Intellectual leadership

This post may seem like a blatant attempt to describe intellectual leadership of Muslims in the East and West with massive overdose of generalization. Nevertheless, I would like to draw your attention to a leadership dichotomy of the East and the West.

First of all, there are a million definitions describing intellectuals. To make it simple, I think of intellectuals as individuals who are directing or affecting the thinking of other people. Their contribution to the society or a specific group is their message (ideas). (I hope my definition isn't like putting together vertebrate of a dinosaurs’ :)

When I look at the "Eastern Muslims" i.e. the Muslim world, I find most of the intellectuals to be irreligious, secularists, who are highly influenced by the "West". They compromise the leadership of the Muslim world. They are scientists, politicians, military leaders, news editors, writers, etc. Yes, there are religious leaders who also have an impact on the masses but they do not 'lead' the Muslim world. They lead the prayer in mosques. They lead the maulid (birthday of the Prophet) in the city. They lead the jinaza (funeral procession) of a deceased person. It's not a derogatory statement, but they don't lead the Muslim world in public sphere.

On the other side of the same planet, the Western Muslim intellectuals. One of the blessings of being a minority in the West is that most American (Western) Muslims would identify their leaders as religious imams and academics. Few names that come to my mind: Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, Dr. Tariq Ramadan, Imam Zaid Shakir, Dr. AbdulHakim Jackson, etc. Obviously, this list does not include other dissenters but aforementioned leaders are having an impact. They are leaders in public and intellectual spheres.

I know this might be saying too much in few words.

…1..2..3.. start your criticism :)