THE 500 MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSLIMS - CESD

25SHEIKH SALMAN AL OUDASaudi Scholar and EducatorA leading Saudi sheikh, Salman al Ouda is a formerhard-line cleric turned advocate of peaceful coexistence.He is increasingly influential due to his innovativereach in the Muslim world propagated via Islam-Today.net and his persistent efforts ministering tothe needs of the global Muslim community.Key Scholar of Salafi NetworkSheikh Salman al Ouda is a leading scholar of the Salafimovement. Although he is not noted for propagatinginnovative ideas within the network, he has notableinfluence in the movement due to his use of multiplemodes of education (internet, audiovisual media, andprint) to educate the large body of Salafi Muslims inthe Islamic sciences. Sheikh al Ouda’s website bringsCountry: Saudi ArabiaDate of Birth: May, 1955Source of Influence: Scholarly,MediaInfluence: Supervises IslamToday.netwith 2,000 daily hits,50 published books, numeroustelevision appearances thatreach millions of people acrossthe globeSchool of Thought: ModerateSalafiRank: 2010:25 · 2009:19 together a diverse range of Islamic scholars and educators to provide guidance in Islamicthought.Influence Through Virtual Islamic ResourcesSheikh al Ouda supervises all content published on IslamToday.net—a website that offers virtualresources for Islamic education in multiple languages. His work has far-reaching impactin an age when religion is spread through media and technology, with IslamToday.net at theforefront of this trend.In response to a February 2010 ruling from the Al Azhar Fatwa Committee condemning theuse of Facebook, Sheikh al Ouda defended the social networking website, stating that he usesit to communicate with Muslims across the globe and to provide Islamic guidance online.Sheikh al Ouda has over 4,000 Facebook friends and over 11,000 fans through the site.Innovative EducatorAl Ouda developed a following from weekly talks at his local mosque in Buraydah and has becomean authority for Muslims and non-Muslims worldwide who access IslamToday.net—aSaudi-funded website dedicated to providing Islamic educational resources in English, Arabic,French and Chinese. He also addresses Islamic issues on the Saudi satellite channel MBC.Advocate of Non-ViolenceIn an effort to distance himself from alleged connections to perpetrators of terrorism, alOuda is outspoken about the importance of inculcating love and mercy as opposed to violence(except in valid cases of self-defense) in the daily lives of Muslims. As a prominentmember of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, he led the delegation in talks withArab heads of state regarding the need for them to unite in opposition to Israel’s siege of Gazain early 2009.76