Said Aqil Siradj is an Indonesian Islamic scholar and former chairman of the executive council of

Nahdlatul Ulama Nahdlatul Ulama (, , NU) is an Islamic organization in Indonesia. Its membership numbered over 40 million in 2023, making it the largest Islamic organization in the world. NU is also a charitable body funding schools and hospitals as well as or ...

, the largest Islamic organization in the world. The most recent publication of

The 500 Most Influential Muslims ''The 500 Most Influential Muslims'' (also known as ''The Muslim 500'') is an annual publication first published in 2009, which ranks the most influential Muslims in the world. The publication is compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies C ...

by the

Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre is a research centre affiliated with the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. Its publications include: *''A Common Word Between Us and You'' *''Amman Message, The Amman Message'' *''Fort ...

in Jordan ranked him as the 20th most influential Muslim person in the world.Dr KH Said Aqil Siradj
at the official webpage of ''The Muslim 500''. Accessed 15 December 2016. Siradj has consistently spoken out in opposition to the

November 2016 Jakarta protests November 2016 Jakarta protests (also called Protests defending the Quran or 4 November protests) refer to an Islamist mass protest which took place on 4 November 2016 in Jakarta, Indonesia. It was attended by an estimated 50,000–200,000 proteste ...

. Siradj cited a

fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

that prohibited praying in the street as the protesters had planned since it disturbed the peace, though his position was immediately opposed by

Indonesian Ulema Council Indonesian Ulema Council (, , abbreviated MUI) is Indonesia's top Islamic scholars' body. MUI was founded in Jakarta on 26 July 1975 during the New Order era. The council comprises many Indonesian Muslim groups including Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), ...

, an organization specifically of religious leaders which includes Nadhlatul Ulama leaders. Siradj event cited the positions of the

Maliki The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major madhhab, schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas () in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the ...

and

Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...

schools of thought A school of thought, or intellectual tradition, is the perspective of a group of people who share common characteristics of opinion or outlook of a philosophy, discipline, belief, social movement, economics, cultural movement, or art movement. ...

within

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

that prohibit praying the congregational prayers in the middle of a street. In addition to his leadership within Nahdlatul Ulama, Siradj also founded the Said Aqil Centre, an organization in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

which focuses on developing Islamic discourse in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, and since 2021 has become the chairman of the board of commissioners of

Kereta Api Indonesia PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) (, abbreviated as PT KAI or simply KAI) is a major railway operator in Indonesia and one of the Public transportation, public railway companies in the country. It is State-owned enterprise, state-owned and pa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Said Aqil Siroj Indonesian Islamic religious leaders Indonesian Sunni Muslims Living people Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Nahdlatul Ulama people 1953 births People from Cirebon King Abdulaziz University alumni Umm al-Qura University alumni