Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman: The most infamous of the blind clerics. In the 1980s he stood accused of instigating the death of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. In 1995, he was convicted of a plot to bomb New York City landmarks.

Sheik Hammoud bin Oqla al-Shuaibi: Osama Bin Laden mentioned al-Shuaibi by name in a Dec. 2001 video message. A radical Saudi cleric who died in January 2002, al-Shuaibi lost his sight to smallpox at the age of 7. He had the entire Quran memorized six years later.

Habib Husein al-Habsyi: A blind cleric and leader of a radical Islamic group in Indonesia. Imprisoned for the 1985 bombing of a Buddhist temple.

Sheik Ali al-Nakas: An Egyptian dissident who died in custody after being jailed for delivering political sermons.

Abdurrahman Wahid: The blind—or nearly blind—cleric who served briefly as the president of Indonesia. He was ousted by the Parliament in 2001 but continues to serve as an important Muslim leader.

Sheik Abdelaziz ibn Baaz: A blind Saudi cleric who served as the Grand Mufti and leader of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars in Saudi Arabia. He died in 1999.

Sheik Ahmed Yassin: The blind cleric who founded Hamas and served as its spiritual leader until his assassination by Israeli airstrike in 2004.

Mullah Mohammed Omar: The half-blind leader of the Taliban who recently rejected the possibility of peace talks with Hamid Karzai.