THE 500 MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSLIMS - CESD

AdministrativeOceaniaNEW ZEALANDghani, dr anwar [new]Ghani is president of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ). His workleading FIANZ has been considerable; building bridges with the government as well as with thebroader New Zealand population and leaders of other faiths.kireka-whaangaKireka-Whaanga is the leader of the Aotearoa Maori Muslim Association (AMMA) the mainorganization for New Zealand’s Maori Muslims. Islam is an increasingly important religion forthe indigenous population of New Zealand, and is the fastest-growing religion amongst the Maoricommunity.CaribbeanJAMAICAmuhammad, mustafaMuhammad is a spokesperson for the Muslim population of Jamaica and has been the presidentof the Islamic Council of Jamaica for the past 14 years. His work involves education and halalcertification. He oversees the eleven mosques in Jamaica that are attended regularly by an estimated5,000 Muslims.TRINIDAD AND TOBAGOali, imam yacoobAli is the president of the largest and most influential Muslim organization in Trinidad and Tobago,the Anjuman Sunnat ul Jamaat Association (ASJA) which was founded in 1936. Ali’s organizationruns numerous schools and focuses on the importance of education for Muslim youth.Central AmericaEL SALVADORal salvadori, mustafaMustafa Al Salvadori is the president of the Shi’a community in El Salvador. His work, besidesthat with his own community, has tended to involve education about Islam to the mainly Catholicpopulation of El Salvador which has become, broadly speaking, fearful of Islam over the pastdecade.South AmericaARGENTINAhallar, muhammad yusufHallar is an active figure in Argentina involved in community development for Latino Muslims.He has conducted comprehensive research on Muslims in Latin America and holds a numberof positions including secretary general of the Islamic Organization of Latin America and thedirector of the Office of Islamic Culture and is a member of the Expert Committee on MinorityRights for the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).BRAZILothman, abdul-baqi sayedOthman is the director of Rio de Janeiro’s Charitable Society of Muslims (Sociedad de BeneficienteMuçulmana). He has represented Brazilian Muslims in many international conferences. Othamnis also a da’wa activist, and runs the IQRA publishing center in Brazil where he helps publishtranslations of various Islamic books.123