Muslims Dominate TOP 10 Intellectuals list

[Ibtisam]

I've come out of hiding to share this: According to a survey by Prospect and Foreign Policy Magazines the top 100 intellectuals in the world have been annouced, and interestingly the top 10 are overwhelmingly dominated by Muslims.

 

 

1 Fethullah Gulen

 

Religious leader • Turkey

 

An Islamic scholar with a global network of millions of followers, Gülen is both revered and reviled in his native Turkey. 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. He has kept a relatively low profile since settling in the United States in 1999, having fled Turkey after being accused of undermining secularism.

 

2 Muhammad Yunus

 

Microfinancier, activist • Bangladesh

 

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, efforts that earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Over the years, his Grameen Bank, now operating in more than 100 countries, has loaned nearly $7 billion in small sums to more than 7 million borrowers—97 percent of them women. Ninety-eight percent of the loans have been repaid.

 

 

3 Yusuf al-Qaradawi

 

Cleric • Egypt/Qatar

 

The host of the popular Sharia and Life TV program on Al Jazeera, Qaradawi issues w .eekly fatwas on everything from whether Islam forbids all consumption of alcohol (no) to whether fighting U.S. troops in Iraq is a legitimate form of resistance (yes). Considered the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Qaradawi condemned the September 11 attacks, but his pronouncements since, like his justification of suicide attacks, ensure his divisive reputation.

 

 

4 Orhan Pamuk

 

Novelist • Turkey

 

Part political pundit, part literary celebrity, Pamuk is the foremost chronicler of Turkey’s difficult dance between East and West. 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. Three years ago, Pamuk was put on trial for “insulting Turkish identity” after mentioning the Armenian genocide and the plight of Turkey’s Kurds in an interview. The charges were later dropped. Today, Pamuk teaches literature at Columbia University.

 

 

5 Aitzaz Ahsan

 

Lawyer, politician • Pakistan

 

President of Pakistan’s Supreme Court Bar Association, Ahsan has been a vocal opponent of President Pervez Musharraf’s rule. 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. He was arrested several times during the period of emergency rule last year. Today, he is a senior member of the Pakistan Peoples Party, formerly led by Benazir Bhutto, and one of the country’s most recognizable politicians.

 

 

6 Amr Khaled

 

Muslim televangelist • Egypt

 

A former accountant turned rock-star evangelist, Khaled preaches a folksy interpretation of modern Islam to millions of loyal viewers around the world. 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. Although Khaled got his start in Egypt, he recently moved to Britain to counsel young, second-generation European Muslims.

 

 

7 Abdolkarim Soroush

 

Religious theorist • Iran

 

Soroush, a former university professor in Tehran and specialist in chemistry, Sufi poetry, and history, is widely considered one of the world’s premier Islamic philosophers. Having fallen afoul of the mullahs thanks to his work with Iran’s democratic activists, he has lately decamped to Europe and the United States, where his essays and lectures on religious philosophy and human rights are followed closely by Iran’s reformist movement.

 

 

 

8 Tariq Ramadan

 

Philosopher, scholar of Islam • Switzerland

 

One of the most well-known and controversial Muslim scholars today, Ramadan embodies the cultural and religious clash he claims to be trying to bridge. His supporters consider him a passionate advocate for Muslim integration in Europe. His critics accuse him of anti-Semitism and having links to terrorists. In 2004, Ramadan was denied a U.S. visa to teach at Notre Dame, after the State Department accused him of donating to Islamic charities linked to Hamas.

 

9 Mahmood Mamdani

 

Cultural anthropologist • Uganda

 

Born in Uganda to South Asian parents, Mamdani was expelled from the country by Idi Amin in 1972, eventually settling in the United States. His work explores the role of citizenship, identity, and the creation of historical narratives in postcolonial Africa. More recently, he has focused his attention on political Islam and U.S. foreign policy, arguing that modern Islamist terrorism is a byproduct of the privatization of violence in the final years of the Cold War. He teaches at Columbia University.

 

10 Shirin Ebadi

 

Lawyer, human rights activist • Iran

 

Iran’s first female judge under the shah, Ebadi founded a pioneering law practice after she was thrown off the bench by Iran’s clerical rulers. Having initially supported the Islamic Revolution, she cut her teeth defending political dissidents and campaigning for the rights of women and children. A fierce nationalist who sees no incompatibility between Islam and democracy, Ebadi became the first Iranian to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003.

 

Is this the beginning of a Muslim revival? Who is your top intellectual?

 

Source: Foreign Policy

 

The Guardian

[Ibtisam]

I take that back, what happened was that for once Muslims voted. Here is what happened:

 

"Rankings are an inherently dangerous business. Whether offering a hierarchy of countries, cities, or colleges, any such list—at least any such list worth compiling—is likely to generate a fair amount of debate. In the last issue, when we asked readers to vote for their picks of the world’s top public intellectuals, we imagined many people would want to make their opinions known. But no one expected the avalanche of voters who came forward. During nearly four weeks of voting, more than 500,000 people came to ForeignPolicy.com to cast ballots. "

 

Such an outpouring reveals something unique about the power of the men and women we chose to rank. They were included on our initial list of 100 in large part because of the influence of their ideas. But part of being a “public intellectual” is also having a talent for communicating with a wide and diverse public. This skill is certainly an asset for some who find themselves in the list’s top ranks. For example, a number of intellectuals—including Aitzaz Ahsan, Noam Chomsky, Michael Ignatieff, and Amr Khaled—mounted voting drives by promoting the list on their Web sites. Others issued press releases or gave interviews to local newspapers. Press coverage profiling these intellectuals appeared around the world, with stories running in Canada, India, Indonesia, Qatar, Spain, and elsewhere.

 

No one spread the word as effectively as the man who tops the list. In early May, the Top 100 list was mentioned on the front page of Zaman, a Turkish daily newspaper closely aligned with Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. Within hours, votes in his favor began to pour in. His supporters—typically educated, upwardly mobile Muslims—were eager to cast ballots not only for their champion but for other Muslims in the Top 100. Thanks to this groundswell, the top 10 public intellectuals in this year’s reader poll are all Muslim. The ideas for which they are known, particularly concerning Islam, differ significantly. It’s clear that, in this case, identity politics carried the day.

[Jacaylbaro]

عددهم كثير ولكنهم غثاء كغثاء السيل

[Miriam1]

LOL, I thought something was off with this survey, how would the average person in the west even know of Fethullah Gulen!

 

Lakin good for us, voicing our opinions and all.

 

ps. mohammed yunus really? microcredit is a bit funny, sooner or later it's ills will overwhelm its supposed benefits.

[STOIC]

Haha..Haha....So the polling process was flawed? This is one reason why I'm always skeptical of polls.I will not be the cynic, but I think these Intellectuals present the world to us through the reflection of their egoic mind. I doubt if I ever heard of some of the people in that list. I only came across of judgment and opinions of Mamdani. I’m sure some of the world intellectuals bring about a better world when emotions are detached through their opinions (if it matters to the politicians).

 

Just curious.I know he is a Paki, but Is Tariq Ali a muslim?

[N.O.R.F]

Islamic scholar voted world's No 1 thinker

 

A hitherto largely unknown Turkish Islamic scholar, Fethullah Gülen, has been voted the world's top intellectual in a poll to find the leading 100 thinkers.

 

Gülen, the author of more than 60 books, won a landslide triumph after the survey - which is organised by the British magazine, Prospect, and Foreign Policy, a US publication - attracted more than 500,000 votes.

 

The top 10 individuals were all Muslim and included two Nobel laureates, the novelist Orhan Pamuk, who is also Turkish, at No 4, and the Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi, in 10th.

 

The result surprised organisers, who attributed it to a sustained campaign by Gülen's followers, known as the Gülen Movement, after Turkey's biggest-selling newspaper, Zaman, publicised the poll.

 

Prospect's editor, David Goohart, admitted to not having previously heard of Gülen and said his supporters had "made a mockery" of the poll. But he said the result flagged up significant political trends in Turkey.

 

"The victory of Gülen draws attention to the most important conflict in Europe, played out in Turkey between the secular nationalist establishment and the reforming Islamic democrats of the AK [Justice and Development] party," he said.

 

The AKP, which is allied to Gülen, is contesting a case brought by Turkey's chief prosecutor to shut it down and ban it from politics for allegedly trying to usher in Islamic rule, in breach of the country's secular constitution.

 

A Gülen supporter, Bulent Kenes, who is editor-in-chief of Today's Zaman newspaper, denied the poll had been hijacked. "There are many people who promote Gülen's ideas, which contribute to world peace by urging international dialogue and tolerance."

 

Gülen, 67, is known for a modernist brand of Islam. He was cleared of trying to topple the state in 2006 after being charged over footage in which he apparently urged civil service supporters to await his orders to overthrow the system. He said the film had been doctored.

 

Gülen, who has lived in the US since 1998, is credited with establishing a global network of schools which preach Islam in a spirit of tolerance. He has been praised in the west for promoting dialogue and condemned Osama bin Laden as a monster after September 11.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/23/turkey.islam

[-Lily-]

It’s a shame then that Turkish vote will not really matter in their own country since the ruling party is in danger of being banned as ‘threatening Turkish secularism’ and the appeal which bans scarf’s in schools, universities and public offices is upheld.

[NGONGE]

Stuff and nonsense.

[Xidigo]

^

[money]

Ayaan Hirsi made the list. She aint no intelectual but a fraud who jumped on the Islamaphobic bandwagon in the west to make some denaro. I have seen another list where Irshad manji, the canadian-paki, diminutive is on the top and Wafa sultan. The selection of Muslim bashing opportunists makes you think of if there is an ulterior motive behind all of this.

 

But I must admit the list is impressive, I see some of my favorite intellectual luminaries as Amartya Sen whom I studied on my political-economy classes, umberto ecco, and Noam Chomsky which makes you question why are his contemporaries like David Zinn, Vidal Gore and Arundathi Roy are not in the list? Could be their constant criticism of the imperial west is not appreciated by the editors of the FP.

[Fabregas]

Maxa ku Dhacay Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys? we should have voted Somali Sheikhs ninyahow!

 

lol, just joking, polls are usually nonsense!

[money]

Thanks to this groundswell, the top 10 public intellectuals in this year’s reader poll are all Muslim. The ideas for which they are known, particularly concerning Islam, differ significantly. It’s clear that, in this case, identity politics carried the day.

This makes sense plus Americans don't read FP. If they had advertised this voting-poll in People's magazine or National Inquirer, then we would have seen many American Celebrities in the list being crowned as intellectuals.

[money]

:confused:

[Naden]

Thomas Friedman and the pope?

 

The most dubious and useless of lists. And to put those two clowns, Amr Khaled and Al Qardawi, in there! Sheesh. Now if the list said the most entrepreneurial, I would believe it.

[Laba-X]

JB said all!