In 2008 he was decorated for hisservices to the Republic of Austria by President Heinz Fischer.BELARUSvoronovich, ismail mukharemovichVoronovich runs the Muslim Spiritual Directorate of Belarus which is linked to a number of smallcommunities around Belarus, with the largest congregation based at a mosque in Slonim.120