20 Most Influential Contemporary Sunni Ulama

[Muzzammil Husayn]

Assalamu alaykum

The following list is based on the new work by John Esposito called The 500 Most Influential Muslims (2009). "Influence" is difficult to measure, but here it is used for scholarly/academic achievement, administrative influence and Muslim following. These are the Sunni Ulama in the top 50 from the book in this order:

1. Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi (b 1928), the Shaykh al-Azhar
2. Yusuf al-Qaradawi (b 1926), the “global mufti”, director of Union of Muslim Scholars
3. Ali Goma‘a (b 1953), grand mufti of Egypt
4. Abd al-Aziz b Abd Allah Al al-Shaykh (b 1941), grand mufti of Saudi Arabia
5. Salman al-Ouda (b 1955), popular moderate Saudi Wahhabi shaykh
6. Sa‘id Ramadan al-Bouti (b 1929), leading Syrian scholar and head of Theology Department at Damascus University
7. Ahmed Muhammad al Tayeb (b 1946), former grand mufti of Egypt and current President of al-Azhar
8. Taqi Usmani (b 1943), leading scholar on Islamic jurisprudence, global authority on Islamic finance and Deobandi figurehead
9. Muhammad Ali al-Sabouni, leading scholar on Tafsir from Syria
10. Abd Allah b Bayyah (b 1935), deputy head of Union of Muslim Scholars
11. Munira Qubeysi (b 1933), creator of large and successful network of women-only madrasas in Syria where Qur’an and six hadith collections are memorised
12. Ahmed Tijani Ali Cisse (b 1955), head of the Tijani Order and Imam of the Grand Mosque in Medina Baye, W Africa
13. Habib Umar b Hafiz, founded and runs Dar al-Mustafa in Tarim, Yemen
14. M Din Syamsuddin (b 1958), vice general chair of Indonesian Ulema Council
15. Mahmoud Madani, head of Jami‘at ‘Ulama Hind
16. Habib Ali al-Jifri (b 1971), director general of Tabah Foundation
17. Hamza Yusuf Hanson (b 1960), head of Zaytuna Institute
18. Mustafa Ceric (b 1952), grand mufti of Bosnia
19. Sayyid Amin Miyan Qaudri, leader of Berelwis in India and disciple of the Barkatiyya Order
20. Nazim al-Haqqani (b 1922), leader of the Naqshbandi Haqqani order

These ulama hail from nations all over the world, Egypt, Syria, Qatar, Yemen, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Europe, West Africa, Turkey and America. Hajji Muhammad Abdulwahhab (the amir of Tabligh Jamat) and Fethullah Gulen were also in the list of top 50 but I don't think they would be classed as "ulama". From the above, the ones whose influence I have most felt are: Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Mufti Ali Goma'a, Ramadan al-Buti, Mufti Taqi Usmani and Hamza Yusuf. How does the influence of the above Ulama figure in your estimation, and should there be others in the "20 most influential contemporary Sunni ulama"?

Wasalam

[meelash]

I think we should worry about how we and our 'ulama feature in the ranking on the day of judgement in front of the entire mankind. Frankly, I couldn't care less what Mr. John Esposito thinks on the subject- he is too stupid to recognize the position of his own creator, but we should care how he recognizes the position of the creation?

:hawla:

[Colonel_Hardstone]

:ws:

Nothing against Shaykh Hamza Yusuf but he is a nobody outside of a select band of English speaking folks.

Let me repeat, absolutely no offense but who in their mind would put Shaykh Hamza Yusuf ahead of Maulana Maududi (RA)...again just in terms of influence (leave the discussion of positive and negative aside for a minute...)

There are many Ulama I can say of the top of my head who have had a bugger impact then both Maulana Maududi (RA) & Shaykh Hamza Yusuf put together and multiplied by 10.

This list is politically correct non-sense. South Asian Muslims alone compromise over 1/3rd of Muslim Ummah and now consider the list...

[marco100]

:ws:

Nothing against Shaykh Hamza Yusuf but he is a nobody outside of a select band of English speaking folks.

Let me repeat, absolutely no offense but who in their mind would put Shaykh Hamza Yusuf ahead of Maulana Maududi (RA)...again just in terms of influence.

There are many Ulama I can say of the top of my head who have had a bugger impact then both Maulana Maududi (RA) & Shaykh Hamza Yusuf put together and multiplied by 10.

This list is politically correct non-sense. South Asian Muslims alone compromise over 1/3rd of Muslim Ummah and now consider the list...

The number one position, is that the same person who mocked the Niqab recently?

[ENIGMA]

The number one position, is that the same person who mocked the Niqab recently?


yes.

[bugmenot]

:ws:


The number one position, is that the same person who mocked the Niqab recently?
Had it only been the niqaab!
But I reckon he's the most influential cleric in the world in the sense that non-muslims and corrupt muslims uses his odd views to attack Islam quite frequently.

[ENIGMA]

:ws:


Had it only been the niqaab!


what??!! he's spoken about other stuff??

[bugmenot]

:ws:

Well he intervened in the hijab ban in French public schools back in 2004, humiliated a niqabi girl, recently the underground barrier along the border with Gaza,... So clearly his views have impact on non-muslim medias.

[Abu Jahid]

1. Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi (b 1928), the Shaykh al-Azhar
20. Nazim al-Haqqani (b 1922), leader of the Naqshbandi Haqqani order


:salam:

I don´t think that these 2 persons can be called Sunni!

:ws:

[Abu Dajanaa]

:salam:

I don´t think that these 3 persons can be called Sunni!

:ws:

:ws:
i agree with the other 2
I dont know much about mustafa ceric. however the link speaks favourably about him
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Ceric

[Muzzammil Husayn]

:ws:

Nothing against Shaykh Hamza Yusuf but he is a nobody outside of a select band of English speaking folks.

Let me repeat, absolutely no offense but who in their mind would put Shaykh Hamza Yusuf ahead of Maulana Maududi (RA)...again just in terms of influence (leave the discussion of positive and negative aside for a minute...)
Mawdudi is not contemporary. Hamza Yusuf has links with ulama all over the world (e.g. bin Bayya, Yaqoubi), although his influence is most felt in America and by extension Europe. I wouldn't say he is a "nobody" in the Arab world. During my visit to Egypt, some of the more educated knew of him quite well and I would think the same is the case in Pakistan and the East - after all, we do live in the Information Age.

[verdana]

Fethullah Gulen were also in the list of top 50 but I don't think they would be classed as "ulama".
:salam:

Excuse me, but I must say I got extremely offended by this bold, false and slanderous expression. Why do you think so? How do you know he is not classed as "ulama"? Have you read any of his books? Or did you listen to any of his 1000 audio and video lectures? Do you know his teachers? Do you know his students?

Besides being a leader of Jamaah of millions of followers all over the world today, Muhammad Fethullah Gulen is a very well known and respected 'Alim in Turkey. He has books on:

1. Tafsir
2. Hadith
3. Siyar
4. Arabic lectures (on takallum)
5. Arabic grammar (advanced, the audio Sharh of al-Izhar of Imam Birgivi)
6. Many Books on Da'wah
7. Books on Aqidah
8. Audio and video lectures and lecture series that are over 1000 in number.
9. Books on Prophetic Invocations.
10. Many Books on Tasawwuf
11. Books on Islamic poetry
12. Audio lecture series on Fiqh, history, tafseer, siyar, hadith.
13. Many interviews
14. Treatises of lives of Sahabah (r.a)
15. Many academic Conferences such as Darwinism, Economy and Golden Generation.

As per his educational level is concerned:

First of all he started off memorizing Quran 7 pages just in a first day and became very strong Hafiz of Qur'an by the age of 10.
He was the student of Hace Muhammad Lutfi (Alvarli Efe Hazretleri) and many other leading scholars of that time. Getting their ijazah and permission to preach and teach the masses. According to the report from his student who studied hadith under him, Fethullah Gulen knows all of the Hadith of Kutub Sittah by memory. Anyone could testify to that by just listening to his audio and video lectures. Upon a question he said "I know by heart 50 thousand of Hadith Rijal like I know the biography of my father's son and I count".

Besides that, he is a man of an action.. He opened over150 private schools all over the world. Thousands of students are graduated by now. Has 3 Universities and there are 8 new Universities to come. Has over 50-100 dormitories where hundreds of students are educated.

He has taught and educated many students who are leading Fiqh scholars today (such as Ahmed Kurucan, Ali Unal). Even at this age he has private circle of students studying traditional Islamic sciences Arabic Grammar, Badi, Bayan, Balaghah, Fiqh, Tafseer, Ilmu Jarh wa Ta'dil under him.

Today, the West and East are getting to know him more and more. Just recently in an Arabic country there was a conference given by many ulama regarding the successful methodology/da'wah of Fethullah Gulen and his valuable work.

Such a scholar of great calibre as Fethullah Gulen.. that every single word that comes out of his mouth are literally recorded.. and followed upon..

And now, sadly, someone comes ahead and would dare to say that he is not classed as "ulama"?? Subhanallah.. I hope it was because you didn't know who Fethullah Gulen really is and I also hope this will clear up the issue.

May Allah forgive our sins. Amin

[Muzzammil Husayn]

Excuse me, but I must say I got extremely offended by this bold, false and slanderous expression. Why do you think so? How do you know he is not classed as "ulama"?
By ulama I meant those scholars who received a formal traditional education in the Islamic sciences. I was under the impression Fethullah Gulen received a secular education, but I may be wrong. Did he receive ijazas in the subjects you listed or was he self-taught?

[verdana]

By ulama I meant those scholars who received a formal traditional education in the Islamic sciences. I was under the impression Fethullah Gulen received a secular education, but I may be wrong. Did he receive ijazas in the subjects you listed or was he self-taught?

Of course he did.

His father withdrew him (at the age of 5-6) from elementary public school that was actually mandatory now and then. His father said "here in this school you will become a Kafir authubillah" and instead he put him to Traditional Madrasah where he got traditional Islamic education and ijaazah from all those Islamic sciences I mentioned.

[Abu Jahid]

:ws:
i agree with the other 2
I dont know much about mustafa ceric. however the link speaks favourably about him
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Ceric

:salam:

Sorry brother my mistake.... I didn´t mean him... I fixed my comment...

wasalam

[abuhajira]

:salam:

A few names are from early 20's.. if so then the list is bogus as it doesnt mention Maulana Thanvi r.a anywhere.. Afterall he was only the Mujaddid of the past century.

:ws:

[verdana]

11. Munira Qubeysi (b 1933), creator of large and successful network of women-only madrasas in Syria where Qur’an and six hadith collections are memorised.

Can somone shed light on Munira Qubeysi? How cone one enroll to her madrasah?

[verdana]

I think I found the published document:

http://www.rissc.jo/docs/muslim500-1M-lowres3.pdf

[Muzzammil Husayn]

Of course he did.

His father withdrew him (at the age of 5-6) from elementary public school that was actually mandatory now and then. His father said "here in this school you will become a Kafir authubillah" and instead he put him to Traditional Madrasah where he got traditional Islamic education and ijaazah from all those Islamic sciences I mentioned.
In that case Nazim al-Haqqani should be removed and Fethullah Gulen placed immediately after the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia. Thanks for the correction.

[Muzzammil Husayn]

:salam:

A few names are from early 20's.. if so then the list is bogus as it doesnt mention Maulana Thanvi r.a anywhere.. Afterall he was only the Mujaddid of the past century.

:ws:
The dates are their dates of birth, not when they were active. All the ulama mentioned are contemporary ulama.

[ameenur]

Assalamualaikum

You ppl should know who is is the real aalim of this ummah is , Those who follow sunnath of muhamed sallallahu alaihi wasalaam is aalim , and ulema is those who follow sunnath and dont come in camera are ulema except passport photo copy , please dont mistake me .

[meelash]

Assalamualaikum

You ppl should know who is is the real aalim of this ummah is , Those who follow sunnath of muhamed sallallahu alaihi wasalaam is aalim , and ulema is those who follow sunnath and dont come in camera are ulema except passport photo copy , please dont mistake me .

Agree.

[bugmenot]

:ws:

You can be a real 'Alim and appear on TV. Appearing on TV is perfectly lawful to many scholars.

[maneatinglizard]

:salam:

These lists are usually jokes. Tantawi has very little influence outside of Egypt, as the majority of Muslims either hate him (the religious ones), or don't even know he exists (the unreligious ones).

In addition, they only included two Salafi scholars (and one who isn't even that popular), while the Salafi movement is quite strong (though weakening recently). In fact, they left out Shaikh Salih Fawzan, who's in all fairness the senior most Alim amongst the Salafis.

Not only that, but there aren't any Tablighi scholars, and only one Deobandi, despite the fact that they are very influential just based on numbers alone.

The list in general was quite stupid. It actually made me laugh and become angry at the same time.

[flyingphtm]

:ws:

Nothing against Shaykh Hamza Yusuf but he is a nobody outside of a select band of English speaking folks.

Let me repeat, absolutely no offense but who in their mind would put Shaykh Hamza Yusuf ahead of Maulana Maududi (RA)...again just in terms of influence (leave the discussion of positive and negative aside for a minute...)

There are many Ulama I can say of the top of my head who have had a bugger impact then both Maulana Maududi (RA) & Shaykh Hamza Yusuf put together and multiplied by 10.

This list is politically correct non-sense. South Asian Muslims alone compromise over 1/3rd of Muslim Ummah and now consider the list...

I would have to agree with you Brother

[Sulaiman84]

:salam:

I was skimming the book and came across Hajji Abdul-Wahhab Sahib. When I came down to the pic it showed a bunch of brothers from an ijtimaa' which had a lil note at the bottom that said:

Photographs of Hajji Mohammed Abd al Wahhab
are not available due to the Tablighi Jamaat's strict
prohibition of the use of images of people. This
photo shows some of the millions that make their
way annually to hear Tablighi leaders at the Biswa
Ijitma in Bangladesh.

.....right on!

[Zubair]

I would have to agree with you Brother

Are you kidding? I highly disagree with you two, his impact in America is one of the greatest when compared to others, and that makes him well positioned in the top 20. The same goes for the other ulema listed, Shaykh Buti' is limited in his being influential as well, you ask an individual who was born in america and who has no roots with syria, he might not know him (unless if he watches tv). Same goes with Shaykh 'Ali Juma' and others.

[Muzzammil Husayn]

they only included two Salafi scholars (and one who isn't even that popular)...Not only that, but there aren't any Tablighi scholars, and only one Deobandi, despite the fact that they are very influential just based on numbers alone.
Salman al-Ouda supervises the IslamToday website, had many television appearances viewed by millions of people and has authored many books. There are actually 2 Deobandi scholars in the list (Mufti Taqi Usmani and Mahmoud Madani). Hajji Muhammad Abdulwahhab, the amir of the Tabligh, is ranked quite high but I wasn't sure he had a madrasa-training, but other tabligh ulama are not mentioned. The list includes Salafis, Sufis, Deobandis and Berelwis; Hanafis, Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis (if you count Wahhabis as Hanbalis); Ash'aris, Salafis and Maturidis; teachers, grand muftis, adminstrators, leaders, preachers and authors. When you say it includes "only two" Salafi scholars, that's in fact 10% of the list, which I would guess is more than their actual proportion amongst Muslims.

The new list is:

1. Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi (b 1928), the Shaykh al-Azhar
2. Yusuf al-Qaradawi (b 1926), the “global mufti”, director of Union of Muslim Scholars
3. Ali Goma‘a (b 1953), grand mufti of Egypt
4. Abd al-Aziz b Abd Allah Al al-Shaykh (b 1941), grand mufti of Saudi Arabia
5. Fethullah Gulen (b 1941), Turkish preacher, thinker, educator, philanthropist, author and intellectual
6. Salman al-Ouda (b 1955), popular moderate Saudi Wahhabi shaykh
7. Sa‘id Ramadan al-Bouti (b 1929), leading Syrian scholar and head of Theology Department at Damascus University
8. Ahmed Muhammad al Tayeb (b 1946), former grand mufti of Egypt and current President of al-Azhar
9. Taqi Usmani (b 1943), leading scholar on Islamic jurisprudence, global authority on Islamic finance and Deobandi figurehead
10. Muhammad Ali al-Sabouni, leading scholar on Tafsir from Syria
11. Abd Allah b Bayyah (b 1935), deputy head of Union of Muslim Scholars
12. Munira Qubeysi (b 1933), creator of large and successful network of women-only madrasas in Syria where Qur’an and six hadith collections are memorised
13. Ahmed Tijani Ali Cisse (b 1955), head of the Tijani Order and Imam of the Grand Mosque in Medina Baye, W Africa
14. Habib Umar b Hafiz, founded and runs Dar al-Mustafa in Tarim, Yemen
15. M Din Syamsuddin (b 1958), vice general chair of Indonesian Ulema Council
16. Mahmoud Madani, head of Jami‘at ‘Ulama Hind
17. Habib Ali al-Jifri (b 1971), director general of Tabah Foundation
18. Hamza Yusuf Hanson (b 1960), head of Zaytuna Institute
19. Mustafa Ceric (b 1952), grand mufti of Bosnia
20. Sayyid Amin Miyan Qaudri, leader of Berelwis in India and disciple of the Barkatiyya Order

[Colonel_Hardstone]

16. Mahmoud Madani, head of Jami‘at ‘Ulama Hind


Bashing Parvaiz Musharraf and spreading Indian Nationalism...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1CXrHxC8MY

P.S: :-) Which no doubt will be twisted because I am a Pakistani :-)

[meelash]

Are you kidding? I highly disagree with you two, his impact in America is one of the greatest when compared to others, and that makes him well positioned in the top 20. The same goes for the other ulema listed, Shaykh Buti' is limited in his being influential as well, you ask an individual who was born in america and who has no roots with syria, he might not know him (unless if he watches tv). Same goes with Shaykh 'Ali Juma' and others.

yeah, and the world revolves around America.....:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[flyingphtm]

Bashing Parvaiz Musharraf and spreading Indian Nationalism...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1CXrHxC8MY

P.S: :-) Which no doubt will be twisted because I am a Pakistani :-)

I dont see any Indian Nationalism here? Musharraf was never a chosen leader for muslims to speak on our behalf so what Maulana said was pretty accurate

[Ali al-Hanafi]

yeah, and the world revolves around America.....:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

:salam:

LOL

[Ibn Al-Majnoon]

Asalaamu Alaykum...

With regards to the Salafi Shuyuukh, you may want to consider Sheikh Rabee Al-Madkhali. He has alot of influence and is held in very high esteem by the Salafiyyah, no?

[maneatinglizard]

Asalaamu Alaykum...

With regards to the Salafi Shuyuukh, you may want to consider Sheikh Rabee Al-Madkhali. He has alot of influence and is held in very high esteem by the Salafiyyah, no?

:salam:

Only a small and extremely hated splinter group within the Salafies is influenced by him. Others hate him quite a bit.

[maneatinglizard]

I dont see any Indian Nationalism here? Musharraf was never a chosen leader for muslims to speak on our behalf so what Maulana said was pretty accurate

:salam:

What did Maulana say?

[meelash]

:salam:

What did Maulana say?

He basically told Musharraf that he is in no position to give anyone else advice and to mind his own business.

[qwerty88]

salaam
this list looks inacurate to me.
im not salafi but everywhere you go in the world salafis quote ibn uthaymeen albani and ibn baaz. from a deobandi point of view theres none of the gr8 akaabir from darul uloom deoband. theres no abu hasan ali nadawi or thanvi or anwar shah kashmiri. i think this list is compiled to appease all of the ahlus sunnah and they have selected from all sects to be fair.