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Abdou Diouf completed his general education at the Lycee Faidherbe, studied Law at Dakar University, and Political Sciences and Law at the Sorbonne in Paris. He is a prominent African leader with an impressive record of achievements in terms of political and socio-economic development in Africa. He is also an ardent supporter of Islamic communities in Senegal and West Africa.

A protégé and close ally of Senegal’s Leopold Senghor, Mr. Diouf was entrusted with senior political positions after his return from Paris, including a governor’s position and three ministerial offices: Defense, Commerce, and Finance. He became Senegal’s Prime Minister from 1970-1980, and its first Muslim President between 1981-2000.

During his presidency, Mr. Abdou Diouf played a pivotal role in mending relations between Senegal and Mauritania following the 1989 hostilities between these two Muslim countries, and actively pursued cooperation between Senegal and the rest of the Islamic world. He encouraged the study of Arabic in Senegal with a view to enhancing the appreciation of Islamic writings.

Mr. Diouf received 11 honorary doctorates and several prestigious medals in recognition of his outstanding services to Senegal and other parts of Africa and the Muslim world.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

Mahathir Bin Mohammad studied medicine at King Edward VII College in Singapore. After two years as a medical officer in the Malayan government, he set up his own practice.

Dr. Mohammad joined the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) since its inception in 1946, and was elected to Parliament in 1964. He served as a Chairman of the first Higher Education Council, a Member of the University of Malays Council, and a Chairman of the National University Council. In 1973, he was appointed as a Senator, but relinquished the post in the following year to contest in general elections. After winning in the elections, he was appointed as a Minister of Education and a Deputy Prime Minister, then a Minister of Trade and Industry. He was elected as Vice-President in 1975 then President in 1980 of UMNO, and became the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1980 to 2003. Under his leadership, the country witnessed substantial socio-economic development and was transformed, within a few years, into one of the most prosperous and modern industrial nations in Southeast Asia.

He published several articles embodying his political and economic insights and his concept of Islam. He received numerous international awards. His biography has been the subject of several books and articles.

Dr. Mahatir bin Mohammed served as Malaysia’s Prime Minister for 13 years.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

Abdulrahman Al-Sumait studied medicine in Baghdad University, obtained a Diploma of Tropical Medicine from Liverpool University (U.K.), and specialized in internal medicine and gastroenterology in Montreal General Hospital in Canada. He also conducted research on hepatic malignancies in King’s College, London. He worked as a Consultant Gastroenterologist in Al-Sabbah Hospital in Kuwait for three years, then committed himself, full-time, to humanitarian activities. He was an Honorary Health Attache for the Kuwait embassy in Kenya.

Dr. Al-Sumait had been involved in Islamic charity since he was a student. In 1981, he founded the African Muslim Agency, currently known as Direct Aid Society, and serves as its Secretary General. The society provides extensive humanitarian assistance to impoverished Muslims throughout Africa.

Dr. Al-Sumait was the author of several books and the recipient of several prestigious awards.

In addition to his immense activities, Dr. Al-Sumait founded associations for Muslim physicians and students in the United States and Canada. In 1984, he established the Kuwaiti Islamic Relief Commission, which helped save the lives of 320,000 Muslims during the drought and famine that struck many parts of Africa that year.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

Gad Al-Haq was educated in Tanta and Cairo and received a degree in Sharia in 1944 and a judiciary license in 1946 from Al-Azhar.

He served for more than three decades in the Islamic judiciary in Egypt and became the country’s Mufti in 1978. In 1980, he became Egypt’s Minister of Endowment, and later in the same year, he was appointed to the prestigious position of Grand Imam (Rector) of Al-Azhar. He was also a Chairman of the International Council for Islamic Daawa and Relief and a member of the boards of several national and international academic and religious institutions. He authored several important books on fiqh, religious edicts, and other related topics.

Shaikh Gad Al-Haq received many other prestigious awards and medals, including the Egyptian Order of the Nile in 1983 and the Moroccan Order (First Class) of Academic Excellence in 1984.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

Mohammad bin Saleh Al-Uthaimin was born in Unaiza, in Quasim region (Saudi Arabia) in 1929. He memorized the Holy Quran during his childhood, pursued rigorous religious education in hadith, tafseer, fiqh, theology and Arabic language under the tutelage of renowned Saudi Ulema (Islamic scholars) and graduated from the College of Sharia in Riyadh.

Shaikh ibn Uthaimin, as he was commonly called, dedicated his entire life to the service of Islam and Muslims by sharing his vast knowledge of the Islamic creed with students and members of the public through regular classes, publications, radio programs, and preaching and counseling activities. These contributions, coupled with his exemplary Muslim qualities gained him the respect and admiration of Muslims around the world.

He was a member of the Saudi Commission of Senior Islamic Scholars, a professor at the College of Shari’a at Imam Mohammad bin Saud Islamic University in Quasim and a member of its Academic Council and author of more than 90 books and treatises dealing with different aspects of the Islamic doctrine. Among his most important books are his 15-volume book on fiqh and 10-volume book on the interpretation of the Holy Qur’an. He also used to teach at the Holy mosque in Makkah during Ramadan (fasting month).

Shaikh Al-Uthaimin died in 2001 after a long and productive life in the service of the Islamic religion.

Sheikh Al-Uthaimin was a Professor of Islamic Studies at Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and a member of the High Committee of Ulama’a. He has been awarded the King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam in recognition of his distinguished career as a Muslim scholar and his untiring efforts to foster the cause of Islam.

Sheikh Al-Uthaimin’s deep knowledge of Islam, disseminated through his many publications and teachings, as well as his outstanding qualities as a dedicated and profoundly faithful Muslim, have won him the respect and admiration of Muslims everywhere.

Alija Izetbegoviç moved during his childhood with his family to Sarajevo, where he grew up and received his formal education. After World War II, he graduated with degrees in economics and law from the University of Sarajevo. He was an urbane and a thoughtful politician who spoke English, French, and German, in addition to Serbocroatian. He served for 25 years as legal advisor in different establishments, including the University of Sarajevo, and became the first President of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1990-1996 and a member of the Presidency.

Dr. Izetbegoviç’s political strife dates back to the 1940s, when he became an active member of the Muslim Youth Organization. He was jailed twice for his courageous opposition to communist oppression of Muslims in former Yugoslavia. In 1989, he formed an Islamic political party that led Bosnian Muslims to their independence. Izetbegoviç was also a distinguished scholar, author, and philosopher. His intellectual pursuits include the publication of several books including Islamic Manifesto (translated into English, Arabic, and Albanian), Problems of Islamic Awakening and Islam Between East and West; the latter book was translated into English, Spanish, Turkish, Malay, and Urdu, and was described by reviewers as one of the most important books published in Europe in the 1980s.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

Hamid Al-Ghabid obtained a Doctorate degree from the Sorbonne in Paris in 1988. He occupied senior political positions in the Government of Niger, and was the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1979-1981, Minister of Commerce in 1981-1983 and Minister of Finance in 1983, then Prime Minister of Niger from 1983 to 1988. In 1989, he was appointed the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

During his tenure as a Secretary General of the OIC, Dr. Al-Ghabid addressed some of the most important challenges facing the Islamic world. His role in supporting social, educational, cultural, political, and economic cooperation between Islamic countries, and in mediating disputes within and between these countries is particularly noteworthy. He is also credited with successfully relocating some 250,000 Bulgarian Muslim refugees to Turkey, and with convincing richer Islamic countries to increase their support to the less previleged communities in the Islamic World. He has also been successful in restoring confidence in the Islamic Cooperation Fund which provides aid to Islamic countries during natural disasters. Dr. Al-Ghabid also founded the Islamic Establishment for Social Studies in Niami, which supports various philanthropic projects in Niger.

A respected African leader with long diplomatic experience, Dr. Al-Ghabid was chosen by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to represent it as mediator in the Darfur conflict in Sudan.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

After completing general education in Jeddah, Abdullah Nasif obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Riyadh University (currently King Saud University) and a Ph.D. in Geology from Leeds University in the U.K. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London.

Dr. Nasif taught at King Saud and King Abdulaziz universities, and became a Secretary General, then a Vice-President of the latter university. In 1983, he was appointed as a Secretary General of the World Muslim League. Under his leadership, the League carried out major relief operations to assist destitute Muslims in various parts of the Islamic World, launched campaigns against poverty, illness, and illiteracy among Muslims in developing areas, and provided unfaltering support of Muslim minorities worldwide.

Dr. Nasif’s commitment to serving Islam and Muslims is further illustrated by his association with numerous Islamic organizations, charities, and learning institutions. He is the Chairman of the Islamic Relief Organization, a Vice-President of the International Islamic University in Islamabad, and a chairman and a member of the boards of trustees of numerous Islamic research centers in Europe, United States, and other parts of the world, including the Institute of Arabic and Islamic History in Frankfurt, the Islamic Cultural Center in Geneva, Dar Al-Salam University in New Mexico, the Islamic College in Chicago, the Islamic Center in Georgetown University, and the Islamic Academy in Cambridge.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

Khurshid Ahmed obtained two Bachelor’s degrees in Law and Jurisprudence, two Master’s degrees in Economics and Islamic Studies, and two Honorary Doctorates in Education and Islamic Economics.

An internationally-known scholar and Islamic activist, Professor Khurshid authored and edited 70 books, 35 each in English and Urdu, as well as numerous articles, and participated in at least 100 seminars worldwide. He traveled extensively lecturing about Islam and preaching its values, and is presently an editor of Tarjumanul Quran.

Professor Khurshid held key positions in numerous national and international organizations dealing with Islamic religious, academic, economic, social, and constitutional matters. He is the Founder and Chairman of the Institute of Policy Studies in Pakistan and the Islamic Foundation in Leicester, England, the Vice-President of the Islamic Research Academy in Karachi and Lahore, and a Member of the Boards of the International Islamic University in Islamabad, the Royal Academy for Islamic Civilization in Jordan and the Islamic Center in Zaria (Nigeria). He was Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Statistics, a professor in Karachi University, and a research scholar at Exeter University.

Professor Khurshid’s contributions have earned him several other awards, including the first Islamic Development Bank Award in 1988.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

Ali Al-Tantawi was educated in Damascus University, graduating in 1932 with a law degree. Al-Tantawi combined formal education with private learning under renowned

Syrian Islamic and Arabic language scholars.

Shaikh Al-Tantawi served as a teacher in different parts of Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon before joining the Judiciary system in Syria, and was involved in formulating family laws during the unity between Egypt and Syria. He was also a journalist since 1926, and one of the first Arab broadcasters serving in radio stations in Java, Baghdad, and Damascus. In addition, he was involved in activities relating to the struggle for independence of various Arab nations from British and French rules, and was therefore subjected to continuous harassment, particularly in the 1940’s and 1950’s.

In 1963, he moved to Saudi Arabia where he taught for some years at the Shari’a and Arabic Language Colleges in Riyadh and Makkah, before dedicating his full time to writing, counseling, and preaching activities. He impressed a vast audience with his rich knowledge, wisdom, and moderation. He anchored a daily radio program and a weekly television program continuously for 25 years, and both of them were extremely popular. He also authored many books and articles on a wide range of topics and published his memoirs in eight volumes.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.