THE 500 MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSLIMS - CESD

AdministrativeRUSSIAnasibullahoglu, mufti cafer [new]Cafer Nasibullahoglu is the imam of the St Petersburg mosque. He is also the mufti of St Petersburg,which is home to approximately 700 thousand Muslims. His diverse congregation consists ofMuslims of Tatar, Kazakh, Uzbek, Tajik, and Arab origin, among others, and the sermon at StPetersburg mosque is often conducted in Arabic, Tatar, and Russian.SWEDENbin ouda, helenaBin Ouda is the chairwoman of the Muslim Council of Sweden, which is the main representativebody for Muslims living in Sweden. The council is an umbrella organization representing a numberof Islamic organizations in the country and currently has nine member organizations, with a sumtotal of about 100,000 members.SWITZERLANDmaizar, hisham [new]Hisham Maizar is president of the Federation of Islamic Organizations of Switzerland. TheFIOS was established as an umbrella organization for Islamic movements in Switzerland and hasmember organizations representing over 100 ethnic groups including Swiss, Albanians, Arabs,Bosnians, Turks, and Africans. Switzerland has as many as 400,000 Muslims and is considered tohave some of the most anti-Islamic sentiments in Europe.TURKEYbardakoglu, aliAli Bardakoglu is the president of the Presidency of Religious Affairs in Turkey (Diyanet). He is amoderate Islamic leader who supports interfaith initiatives and in 2005 appointed two women tothe position of vice mufti. The Presidency of Religious Affairs has significant influence over theactivities of religious associations and places of worship in the country. He is former professor ofIslamic law at the University of Marmara.çagrıcı, his eminence prof. dr mustafaMustafa Çagrıcı is the mufti of Istanbul as well as a theology professor and is a respected figureamong Turkish Muslims. He welcomed and prayed with Pope Benedict XVI in the Blue Mosquein 2006.UNITED KINGDOMahsan, dr manazirAhsan is the director general of the Islamic Foundation, Leicester. The Islamic Foundation is oneof the main centers working for integration and understanding of the British Muslim population.Although the center has occasionally been referred to as extremist, it does accurately reflect thediversity of the British Muslim community.bari, dr muhammad abdul [new]Bari is the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, the largest Islamic umbrellaorganization in the United Kingdom. The MCB has over 500 national, regional and local affiliateorganisations and strives to promote a full and participatory role for Muslims in public life.kazmi, nadeem [new]Nadeem Kazmi is the director for International Development of the Imam Al-Khoei BenevolentFoundation based in London. The foundation is notable for its humanitarian aid and for itscommunity work in both the UK and the United States.122