THE 500 MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSLIMS - CESD

Issues of the DayInterfaithGLOBALthe ‘a common word’ groupThis group of 138 Islamic scholars and clerics is the catalyst behind a global bridge-building effortbetween Christians and Muslims. ‘A Common Word Between Us and You’ is an open letter issuedfrom Muslim leaders to Christian leaders about the common ground between both religiouscommunities, highlighting points of commonality found in the commandment to love God andone’s neighbor; (www.acommonword.com).EnvironmentNORTH AMERICA/ USAnasr, professor dr seyyed hossein (p. 89)Nasr has tackled issues regarding the environment from a scholarly perspective, leading amovement to use Islamic teachings to help in the fight against climate change. The term Nasremploys is ‘eco-theology’. His is an important figure in advocacy that promotes environmentalismunderscored as a matter of religious duty.UNITED ARAB EMIRATESal nahyan, his highness sheikh khalifa bin zayed (p. 114)Al Nahyan is the president of one of the fastest-growing nations in the world, the United ArabEmirates. He is funding the construction of the world’s first eco-city, Masdar, with zero carbonemissions which will run mostly on renewable energy. The cost of Masdar is estimated between$15-30 billion.ASIA/MALDIVESnasheed, his excellency mohamedAs the president of the Madives, Nasheed is one of the most environmentally conscious stateleaders in the world. In the earliest stages of his political career, Nasheed was imprisoned for hiscrticism of his country’s government and became an Amnesty Prisoner of Conscience. Today,Nasheed has managed to make the Maldives carbon-neutral within a decade by moving thecountry’s energy reliance to wind and solar power only. Time magazine named Nasheed #1 in the‘Leaders & Visionaries’ category within its annual list of Heroes of the Environment in 2009.AIDS/HIVSOUTHERN AFRICA/SOUTH AFRICAesack, faridFarid Esack runs a faith-based organization in the field of HIV/AIDS. His organization, PositiveMuslims, was established in 2000. It offers services from an Islamic perspective and encouragescompassion, mercy and non-judgementalism towards all humankind. South Africa is one of theareas worst affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.ASIA/INDIAengineer, asghar ali (p. 102)The Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN), of which Engineer is chairman, seeks to buildawareness and capacity among Muslim communities in Asia so that they may effectively respondto the growing problem of HIV/AIDS.172