Islamic scholar voted world's No 1 thinker

· Robert Tait in Istanbul The Guardian, Monday June 23, 2008

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.



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Yunus voted 2nd among world's top thought leaders

Staff Correspondent Daily Star 24/6/08

Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus was voted second in the top 100 intellectuals of the world in a global poll hot on the heels of the University of Cambridge selecting him in its list of top 50 global thought leaders.

Yunus, chairman of Grameen Bank, came second to a little-known Turkish Islamic scholar, Fethullah Gulen, who won the survey organised jointly by Prospect, a British magazine and Foreign Policy, a US publication, reports British newspaper the Guardian.

The survey attracted 500,000 votes.

The top ten of the list were all Muslim and included two Nobel laureates, Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk and Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi.

Indian noble laureate Amartya Sen came 16th in the poll while writer Salman Rushdie was voted 23rd.

Yunus was recently chosen by Cambridge University as one of the top 50 thought leaders on corporate sustainability and sustainability, as part of the university's 800th anniversary and 20th anniversary of the Cambridge Programme for Industry (CPI).

He was chosen through a selection process after a poll conducted among CPI's 2000-strong alumni network.

@asamuel
Now see, your story is confirming what people are saying about you. I am coming back with full response, just a bit busy.