The Influence of Global Islamic Scholars on Modern Islamic Thought

Islam is the World’s second largest religion after Christianity. According to the recent statistics, Islam has 1.8 billion adherents that make up roughly 25% of the world’s population. Moreover, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world due to three reasons; Muslim communities have above average birth rate which rises the number of Muslims around the world, and the large Muslim immigrants found in Western countries has their potential influences on the community they live with. Final reason, the Islamic preacher’s efforts like Zakir Naik and many other Islamic televangelists allowed for plenty of people to realize the truth of the Islam by putting aside the propaganda of the media (Islamophobia) and ultimately reverted to Islam. However, here I will present my favorite Islamic scholars which I often concentrate on hearing them. 

 1. World’s Leading Apologist: Zakir Abdul Karim Naik

Dr. Zakir Abdul Karim Naik is the World’s leading Islamic apologist. He was born 18 October, 1965 in Mumbai-India. He is an Indian Islamic preacher who has many flowers all over the world. He studied at Topiwala National Medical College where he received a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS). He started to preach Dawah in 1991 and founded an institute called Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), he also serves as a president there. Similarly, he is the founder of Peace TV channel which has over 200 million viewers all over the world. However, Naik has been awarded the King Faisal International Prize for service to Islam.

2.      The Greatest Muslim Missionary: Ahmed Deedat

The late Ahmed Deedat (May Allah’s mercy be upon him) was a South African citizen but Indian descent. He was born July 1, 1918 in Surat-India. His father immigrated to South Africa shortly after his birth. At the age of 9, Deedat came to South Africa to join his father. Due to the financial constraints, he could not complete his school; therefore, he left at standard six. Deedat’s interest in comparative religion was created when he met a group of Christian missionaries making efforts to convert Muslims to Christian in 1936. Deedat offended that and started learning the Qur'an and the Bible by himself that led him to debate with many Christian evangelists.

Deedat with his heroes’ friends founded the Islamic Propagation Centre International (IPCI) with the aim of printing a variety of books on Islam and offering classes to new Muslims converts. However, his international profile grew in 1986, when he received the King Faisal Award for his services to Islam in the field of Dawah (Islamic missionary activity). As a result, at age of 66, Deedat began a decade of international speaking tours around the world. During his life, he wrote many books including “Is the Bible God’s word”, “Christ in Islam” and “What the Bible says about Muhammad”. On 3 May 1996, Ahmed Deedat suffered a stroke which left him paralyzed from the neck down, leaving him unable to speak or swallow. He spent the last nine years of his life in a bed in his home in South Africa, looked after by his wife, Hawa Deedat. On 8 August 2005, Ahmed Deedat died at his home in the province of Kwazulu- Natal. He is buried at the Verulam cemetery. May he rest in Peace.

One of my favorite greatest debates is, Ahmed Deedat's debate with Anis Shorrosh (Palestinian-Christian), and the title of the debate is, the Qur'an or the Bible: which is God’s word. Click here

 3. American Muslim Speaker: Nouman Ali Khan

Nouman Ali Khan is an American Muslim speaker. Nouman was born 4 May 1978 in Germany to a Pakistani family. When he was ten his father moved to New York and he grow up there. Currently, he is the Founder and CEO of Bayyinah Institute for Arabic and Qur’anic studies. He is one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world. Khan published two books: Divine Speech: Exploring Qur'an as Literature and Revive Your Heart: Putting Life in Perspective. One of my beloved lectures of Nouman Ali Khan is; the Power of Being Positive (The People of Alhamdulillah). Find the video here.

4. Famous Islamic Scholar and Imam: Omar Suleiman

Oh! My Favorite! Omar Suleiman is an American Muslim scholar. He was born 1986 New Orleans-Louisiana, United States. He attended International Islamic University Malaysia for Islamic Studies. Suleiman served as an Imam for 6 years in New Orleans. Currently, he is the Founder and President of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research and Professor of Islamic Studies at Southern Methodist University. Omar with Mohamed Zayara have “Inspirational Series” which is short videos but convey powerful messages to the Muslim and Non-Muslim communities. The inspirational episodes teach the people the behaviors of our Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

Omar became my much-loved scholar, his enough confidence in the Islamic debates and lectures astonished me. A recent conversation called “Islam, Judaism and Christianity” amazed me well. His answers were much reasonable and plausible than others. Therefore, he was the perfect speaker. Click here to find the amazing debate.

 5. Famous Islamic Scholar: Mufti Ismail Menk

Ismail ibn Musa Menk is one of the famous Islamic scholars in the world. He is a Muslim cleric and Grand Mufti of Zimbabwe. Mufti Menk was born Harare, Zimbabwe in 27, June 1975. He achieved a degree from The Islamic University of Madinah in Shariah Law. Menk works for the Zimbabwe Council of Islamic Scholars. He is known in eastern Africa and also teaches internationally.

Mufti Menk is one of my favorite Islamic Scholars and very friendly to the community. He was invited in Cape Town twice while I have been here. The last time he had a lecture in the University of Western Cape where I study on 12 October 2018; he presented “Dealing with Life’s Struggles”. We were enjoying as he was giving us amusing examples.

 6. Outstanding Muslim Scholar: Yasir Qadhi

Yasir Qadhi is a Pakistani-American Muslim scholar. He was born 1975 in Houston-United States. When Qadhi was five, the family moved to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he attended local schools and graduated from high school. He returned to the United States, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering at the University of Houston. After a short period of working in engineering, in 1996 Qadhi enrolled at the Islamic University of Medinah in Saudi Arabia. There, he earned a bachelor's degree in Arabic from the university's College of Hadith and Islamic Sciences and a master's degree in Islamic Theology from its College of Dawah. He also completed a Doctorate in Theology at Yale University.

He has served as Dean of Academic Affairs at the Al-Maghreb Institute, an international Islamic educational institution with a center in Houston, Texas. He also teaches in the Religious Studies department at Rhodes College. Qadhi has written numerous books and lectured widely on Islam and contemporary Muslim issues. Furthermore, in 2011, The New York Times Magazine published Qadhi as one of the most influential conservative clerics in American Islam.

Qadhi visited South Africa for his first time in Cape Town on 25 July 2018. He presented a topic called “Deep Confusion” at Cape Town International Convention Centre. From there, he cleaned up my mind and withdrawn the misconceptions I had. From that time, I loved crazily to study Islamic Theology and I will argue with my people to study it as well. We wouldn’t have looked at the mirror differences among us but rather we would have focused on the bigger image of Islam if we have enough knowledge upon it.

 7. Influential Islamic Preacher: Yusuf Estes

Yusuf Estes is an American preacher. He converted from Christianity to Islam in 1991. He was born January 1, 1944, in Texas, United States. He claims to have been a Muslim Chaplain for the United States Bureau of Prisons through the 1990s. He has served a Muslim delegate to the United Nations World Peace Conference for Religious Leaders held at the U.N. in September 2000. He is an influential Islamic preacher in the World. Find here his fascinating history of reverting to Islam

 8. Amazing Islamic Lecturer: Yasmin Mogahed

Yasmin Mogahed is an American-Egyptian. She was born 1980 in Egypt. She received her B.S. Degree in Psychology and a Masters in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also graduates in Mass Communications from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After graduation, she taught Islamic Studies and served as a youth coordinator. Currently, she is an instructor for Al-Maghreb Institute in Houston, Texas. In addition, she wrote two books named “Reclaim your Heart” and “Love and Happiness”

Her visitation in Cape Town and lecturing in it still remains my heart. She is such incredible lecturer especially on the family issues and the current youth challenges. I benefited from her two important topics which are “I seek Change” and “Rising High” that have been held in Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC). Hundreds of sisters including me were wiping tears from the eyes just because of the emotional points she was touching it. Remembrance of Allah and Dikr were her recurrent particular attention she was raising.