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Cairo: Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, president of
the International Union of Muslim Scholars, has been chosen for
the second consecutive year as the Scholar of the Year in an
online campaign conducted by OnIslam.net.
The Islamic site launched the campaign as a token of appreciation
to scholars and Muslims preachers, who did great efforts in 2012
to spread Islamic knowledge, promote Islamic values and morals as
well as to mobilize Muslim’s youth efforts, OnIslam reported.
The campaign started by inviting users to make nominations from
among scholars and preachers whom they trust in terms of knowledge
and stances and who connect well with the youth. The organizers
received a list of scholars, of whom they selected the top 5
figures, namely Dr. Jamal Badawi, Noaman Ali Khan, Dr. Salman Al-Oudah,
Sheikh Yasir Qadhi and Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi. In the second stage,
users were asked to vote for one of the 5 scholars. More than 900
participated in the poll and Dr. Al-Qaradawi came first followed
by Noaman Ali Khan and in the third place was Sh. Yasir Qadhi.
Winning 39.9 percent of votes, Dr. Al-Qaradawi, is chosen for the
second consecutive year as the Scholar of the Year by OnIslam
visitors. The selection reflects the great impact of Dr. Al-Qaradawi
in the fields of Islamic scholarship and dawa and the high esteem
he is held in. Despite his old age, Al-Qaradawi, 86, is remarkably
known for his active involvement in the events touching the Muslim
Ummah, whether in person or through the organizations he heads,
such as the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS). That
goes in line with his deep belief in Islam as a comprehensive way
of life and his conviction that the role of scholar is far greater
than retreating to a mosque and teaching people about the
devotional rituals of Islam.
The atrocities committed by the Syrian dictator, Bashar Al-Asad,
and the massacres of Muslims in Myanmar, along with the challenges
facing the Egyptian revolution were among the major events in 2012
that had much of Dr. Al-Qaradawi’s concern and effort.
Besides, in
the scholarship arena, Dr. Al-Qaradawi continues to add to his
list of books, that has exceeded 170. He is working now on a new,
more elaborate edition of his famous book Al-Halal wal-Haram fil
Islam (The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam).
Second to Al-Qaradawi, Sheikh Noaman Ali Khan received 31.9 votes.
Interestingly, Sheikh Khan represents a different facet of dawa;
he is young, located in the USA; he speaks English very well and
his speeches and talks have a sense of humor that makes it easy to
connect with listeners, specially the youth.
Sheikh Khan is the
founder of Bayinah, an academic Institute that has a unique
mission. Bayyinah’s mission is making the appreciation of Islam’s
sacred texts accessible to the world throughout providing
education and resources in two areas; (i) Arabic studies and (ii)
linguistic and literary analysis of sacred Islamic texts.
Currently Sheikh Noaman Ali Kahn has dedicated himself to a
seven-year-long project, of conducting a linguistic and literary
focus Qur’anic Tafseer series in English. Such projects are very
important since connecting to Arabic, especially the unique
language and style of the Qur'an, continues to be a challenge that
faces new Muslim generations in the West.
Winning 12.7 percent of the votes, Sheikh Yasir Qadhi comes in the
third position. Like Noaman Ali Khan, Sheikh Yasir Qadhi is a
US-based scholar who works to disseminate Islamic knowledge in a
way that is attractive and appealing to Western Muslims. The
academic background of Sheikh Qadhi is interesting: He graduated
with a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of
Houston, after which he was accepted as a student at the Islamic
University of Madinah.
After completing a diploma in Arabic, he
graduated with a B.A. from the College of Hadith and Islamic
Sciences. Thereafter, he completed a M.A. in Islamic Theology from
the College of Dawah. He is currently pursuing his doctorate, in
Religious Studies, at Yale University. Sheikh Yasir Qadi works as
the Dean of Academic Affairs at AlMaghrib Institute which aims at
fulfilling the Muslim community's need for Islamic knowledge and
spiritual uplifting in an attractive manner.
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