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 estimates range from 40 million (2013) to over 95 million (2021), making it the largest Islamic organization in the world. NU also is a charitable body funding sch ...

, 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'' *'' The Amman Message'' *''Forty Hadith on Divin ...

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 peace 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 pr ...

. Siradj cited a fatwa 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 ( id, Majelis Ulama Indonesia, ar, مجلس العلماء الإندونيسي, abbreviated MUI) is Indonesia's top Islamic scholars body. MUI was founded in Jakarta on July 26, 1975 during the New Order era. The council ...

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

Maliki The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...

and

Shafi'i The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...

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 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 ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

which focuses on developing Islamic discourse in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

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

Kereta Api Indonesia PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) (English: Indonesian Railways Company, abbreviated as PT KAI or simply KAI) is the sole operator of public railways in Indonesia. It is completely state-owned and pays track access charges to the government. ...

References

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