500 Most Influential Muslims

500 Most Influential Muslims is an annual publication that ranks the most influential muslims in the world.

The 100 Most Influential Muslims
AuthorJohn L. Esposito, İbrahim Kalın, Usra Ghazi, Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding, Kenan Stockmore
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Series1st Edition (2009)
2nd Edition (2010)
3rd Edition (2011)
4th Edition (2012)
5th Edition (2012/13)
6th Edition (2014/15)
7th Edition (2016)
8th Edition (2017)
9th Edition (2018)
10th Edition (2019)
11th Edition (2020)
SubjectBiographical dictionary
PublisherRoyal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, Createspace
Media typeOnline, print
ISBN978-9957-428-37-2
OCLC514462119
Websitehttps://www.themuslim500.com/

Current top ten

Rank. Change. Name. Citizenship. Age. Image. Occupation. Source of Influence. Influence. School of Thought.
Previous rankings
01* Increase2 King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia

December 31, 1935

     (aged 89)
Salman bin Abdull aziz December 9, 2013.jpg King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Economics and Politics. King with authority over 36+* million residents of Saudi Arabia and approximately 2+* million pilgrims annually.!! Moderate Salafi Unlisted (2009)
Unlisted (2010)
Unlisted (2011)
Unlisted (2012)
Unlisted (2013/14)
Unlisted (2014/15)
3 (2016) Increase
3 (2017) Steady
2 (2018) Increase1
2 (2019) Steady
4 (2020) Decrease2
2(2021)Increase1.
02* Increase1 King Abdullah II of Jordan Jordan
Jordan

January 30, 1962

     (aged 63)
King Abdullah II (cropped).jpg King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Political, Lineage. King with authority over approximately seven million Jordanians.* Custodian of the Holy Sites in Jerusalem. Traditional Sunni 4 (2009)
4 (2010) Steady
4 (2011) Steady
7 (2012) Decrease3
4 (2013/14) Increase3
4(2014/15) Steady
1 (2016) Increase3
2 (2017) Decrease1
3 (2018) Decrease1
3(2019)Steady
5(2020)Decrease3
4(2021)Increase1.
03* Increase1 King Mohammed VI of Morocco Morocco
Morocco

August 21, 1963

     (aged 62)
King Mohammed VI of Morocco, Africa Forum Summit 2015 (cropped).jpg King of Morocco Political, Administrative, Development King with authority over 32+* million Moroccans. Traditional Sunni, Maliki 3 (2009)
5 (2010) Decrease2
2 (2011) Increase3
3 (2012)Decrease1
5 (2013/14) Decrease2
5 (2014/15) Steady
5 (2016) Steady
5 (2017) Steady
6 (2018) Decrease1
5 (2019) Increase1
7 (2020) Decrease2
6 (2021) Increase1
04* Increase2 H.H.,GEN.; Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan United Arab Emirates
UAE

March 11, 1961

     (aged 64)

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at Hyderabad House, in New Delhi on February 11, 2016.jpg

Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Administration of Religious Affairs, Philanthropy, Charity and Development, Economics and Politics. Military and political leadership.* Traditional Sunni. 22 (2009)
22 (2010) Steady
18 (2011) Increase4
15 (2012) Increase3
10 (2013/14) Increase5
9 (2014/15) Increase1
7 (2016) Decrease2
12 (2017) Decrease5
15 (2018) Decrease3
15(2019) Steady
3(2020)Increase12
7(2021)Decrease2.
05* Increase2. Seyyed Ali Khamenei Iran
Iran

July 17, 1939

     (aged 86)
Seyyed Ali Khamenei.jpg Supreme Leader of Iran Political, Administrative Supreme Leader of 82.5+* million Iranians. Traditional Twelver Shi‘a, Revolutionary Shi'ism, Usuli 2 (2009)
3 (2010) Increase1
5 (2011) Decrease2
6 (2012) Decrease1
3 (2013/14) Increase3
3 (2014/15) Steady
4 (2016) Decrease
4 (2017) Steady
4 (2018) Steady
4 (2019) Steady
2(2020) Increase2
3(2021)
3Template:Inrease.
06* Steady. Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hussein Sistani Iraq
Iraq

August 4, 1930

     (aged 95)
Ali Sistani edit1.jpg Marja' of the Hawza, Najaf, Iraq Scholarly, Lineage Highest authority for 21+* million Iraqi Shi‘a, and also internationally as religious authority to Usuli Twelver Shi‘a. Traditional Twelver Shi‘a, Usuli 7 (2009)
8 (2010) Decrease1
10 (2011) Decrease2
13 (2012) Decrease3
8 (2013/14) Increase5
7 (2014/15) Increase1
9 (2016) Decrease2
7(2017)Increase2
8(2018)Decrease1
7 (2019) Increase1
8 (2020) Decrease1
8 (2021) Steady,
07* Steady. SH.:Habib Umar bin Hafidz Yemen
Yemen
May 27,1963 (age 61–62) Director of Dar Al Mustafa, Tareem, Yemen Scholarly, Spiritual leader and Preacher, Lineage Millions of traditional Muslim followers globally. Traditional Sunni, Shafi'i, Ba 'Alawiy Sufi. 28 (2016) Steady
25 (2017) Increase3
10 (2018) Increase15
8 (2019) Increase2
9(2020)Decrease1
9(2021)Steady.
08* Increase2. SH.:Mufti Taqi Usmani Pakistan
Pakistan

October 5, 1943

     (aged 82)

.

Taqi Usmani in London (2016).jpg Scholar The intellectual leader of the Deobandi movement. Deobandi Movement: Hanafi, Sunni 27 (2009)
31 (2010) Decrease4
32 (2011) Decrease1
32 (2012) Steady
25 (2013/14) Increase7
19 (2014/15) Increase6
22 (2016) Decrease3
6 (2017) Increase16
7 (2018) Decrease1
6 (2019) Increase1
1 (2020) Increase5
5 (2021) Decrease1.
09* Increase1. SH.:Salman Al-Ouda. Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia

December 14, 1956

     (aged 69)
Salman al-Ouda.jpg Saudi Muslim scholar. Scholar Influential Muslim Cleric in Arab World.* Traditional Sunni, Hanbali 19 (2017) {{}}
11 (2018) Increase8
10 (2019) Increase1
11 (2020) Decrease1
10 (2021) Increase1.[1]

Previous top ten entrants

Rank Change Name Citizenship Age Image Occupation Source of Influence Influence School of Thought Previous rankings
11 Decrease5 Qaboos bin Said al Said Oman
Oman

November 18, 1940

     (aged 85)
QaboosBinSaidAlSaid.jpg Sultan of Oman Lineage, Political, Development Leader of 4 million citizens and residents of Oman. Traditional Ibadi 6 (2009)
6 (2010) Steady
9 (2011) Decrease3
12 (2011) Decrease3
9 (2013/14) Increase3
8 (2014/15) Increase1
6 (2016) Increase2.
12. Decrease5 H.H. General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan United Arab Emirates
UAE

March 11, 1961

     (aged 64)
General Mohammed bin Zayed.jpg Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Administration of Religious Affairs, Philanthropy, Charity and Development, Political Military and political leadership. Traditional Sunni 22 (2009)
22 (2010) Steady
18 (2011) Increase4
15 (2012) Increase3
10 (2013/14) Increase5
9 (2014/15) Increase1
7 (2016) Decrease2.
13. Decrease1 Ahmed el-Tayeb Egypt
Egypt

January 1, 1946

     (aged 79)
Ahmed el-Tayeb May 2015 (17963337671).jpg Grand Sheikh of the Al-Azhar University and Grand Imam of the Al-Azhar Mosque Administrative Highest scholarly authority for a majority of Sunni Muslims, runs the foremost and largest Sunni Islamic university with close to 400,000 students. Traditional Sunni 25 (2009)
7 (2010) Increase18
7 (2011) Steady
8 (2012) Increase1
1 (2013/14) Increase7
2 (2014/15) Decrease1
2 (2016) Steady.
31 Increase1 Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi Qatar
Qatar

September 9, 1926

     (aged 99)
Qardawi.JPG Head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars Scholarly Leading scholar for global Muslim Brotherhood movement, host of Ash-Shariah wal-Hayat on Al Jazeera with 40 million viewers worldwide. Muslim Brotherhood, Sunni 9 (2009)
14 (2010) Decrease5
13 (2011) Decrease1
16 (2013/14) Decrease3
31 (2014/15) Decrease15
32 (2016) Decrease1,
48 Decrease33 Muhammet Fethullah Gülen Turkey
Turkey

April 27, 1941

     (aged 84)
Fethullah Gülen cropped.jpg Turkish Muslim preacher and founder of the Gülen movement Scholarly Figure of spiritual and social leadership for millions of Turkish Muslims and others around the world. Own movement 13 (2009)
13 (2011) Steady
15 (2011) Decrease2
10 (2011) Increase5
11 (2013/14) Decrease1
14 (2014/15) Decrease3
15 (2016) Increase1.
55 Decrease39 Sheikh Ali Gomaa Egypt
Egypt

March 3, 1953

     (aged 72)
Ali Gomaa.JPG Grand Mufti of The Arab Republic of Egypt Scholarly, Political Legal authority for 87 million Egyptians. Traditional Sunni, Shafi‘i 10 (2009)
10 (2010) Steady
12 (2011) Decrease2
14 (2013/14) Decrease2
15 (2014/15) Decrease1
16 (2016) Increase1.
Top 450 Steady Dr Mohammed Badie Egypt
Egypt

August 7, 1943

     (aged 82)
Mohammed Badiea.jpg Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Administrative, Political, International Islamic Networks Leader of a transnational movement in Egypt and across the Middle East, Africa, the United Kingdom, and United States. Traditional Sunni, Muslim Brothers Unlisted (2009)
12 (2010)
8 (2011) Decrease4
4 (2012) Increase4
36 (2013/14) Decrease32
Top 450 (2014/15) Decrease414
Top 450 (2016) Steady.
Unlisted Decrease450 Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Qatar
Qatar

January 1, 1952

     (aged 73)
Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (cropped).jpg Emir of Qatar Political, Administrative, Lineage, Philanthropy Political leader of over 1.5 million residents of oil-rich Qatar. Moderate Salafi Unlisted (2009)
21 (2010)
6 (2011) Increase15
5 (2011) Decrease1
Unlisted (2013/14) Decrease
Top 450 (2014/15) Increase
Top 450 (2016) Steady.
Unlisted Decrease President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Indonesia
Indonesia

September 9, 1949

     (aged 76)
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, official presidential portrait (2004).jpg President of Indonesia Political, Development Leader of 233.5 million citizens and residents of Indonesia. Traditional Sunni Unspecified (2009)
9 (2010)
11 (2011) Decrease2
9 (2011) Increase2
7 (2013/14) Decrease2
Unlisted (2014/15)
Unlisted (2016)Decrease,
Unlisted Deceased King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
(1924-08-01)August 1, 1924 – January 23, 2015(2015-01-23) (aged 90) King Abdullah bin Abdul al-Saud January 2007.jpg King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Political, Administrative, Lineage King who had authority over 26 million residents of Saudi Arabia, 2.4 million Hajj pilgrims and approximately 14 million Umrah pilgrims annually. Moderate Salafi 1 (2009)
1 (2010) Steady
1 (2011) Steady
1 (2012) Steady
2 (2013/14) Decrease1)
1 (2014/15) Increase1
Unlisted (2016)Decrease

Other websites

References