Kalam, Shah Rukh in most influential Muslims list, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

Kalam, Shah Rukh in most influential Muslims list

NEW DELHI: In a first of its kind survey of the world’s most influential Muslims, Georgetown University has come out with a list of 500 among

whom are prominent Indians like former President A P J Abdul Kalam, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and music maestro A R Rahman.

What, however, has come as a surprise is the choice of an Urdu professor at Aligarh Muslim University for his propagation of moderate Sufi views in a region being blighted by jihadi terror.

Professor Sayid Ameen Mian Qaudri, ranked 44 on the list, is a “leader of a South Asian Sufi movement based in a volatile region where religion has been used as a platform for violence”, the editors said in their comment.

Another interesting selection is that of Maulana Mahmood Madani, leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and MP, who has campaigned against Islamic terror. “Madani has been outspoken in his opposition to the misuse of the term ‘jihad’ as a tool of terrorism in India,” the university said justifying the highest rank — 36 — given to him among his compatriots on the list.

Noted Islamic scholar Asghar Ali Engineer, leader of the progressive Dawoodi Bohra movement, finds space for his “take on Islam and contemporary issues”.

Another choice for the ‘scholarly’ category is spiritual leader Wahiduddin Khan, hailed by the volume as “Islam’s spiritual ambassador to the world”. His approach, it is pointed out, is “popular among Indians, both Muslim and non-Muslim”.

Interestingly, the list, which features Osama bin Laden, Maulana Masood Azhar and Hafiz Mohammad Saeed among the ‘radicals’, has focused on the moderate faces of Islam from India. Zakir Abdul-Karim Naik is another such Islamic teacher included for promoting understanding about Islam.

http://newageislam.com/kalam,-shah-rukh-in-most-influential-muslims-list/islamic-world-news/d/2213

How British Muslim Adam Khatib became a bomb plotter, Islam,Terrorism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

How British Muslim Adam Khatib became a bomb plotter

By Steve Swann

Khatib became interested in radical Islam at school

A British Muslim has been convicted of conspiring to murder civilians in a "deadly terrorist attack".

Adam Khatib, a factory worker from Walthamstow, east London, was part of a terror cell taking orders from Pakistan.

The cell was led by Abdullah Ahmed Ali who is already serving a life sentence for plotting to blow up transatlantic passenger airliners in what prosecutors described as an act of terrorism "on an almost unprecedented scale".

Khatib, who was a teenager when he was arrested, was a "loyal partner and servant" to Ali, travelling with him to Pakistan where it is believed the men received instructions from militants linked to al-Qaeda.

http://newageislam.com/how-british-muslim-adam-khatib-became-a-bomb-plotter/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/2207

Prosecutor Peter Wright QC said: "Khatib may not have been informed of the ultimate target, namely passenger aircraft... all that was required of him was an agreement to play his part in bringing about the murder of others."

But it is understood investigators believed Khatib was planning to be one of the team who would take a bomb onto a plane.

Jihadi network

The 23-year-old had gone off the rails as a teenager when he became fascinated by radical Islam.

Signing one of his school assignments "Adam Osama Bin Laden", Khatib became a cause for concern to teachers worried about his increasingly extreme views, including anti-Semitic outbursts in the classroom.

After leaving school, he befriended Abdullah Ahmed Ali, who is six years older. Ali egged on his younger charge and in June 2005 he took him to Pakistan, introducing him to a network of jihadis.

Khatib, who has a Mauritian father and British mother, told the court he was curious to see the world.

http://newageislam.com/how-british-muslim-adam-khatib-became-a-bomb-plotter/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/2207