Taha Jabir al-Alwani
President of Cordoba University

Dr. Taha Jabir al-Alwani is the current President of Cordoba University in Ashburn, Virginia, an Islamic institute of higher education that aims to "give students the tools needed to begin to meet the challenges of the modern world while taking students through an in-depth exploration of the Quaran." In addition, he is the present occupant of the Imam Al-Shafi'i Chair in Islamic Legal Theory at The Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences. His academic interests include the social implications of Islamic law, and he is a regular contributor to the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences. An Iraq native, al- Alwani received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Islamic Legal Theory and Jurisprudence from Cairo’s Al-Azhar University before teaching Islamic jurisprudence for ten years at the Imam b. Sa’ud University in Riyadh. He is a member of both the Council of the Muslim World League in Mecca and the Organization of the Islamic Conference’s Islamic Fiqh Academy in Jeddah. In 1984, al-Alwani came to the United States, where he served as the Chairman of the Fiqh Council of North America as well as founding member and President of the International Institute of Islamic thought in Herndon, Virginia. Widely published in the field of Islamic jurisprudence, al-Alwani’s most famous works include his six-volume edition of al-Razi’s Al Mahsul fi 'Ilm Usul al Fiqh', or 'The Sum and Substance of Usul al Fiqh.'

Al-Alwani on Muslim participation in American politics:
http://www.muhajabah.com/muslims4kucinich/voting.pdf

Al-Alwani on women in Islamic law:
http://www.crescentlife.com/thisthat/feminist%20muslims/testimony_of_women_islamic_law.htm

Bio at Cordoba University:
http://www.cordobauniversity.org/gsiss/faculty/Alalwani.asp

Fiqh Council Fatwa Against Terror:
http://www.unc.edu/~kurzman/Qaradawi_et_al.htm
Abdullah al-Askar
History professor King Saud University

Abduallah al-Askar is a Professor of History at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He received his PhD at the University of California, Los Angeles. His studies and publications focus strongly on the social transformations of the Saudi people, including Al-Yamama in the Early Islamic Era, which tracks the early political and geographic development of the Saudi Peninsula. Dr. Al-Askar has participated in a number of international conferences geared towards improving dialogue between the Arab and Western worlds, most recently taking part in the US-Islamic World Forum in Doha.
Sheikh Majid al-Hafeed
Kurdish Imam

A prominent leader in Kurdistan and greater Iraq, Sheikh Majid al-Hafeed is the resident Imam and preacher at the Grand Mosque of Sulaimaniya, the metropolis of Iraqi Kurdistan. After beginning his religious studies in Baghdad, al-Hafeed was unable to continue under Saddam Hussein's regime and subsequently completed a degree in Islamic jurisprudence in Pakistan. Al-Hafeed gained international prominence through expressing the voice of Iraqi Kurds in numerous interfaith dialogues, and was recently named an honorary president of the World Conference of Religions for Peace. Now returned to his native Iraq, al-Hafeed has established himself in national politics by representing the Clerics of Kurdish Union of Iraq. During the course of the US occupation of Iraq, al-Hafeed's leadership in Iraqi Kurdistan has often brought him into the media spotlight. In addition to being featured in UN press conferences, he was the subject of attention in 2006 for issuing a statement declaring military action against American forces legitimate. Most recently, he was featured on CBS in an interview discussing sectarian violence in Iraq after the June 2007 attack on the Shiite al-Askari mosque in Samarra.

Statement on Dissident Militancy:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002903575_clerics01.html

CBS Video:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/14/the_skinny/main2927348.shtml
Sheikh Habib Ali al-Jifri
Sufi sheikh

Sheikh Habib Ali al-Jifri traces his lineage to Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet. Born in Yemen, Habib Ali studied Islamic jurisprudence from local scholars in the Hadramawt. He later founded the Tabah Foundation for Islamic Studies and Research in the United Arab Emirates, an institution to promote the study of traditional Islamic sciences. Following Pope Benedict XVI’s controversial Regensburg Lecture of September 2006, the Sheikh was credited as one of the lead authors behind an open letter to the Pope that provided a point-by-point response to the Pope’s assertions and accepted the Pope’s clarification. Habib Ali has also penned a treatise on the nature of Islam’s relationship with Jesus and Mary. The Sheikh has traveled widely, giving numerous speeches on subjects such as the nature of jihad and expressing the need for tolerant and moderate discourse in and about Islam.

Website with Speeches:
http://www.alhabibali.org/english/

Interview in Yemen Times:
http://www.alhabibali.org/english/interview_yementimes.pdf

Response to Muhammad Cartoon Controversy:
http://www.alhabibali.com/files/denmark_bayan_en.pdf

Treatise on Jesus and Mary:
http://www.habibali.net/AlHabibAliMedia/english/JesusChrist.pdf
Abdullah al-Tayer
Saudi Talk Show Host

No Bio Available
Mustafa Ceric
Grand Mufti of Bosnia

Dr. Mustafa Ceric has served as the Grand Mufti of Bosnia since 1999. A graduate of the Medressa of Sarajevo, Dr. Ceric received a scholarship to attended al-Azhar University in Cairo. After serving as an imam in his native Bosnia, Ceric moved to the United States, where he served as Imam for the Islamic Cultural Center in Northbrook, Illinois and worked to promote the spread of Islam in America. During his time in the United States, he would obtain a PhD from the University of Chicago in Islamic Theology. The recipient of numerous international awards for his work on interfaith dialogue, the Grand Mufti has received global acclaim for his work in strengthening democracy and promoting world peace. He was considered a pivotal leader during the war with Serbia and remains a strong voice for the survival of Islam in Europe today. The Grand Mufti currently sits on Council of 100 Leaders for the World Economic Forum and various other interfaith councils throughout Europe and the Middle East. He is also a member of the European Council on Fatwa and Research under Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

Declaration of European Muslims:
http://www.livingincommunity.org/Declaration%20of%20European%20Muslims_Ceric.pdf
Khalid al-Dakhil
King Saud University

An Assistant Professor of Political Science at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia, Dr. Khalid al-Dakhil has spent his academic career focusing on issues of democracy and reform in Saudi Arabian politics. His work has focused on the need to redefine the history of the nation and, specifically, scrutinize the role of Wahhabism as the root of clerical power in the Kingdom. Having received his Doctorate from the University of California-Los Angeles, Dr. Al-Dakhil recently returned to the United States once again as a Visiting Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Dr. al-Dakhil is also a regular columnist for al-Ittihad, an Arabic newspaper in the Untied Arab Emirates.

List of Articles by al-Dakhil:
http://www.saudidebate.com/index.php?option=com_mhauthor&task=show&auth=134&Itemid=113
Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah
Lebanese Cleric

Born in the city of Najaf in Iraq, Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah began studying Islam at a young age. After years of study in a variety of both traditional and modern institutions, he moved to Lebanon where he became a leading Shi’ite Muslim intellectual. Fadlallah’s notoriety came mainly through a variety of public publications and speeches. His support of the armed Shi’ite resistance movement, Hezbollah, has made Fadlallah a particularly controversial figure. Believing the occupation of Palestine to be a "prelude to the invasion of other Muslim and Arab countries," Fadlallah has taken an uncompromising stance against the State of Israel. He has also spoken out against Americans supporting the existence of the Jewish state or the occupation of Arab nations. In 1985, Fadlallah was nearly killed by a car bomb outside his home in Beirut, an attack he believed to be an assassination attempt from the CIA.

For many Lebanese, Fadlallah is known more for the number of charitable works undertaken through his Mabarat Association, which provides basic social services including health care and education. He is also the founder of The Islamic Sharia Institute, a prominent center for Islamic religious education in Lebanon. Fadlallah has given a number of speeches articulating the need for greater equality among the genders and various sects of Islam.

Fadlallah’s Website including fatwas (Bayynat):
http://english.bayynat.org.lb/

Fatwas on Inter-Religious Dialogue:
http://english.bayynat.org.lb/Doctrines/1.htm
Javed Ahmed Ghamidi
Pakistani Intellectual

One of Pakistan's most well-known intellectuals, Javed Ahmed Ghamidi is a scholar of Islamic jurisprudence and exegesis and is the founder of al-Mawrid Institute of Islamic Sciences. Following his degree in philosophy and English literature from Government College, Lahore, Ghamidi briefly studied under the tutelage of Pakistan's most famous Muslim scholar, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) founder Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi. However, Ghamidi was expelled from the Islamist movement after critiquing its leader's vision of an Islamic state. Ghamidi subsequently adopted Amin Ahsan Islahi, a fellow critic of Maududi and JI, as his mentor. A former teacher of Islamic Studies at Pakistan's Civil Services Academy, Ghamidi has been the founder or editor of several Islamic journals and has lectured widely on Qur'anic and Islamic subjects. Ghamidi was briefly a member of the Council of Islamic Ideology, Pakistan's official Islamic watchdog, until his high-profile resignation following a wrangle with President Musharraf over the Women's Protection bill.

Ghamidi is the author of three major works and numerous articles on Islamic philosophy, law, and jurisprudence. Generally labeled as an Islamic modernist, Ghamidi argues for historically contextualizing the Qur'an and the Prophet, as well as updating the Prophetic mission to modern circumstances. Thus Ghamidi is seen as relatively moderate on issues ranging from the penal code to women's rights. Finally, one of the most important distinctions between Ghamidi's thought and that of Maududi lies in Ghamidi's downplaying the necessity of establishing an Islamic state.

Curriculum Vitae:
http://renaissance.com.pk/javedcv.html

Article on Jihad:
http://www.studying-islam.org/articletext.aspx?id=771

Article on Gender:
http://www.renaissance.com.pk/novislaw2y2.html

Articles on Penal Law:
http://www.renaissance.com.pk/septfeart2y2.html
http://www.renaissance.com.pk/septrefl22y2.html
http://www.renaissance.com.pk/septrefl12y2.html
Sheikh Rashid Ghannoushi
Leader of Tunisia's Islamist movement

A prolific writer and leader of Tunisia’s exiled Islamic movement en-Nahda (Renaissance Party), Sheikh Rashid Ghannoushi is widely considered to be an Islamic radical in his native Tunisia, but elsewhere he has been hailed as a proponent of Islamic democracy and pluralism. Ghannoushi’s long journey on the road to political Islam began with his studies abroad in Egypt and Syria, where he briefly flirted with socialist and Arab nationalist ideologies. Gradually, Ghannoushi returned to the fold of Islam while completing his bachelor’s degree at Syria’s Damascus University. His faith deepened during a year in France. After his return to Tunisia, Ghannoushi became active in Islamic missionary and social work and founded the Islamic Tendency Movement (ITM), for which he was imprisoned in 1981. The Sheikh continued his Islamic studies while in prison and began to translate and publish works on Islam and democracy and women’s rights in Islam. During a brief release from prison, Ghannoushi attempted to transform ITM into a viable political party under the name of en-Nahda, but the Tunisian authorities scuttled his effort by banning the party and imprisoning many of its leaders. Ghannoushi was sentenced to life in prison for his alleged collaboration in an Iran-backed plot to overthrow the government, but was subsequently released in the government’s 1988 amnesty reprieve. Ghannoushi has since moved into exile in London, where he currently sits on the Fiqh Council of Europe under Yusuf al-Qawadari. Despite his writings in support of democracy, the Sheikh remains a controversial figure, having issued a 1993 publication authorizing the killing of Israeli civilians, which he believed to be the "reserve soldiers" of the nation.

Article on the state of the Islamic revival:
http://www.macnet.ca/national/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=19
Ali Gomaa
Grand Mufti of Egypt

Since 2003, Dr. Ali Gomaa has served as the Grand Mufti of the Arab Republic of Egypt, a position of religious authority second only to the Sheikh al-Azhar. As an Egyptian native and one of Islam’s most respected scholars of Islamic law, Dr. Ali Gomaa oversees Dar al-Ifta, Egypt’s highest body for delivering opinions on religious law. Prior to his appointment as Grand Mufti, Dr. Gomaa served as a Professor of Jurisprudence at al-Azhar University, where he specialized in usul al-fiqh, the science of religious law. There, he published over 25 books on various topics in Islam. He has also issued a number fatwas during his tenure on topics ranging from gender equality to democracy. The Grand Mufti sets himself apart from peers by having earned his first academic agree, a B.A. in commerce, from a secular institution. In addition to regular media appearances on Egyptian television, the Grand Mufti has been especially vocal in reaching out to non-Muslim media outlets as a means of promoting Islamic institutions in the non-Muslim world. Western media outlets have heralded Gomaa’s approach to Islam as anti-extremist and aware of modern realities.

Dar al-Ifta Fatwa # 4335, 2/26/2006 on Women Leading Nations (al Bawaba News):
http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Egypt/209210

Gomaa’s June 12th Article on Fatwas and Modernity (Common Grounds News):
http://www.commongroundnews.org/issue.php?lang=en&sid=1&edition=1462#21163

June 2007 Article from The Times:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article1884355.ece

2001 Biographical Article from Al-Ahram:
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2001/561/profile.htm
Usama Hasan
Muslim Scientist

Dr. Usama Hasan is a scientist active in Muslim causes in Britain. Hasan obtained his master's in physics from Cambridge University as well as a PhD in Neural Networks from Imperial College, London. His current posts include a lectureship at Middlesex University, where he has performed research on data systems and telecommunications, a lectureship as an Islamic Astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, and membership in the Muslim Council of Britain. In addition, he leads prayers at the Al-Tawhid Mosque in London, where he is a part-time imam. Hasan has published many articles on neural networks and has also written on the topic of Islam and modern science.
Murad Wilfried Hofmann
German Diplomat and Scholar

A Christian convert to Islam, Murad Wilfried Hofmann is a German diplomat and author. Originally a scholar of social science and law, Hofmann has earned degrees from Union College, Munich University and Harvard Law School. Hofmann went on to serve in the German Foreign Service from 1961-1994, specializing in nuclear and defense strategy. He has held such prominent posts as Ambassador to Algeria and to Morocco. He also served as the Director of Information for NATO in Brussels in the mid-1980s. Born Catholic, Hofmann's conversion in 1980 to Islam was considered somewhat controversial due to his high standing in German government. Despite the initial controversy, the German government accepted his new religion and allowed him to continue his career. Since his conversion, Hoffman has authored numerous works on Islam, in particular a number of books and essays focusing on the role of Islam in the West following the 9/11 attacks.

Chapter on Religious Pluralism:
http://books.google.com/books?id=qnViUgvoOIoC&pg=PA235&lpg=PA235&
dq=murad+wilfried+hofmann&source=web&ots=cFlK0vslqd&sig=DNQsgtL0Ltf1pUs57ZOTLSozOkk

Article on Islamic Intellectualism:
http://world.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/2077

Article on Globalization and Islam:
http://www.islamset.com/ioms/globe/full_texts/murad_hofmann.html

Remarks at a Panel Discussion on Muslim Minorities in Europe:
http://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/princeton/discussion-2.shtml
Merve Kavakci
Former Turkish Politician

Merve Kavakci first stepped into the international spotlight in 1999, after she won a seat in the Turkish parliament but was denied confirmation because she attended the ceremony wearing a hijab, or Muslim headscarf. One month after the incident, Turkey revoked Kavakci's Turkish citizenship, claiming that she had given up her Turkish identity in becoming a citizen of the United States. Since then, Kavakci has been an outspoken critic of Turkey's secularization policy, traveling the globe in support of Muslim women's rights, especially to the hijab. Kavakci promotes the hijab as a symbol of female empowerment, and she is quick to remind critics that tradition of the hijab is both religious and cultural. In addition to lecturing at universities throughout Europe and the United States, Kavakci addressed the 2004 Parliament of the World's Religions in Barcelona. From 2004-2005, she was a visiting professor and scholar at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Most recently, in 2007 the European Court of Human Rights found that Kavakci's expulsion from parliament was a violation of human rights.
Amr Khaled
Egyptian Preacher

An Egyptian native now residing in Britain, Amr Khaled is one of the Muslim world's most popular preachers and has been labeled a Muslim televangelist. Khaled began preaching in 1990 after years of studying accounting. Since then, his popularity has skyrocketed in the greater Muslim world, including communities in Europe. Known for his moderate interpretation of Islam, Khaled encourages dialogue, both within the Muslim community and between Muslims and the West. He is also a proponent of social development in the Muslim world, preaching that social and material progress does not contradict Islam and that Muslim communities can develop in accordance with Islam instead of imitating a Western model.

Broadcast over satellite television and the internet worldwide, Khaled's most popular shows have included "Call for Coexistence" and "Life Makers," as well as his annual miniseries during the holy month of Ramadan. In 2002, Khaled relocated from Cairo to London after being banned from preaching in Egypt by the Mubarak government. As a European Muslim leader, he was a key convener of the Copenhagen Conference held in March 2006 in response to the Mohammed cartoon controversy. Though the Egyptian government continues efforts to limit Khaled's influence, his popularity is still on the rise throughout the Muslim world. Currently, Khaled serves as the chairman of the Right Start Foundation, a multicultural and interfaith organization located in the United Kingdom.

Homepage in English, with Texts:
http://www.amrkhaled.net/acategories/categories79.html

Video Lectures:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=Amr%20Khaled&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv
Humera Khan
UK activist and founder of leading Muslim magazine "Q"

A British Muslim of Pakistani descent, Humera Khan has long served as a leading activist and educator for the Muslim community in the UK. Co-founder of the An-Nisa Society, a Muslim family association operating in Britain, Khan has worked on issues ranging from race relations to social services. As an activist for women’s issues, Humera has also been featured in the media as a moderate Muslim voice on issues ranging from sexual health to faith. In consultation with the government, Humera has been chosen to serve on various interfaith working groups affecting the Muslim community, including the Cantle Commission following 9/11, the Forced Marriage Working Group, and the post-7/7 Preventing Extremism Together taskforce. Khan also helped create Q News Magazine, "Britain's leading Muslim magazine, providing outside-the-box analysis of current affairs, culture, ideas and spirituality." Today, she serves as Contributing Editor for the magazine.

Personal Website (including list of articles):
http://www.humerakhan.com/index.html

Q News Magazine:
http://www.q-news.com/index.htm
Muhammad Khalid Masud
Council of Islamic Ideology Chairman

Dr. Muhammad Khalid Masud is the current chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), an official body charged with advising the Pakistani government on issues related to Islam. Born in Pakistan and academically trained at McGill University, Dr. Masud has held numerous positions at universities and institutes in Canada, the United States, Pakistan, Nigeria, Malaysia, France, and the Netherlands, where he was professor and academic director of the Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World at the University of Leiden. With knowledge of six world languages, he is the author of many works on Islamic jurisprudence, the philosophy of law, current issues, and the concept of ijtihad, or independent interpretation of Islamic legal sources. Dr. Masud's tenure as CII chairman has been a rocky one, witnessing a high-profile row with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf over the Women's Protection bill and the resignation of one of the most prominent members of the CII.

Paper on "Islam, Modernity, and Society":
http://www.egmontinstitute.be/speechnotes/04/islam-modern-04/Masud.htm

Council of Islamic Ideology Website:
http://www.cii.gov.pk
Dheya Mosawi
Bahraini cleric and newspaper columnist

A leading Bahraini cleric and rising political figure, Sheikh Sayed Dheya al-Mosawi has stood out as an advocate for religious tolerance and ending Islamic extremism. His regular columns in Bahrain’s leading al-Watan newspaper have made Sheikh Mosawi one of the leading moderate Islamic voices throughout the country. The Bahrain Confidential writes that his "frank words on social issues and government policiesÉhave made him a household name in Bahrain." Sheikh Mosawi has used his influence to advocate for a number of progressive issues in Bahrain, including issues of gender equality and poverty in the nation.

Bahrain Confidential Interview:
http://www.newarabia.net/shaikh_sayed_dheya_al_mosawi_Ramadam.htm
Sheikh Abdul-Hakim Murad
UK Intellectual and Imam of Cambridge Mosque

Born Timothy Winter, the British native Sheikh Murad attended the Westminster School and studied Arabic at Cambridge before converting to Islam and studying at al-Azhar University in Cairo. After spending time in Jeddah, Murad returned to his alma mater, where he now serves as the Sheikh Zayed Lecturer in Islami Studies and Director of the Sunna Project at Cambridge's Centre for Middle Eastern Studies. He has developed a reputation for his academic approach to Islam, as well as for his theoretical work on a uniquely British Muslim identity and opposition to Wahhabism. In addition to being prolific translator of Islamic works, including those of the prominent Sufi theologian al-Ghazali, Sheikh Murad is a regular contributor to media outlets both in Britain and the Muslim World. Today, he serves as Imam of the Cambridge Mosque and Director of the Muslim Academic Trust.

List of writings from MASUD:
http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/ahm/default.htm

Articles on Islam for Today:
http://www.islamfortoday.com/murad.htm
Abdul Munir Mulkhan
Indonesian Intellectual

Born in East Java in 1946, Abdul Munir Mulkhan studied Religious Interpretation before attaining his Ph.D. in Social and Political Science from Gajah Mada University. He presently serves as a Fellow at the LibForAll Foundation, an organization founded with the mission of spreading a moderate and tolerant teaching of Islam by former Indonesian president Gus Dur and world telecommunications retiree C. Holland Taylor. Highly active throughout Indonesia, LibForAll undertakes programing around the Muslim world that reach out to leaders, pop culture icons, and everyday citizens to promote liberal values and ostracize extremism. Dr. Munir has held several leadership positions in Muhammadiyah, an Indonesian Islamic organization boasting 30 million members. Among these are seats on the organization's publication editorial board as well as the "Good Governance" Council. Having conducted post-doctorate research at McGill University in Canada and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Dr. Munir is the author of over 40 books and hundreds of articles.

Dr Munir's biography on the LibForAll website:
http://www.libforall.org/about-us-board-of-advisors.html

Dr Munir's blog (in Indonesian):
http://mulkhan.blogspot.com/
Chandra Muzaffar
Malaysian Human Rights Activist

Dr. Chandra Muzaffar is the President of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST), a human rights advocacy organization in Malaysia that "seeks to raise public consciousness on the moral and intellectual basis of global justice." Prior to his work with JUST, Muzaffer founded a multiethnic reform coalition, Aliran Kesedaran Negara (National Consciousness Movement), which served to raise awareness for issues surrounding ethnic relations in Malaysia. A political scientist, Dr. Muzaffar’s academic works have focused largely on the issues of civilizational dialogue and the crossroads between religion and human rights. It was in pursuit of these goals that Dr. Muzaffar served as the first director of the Centre for Civilisational Dialogue at the University of Malaysia. Having written 18 books and hundreds of journal articles on Malaysian politics and international relations, Dr. Muzaffar most recently published Human Rights & the New World Order and Muslims, Dialogue, Terror. He is also the recipient of the Harry J. Benda Prize for distinguished scholarship on Southeast Asia from the Association of Asian Studies, North America.

Texts of Essays by Chandra Muzaffar:
http://www.just-international.org/essays.cfm
Tariq Ramadan
European intellectual

Tariq Ramadan is a fellow at St. Antony's College, Oxford, and one of the world's leading Muslim intellectuals. A Swiss citizen of Egyptian descent, he advocates a self-confident Islam that both engages and critiques Western ideas and institutions. Ramadan is the grandson of Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. For Time he is one of 100 "innovators" of the 21st century and "the leading Islamic thinker among Europe’s second- and third-generation Muslim immigrants." To his critics, Ramadan is a dangerous fundamentalist. Since July 2004 Tariq Ramadan has been unable to enter the United States. Shortly before he was to assume a professorship at University of Notre Dame, Ramadan's visa was revoked under the "ideological exclusion" provision of the Patriot Act. The visa denial is the subject of an ongoing legal challenge brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the American Academy of Religion, the American Association of University Professors, and PEN American Center. In April 2007, Ramadan engaged in a series of satellite conversations with Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, during which he espoused a need for deeper understanding and dialogue between faiths.

Homepage:
http://www.tariqramadan.com/welcome.php3
Muzzamil Siddiqi
Chairman of North American Fiqh Council

Originally from India, Muzzamil Siddiqi obtained a degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the Islamic University of Medina in Saudi Arabia, a M.A. in Theology from Birmingham University in the United Kingdom, and a PhD in Comparative Religion from Harvard University in the United States. Dr. Siddiqi’s career has included work with a number of prominent Islamic organizations, including serving as Chairman of the Religious Affairs Committee of the Muslim Students Association of the US and Canada and Director of the Islamic Center of Washington. He recently ended a term as President of the Islamic Center of North America. Currently, Dr. Siddiqi serves as Chairman of the Fiqh Council of North America, a body tasked with interpreting religious law throughout the continent. He is also very active in the Muslim community of Southern California, where he serves as Chairman of the Shura Council and Director of the Islamic Society of Orange County.

Dr. Siddiqi has been involved in a number of inter-faith initiatives, including participation in an inter-faith prayer service with President George W. Bush. In 1999, Dr. Siddiqi received the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Council of Christians and Jews for his role in promoting dialogue between the faiths. He currently sits on the World Economic Forum’s Council of 100 leaders to foster dialogue between Islam and the West and is the author of several books and scholarly articles on Islam and interfaith issues.

Text of Fiqh Council of NA’s Fatwa against Terror:
http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/
articles/fiqh_council_of_north_america_issues_fatwa_against_terrorism/

ISNA Bio:
http://www.isna.net/about/profiles/Muzammil_Siddiqi.html

Fatwa on Muslims Under Non-Muslim Rule:
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/
Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503544898
Ahmad Turkistani
Director, Institute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America

A Professor of Communications at The Al-Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University, Ahmad Turkistani is a Saudi diplomat charged with heading the Institute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences in Fairfax, Virginia. The institute is a non-profit educational institution affiliated with Al-Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University in Saudi Arabia. Turkistani has demonstrated his commitment to interfaith dialogue as director of the Institute and as a Saudi diplomat, noting that dialogue is a "two-way street." He has also suggested that the Saudi government could increase its legitimacy by empowering moderates within the Kingdom. Dr. Turkistani has written extensively on issues related to Islam and Islamic Law.
Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid
Former President of Indonesia

His Excellency Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur, served as Indonesia's first democratically elected President from 1999-2001. Prior to his election and the founding of his National Awakening Party, Wahid had long served as the Chairmen of Nahdlatul Ulama, the world's largest Muslim organization boasting over 40 million members. Since his departure from government, he has served as co-founder and patron member of the Board of Directors for the LibForAll Foundation, a non-profit organization striving to discredit religious extremism and terrorism worldwide. His teaching on religious tolerance have been featured by the Wall Street Journal and Dateline. His daughter has also founded a similar, Indonesian organization, the Wahid Institute, in his honor. Wahid was the 2003 recipient of the Friends of the United Nations Global Tolerance award, and he remains a strong advocate for religious tolerance and pluralism worldwide.

Official Webpage:
http://www.gusdur.net/english/index.php
Khalid Zaheer
Professor of Islamic Studies and Ethics, Lahore University of Management Sciences

An associate professor of Islamic Studies and Ethics at Lahore University of Management Science, Dr. Khalid Zaheer is a prominent Pakistani scholar of Islam and Islamic practices, including Islamic banking. Zaheer is the author of numerous articles on Islam and its relationship with the West, and also takes time to answer more mundane questions concerning daily Islamic living on his English-language website. He has been featured in many Pakistani television programs and has delivered sermons in mosques across his country. In addition to promoting the Islamic lifestyle, Zaheer has been deeply involved in development and financial work in Pakistan through his membership on the board of the Pakistani Baitul Mal development group. The Pakistani Ministry of Finance has appointed Zaheer a member of the task force recommending how the government can borrow money in accordance with Islamic principles against usury.

Homepage with Essays, Blog, Q&As, and Audio Files:
http://www.khalidzaheer.com

More Articles:
http://www.renaissance.com.pk/aukhalid.html