Muslims Top World Intellectuals
IslamOnline.net & Newspapers Mon. Jun. 23, 2008
CAIRO - Muslim scholars, politicians, economists, scientists and scholars from
around the world are topping the list of the world's Top 20 Public
Intellectuals unveiled on Monday, June 23.
"The top 10 public intellectuals in this year's reader poll are all Muslim,"
the American magazine Foreign policy said announcing the list.
Foreign policy, the award-winning magazine of global politics, and Britain's
Prospect magazine have conducted a global public poll to pick the world's top
intellectuals and thinkers who are shaping the tenor of our time with their
ideas.
Over the past four weeks, more than 50,000 people voted for their top choices
from the original long list of 100 figures.
Turkey's influential Fethullah Gülen topped the list, the magazines' second in
three years.
"An Islamic scholar with a global network of millions of followers, Gülen is
both revered and reviled in his native Turkey," Foreign Policy said introducing
Gülen.
"To members of the Gülen movement, he is an inspirational leader who encourages
a life guided by moderate Islamic principles. To his detractors, he represents
a threat to Turkey's secular order."
Prominent scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi was voted the third top intellectual
in the world.
"The host of the popular Shari`ah and Life TV program on Al Jazeera, Qaradawi
issues weekly fatwas on everything from whether Islam forbids all consumption
of alcohol...to whether fighting US troops in Iraq is a legitimate form of
resistance," said Foreign Policy.
Egypt's young televangelist Amr Khaled came sixth.
"With a charismatic oratory and casual style, Khaled blends messages of
cultural integration and hard work with lessons on how to live a purpose-driven
Islamic life," the magazine said.
Diverse
The top ten Muslims were not all scholars.
Noble laureate Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist who pioneered the
microfinance industry, was voted the second top intellectual in the world.
"More than 30 years ago, Yunus loaned several dozen poor entrepreneurs in his
native Bangladesh a total of $27. It was the beginning of a lifetime devoted to
fighting poverty through microfinance," said the Foreign Policy.
From economy to literature, Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, who is also a Noble
laureate, took the fourth spot on the list.
"His skillfully crafted works lay bare his native country's thorny relationship
with religion, democracy, and modernity, earning him a Nobel Prize in
literature in 2006."
Notable Pakistani politician and rights activist Aitzaz Ahsan was ranked fifth
among the world's top intellectuals.
"President of Pakistan's Supreme Court Bar Association, Ahsan has been a vocal
opponent of President Pervez Musharraf's rule," said the American magazine.
"When Musharraf dismissed the head of the Supreme Court in March 2007, it was
Ahsan who led the legal challenge to reinstate the chief justice and rallied
thousands of lawyers who took to the streets in protest."
Iranian philosopher Abdolkarim Soroush and renowned Swiss scholar Tariq Ramadan
came seven and eight respectively.
Ugandan anthropologist Mahmood Mamdani came ninth.
"His work explores the role of citizenship, identity, and the creation of
historical narratives in postcolonial Africa."
Another Muslim human rights activist who made it to the world's Top 20 Public
Intellectuals is Shirin Ebadi, Iran's first female judge who came in the tenth
spot.
"A fierce nationalist who sees no incompatibility between Islam and democracy,
Ebadi became the first Iranian to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003."
PoEtEsS
"Happiness is the key to the foundation of satisfaction, contentment and
acceptance"…Zohra Moosa
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{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom
(i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue
with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone
astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy
Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in
His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites
(men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I
am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if
Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of
camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever
calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who
follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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