The Muslim 500 - The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims (2018 Edition)

273 Pages·2017·8.29 MB·English

by  coll.

PERSONS
• •
OF THE YEAR
The
Muslim 500
THE WORLD’S 500 MOST
INFLUENTIAL MUSLIMS
2018
• •

The
Muslim 500
THE WORLD’S 500 MOST
INFLUENTIAL MUSLIMS
2018
• •
C
The Muslim 500: 2018 Chief Editor: Prof S Abdallah Schleifer
The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims, 2018 Deputy Chief Editor: Ms Farah El-Sharif
ISBN: 978-9957-635-14-5 Contributing Editor: Dr Tarek Elgawhary
Editor-at-Large: Mr Aftab Ahmed
Jordan National Library
Deposit No: 2017/10/5597 Editorial Board: Dr Minwer Al-Meheid, Mr Moustafa
Elqabbany, and Ms Zeinab Asfour
© 2017 The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre
20 Sa’ed Bino Road, Dabuq Researchers: Lamya Al-Khraisha, Moustafa Elqabbany,
PO BOX 950361 Zeinab Asfour, and M AbdulJaleal Nasreddin
Amman 11195, JORDAN
http://www.rissc.jo Consultant: Simon Hart
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced Typeset by: M AbdulJaleal Nasreddin
or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or me-
chanic, including photocopying or recording or by any in-
formation storage and retrieval system, without the prior
written permission of the publisher.
Views expressed in The Muslim 500 do not necessarily re-
flect those of RISSC or its advisory board.
Set in Garamond Premiere Pro
Printed in The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Calligraphy used throughout the book provided courtesy
of www.FreeIslamicCalligraphy.com
Title page Bismilla by Mothana Al-Obaydi
Contents
• •
page 1 Introduction
5 Persons of the Year—2018
7 Influence and The Muslim 500
9 The House of Islam
21 The Top 50
89 Honourable Mentions
97 The 450 Lists
99 Scholarly
111 Political
121 Administration of Religious Affairs
128 Preachers & Spiritual Guides
135 Philanthropy, Charity & Development
138 Social Issues
149 Business
154 Science & Technology
158 Arts & Culture
165 Qur’an Reciters
166 Media
170 Celebrities & Sports Stars
172 Top Extremists
175 The Obituaries
179 Guest Contributions
181 Tunisia and the Liberation of Muslim Women
By Dr Abdullah bin Hamid Ali
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186 Not To Strike Terror
by Sheikh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi
189 Christians and Muslims: Believers Together in Politically Confusing Times
by Dr Paul L Heck
192 We Must Take Back the Reins from Extremists
by Faisal Kutty
194 365 Years of South African Islam: From Slave Origins to Living Beyond
Contradiction
by Shafiq Morton
198 Holistic Education on the Essence of the World Religions
by Dr Robert D Crane
199 The Poverty of Knowledge Synthesis in the Modern Muslim University:
Implications for the Future Muslim Mind
by Osman Bakar
203 Muslim Women: The Wave of the Future
by Rajae El Mouhandiz
206 The Myanmar Genocide
by Azeem Ibrahim
210 Triple Consciousness: Islamic Institutions of Higher Education, Women, and
Sacred Law
by Zaynab Ansari
213 Justice, Society and Islam
by Dr Hisham A Hellyer
217 Book Reviews
223 Major Events of the Last Year
229 Appendix I: World Muslim Population
237 Appendix II: Social Media Statistics
243 The Glossary
249 The Indices
250 The 500 by Name
256 The 500 by Country
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INTRO-
DUCTION
1
“In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful:
Praise be to God; Lord of all Worlds.
The Compassionate, the Merciful.
Master of the Day of Judgement.
You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.
Guide us to the straight path:
the path of those whom You have favoured, not the path of those against whom there is wrath, nor
of those who are astray.”
The Opening, 1 - 7
Calligraphy by Hasan Kan’an © FreeIslamicCalligraphy.com
Welcome to the ninth annual issue of alphabetical order by country and surname.
The Muslim 500: The World’s 500 Most How to measure this influence is of course the
Influential Muslims. most challenging aspect of the publication, and the
There are approximately 1.84 billion Muslims in one where opinions diverge the most. Influence
the world today, making up 24.38% of the world’s can sometimes be gauged on a quantitative basis,
population, or just under one-quarter of mankind. the number of followers, the number of books
As well as being citizens of their respective coun- written, the amount of sales etc., but more often it
tries, they also have a sense of belonging to the is not something measurable in quantitative terms
‘ummah’, the worldwide Muslim community. and is more related to the qualitative and lasting
This publication sets out to ascertain the influ- effect of that influence. A combination of social
ence some Muslims have on this community, or metrics, public opinion (we have a month-long
on behalf of the community. Influence is: any per- open call for nominations every year, and all of the
son who has the power (be it cultural, ideological, suggestions are considered) and expert opinion are
financial, political or otherwise) to make a change the basis of this attempt to measure influence. The
that will have a significant impact on the Muslim achievements of a lifetime are given more weight
world. Note that the impact can be either positive than achievements within the current year. People
or negative, depending on one’s point of view of who are trailblazers, or the lone voice in a remote
course. The selection of people for this publication area are also taken into account as we give weight
in no way means that we endorse their views; rather to people breaking barriers and to local influence as
we are simply trying to measure their influence. well as global influence. This means that our list of
The influence can be of a religious scholar directly names will change gradually, rather than dramati-
addressing Muslims and influencing their beliefs, cally, year-on-year. This list acts as an opportunity
ideas and behaviour, or it can be of a ruler shaping to shed some light on the many challenges and pio-
the socio-economic factors within which people neering triumphs that are present at the very crux
live their lives, or of artists shaping popular culture. of shaping the Muslim community.
The first two examples also point to the fact that
WHAT’S IN THIS ISSUE?
the lists, and especially the Top 50, are dominated
by religious scholars and heads of state. Their dom- As can be seen from the front cover, we have
inant and lasting influence cannot be denied, espe- added a new feature - Persons of the Year; two
cially the rulers, who in many cases also appoint people who have made significant contributions in
religious scholars to their respective positions. this particular year. Our distinguished chief editor
This doesn’t discount the significant amount of explains why we have added this section. We always
influence from other sectors of society. The publi- receive many questions around the word ‘influ-
cation selects Muslim individuals from a range of ence’ and we hope the piece ‘A Note on Influence
categories of influence, 13 in total: and the Muslim 500’ will address one aspect of
• Scholarly this. As well as the updated Top 50 and 450 lists,
• Political we have our regular House of Islam essay which
• Administration of Religious Affairs gives an overview of Islam and its branches. Our
• Preachers and Spiritual Guides Guest Contributions section has exclusive articles
• Philanthropy/Charity and Development covering a wide range of issues. We have added a
• Social Issues new section; ‘Book Reviews’ where we review
• Business some of the important books that have been pub-
• Science and Technology lished recently. The ‘Major Events’ section provides
• Arts and Culture a timeline of the major events that have taken place
• Qur’an Reciters over the past year. Our two Appendices provide us
• Media with lots of statistics. Appendix I shows total pop-
• Celebrities and Sports Stars ulation and Muslim population by country, for all
• Extremists the countries in the world. Appendix II compiles a
The individuals are listed in each category list of the highest Muslim Facebook, Twitter and
according to geographical region (Middle East and Instagram users, as well as the highest in the world.
North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Europe, We now have two indices; an index by name and
Oceania, North America, South America), then in an index sorted by country (the former includes
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names of all the 500 Muslims listed in the book as the main body of the text about major initiatives
well as our guest contributors, book reviewers and (see Generations of Peace on page 148page 148,
people listed in the obituaries whereas the latter A Common Word on page 110page 110, the
index includes only the names of the selected 500 Marrakesh Declaration on page 117page 117, Free
Muslims). Islamic Calligraphy on page 134page 134, Altafsir.
To give a richer visual experience we have also com on page 164page 164.
included several calligraphy pieces throughout Our website—www.TheMuslim500.com—is a
the book, which we hope will serve as a beautiful popular destination. We welcome your feedback
reminder to pause and reflect as you go through and will take nominations for the 2019 edition
the book. We have also added write-ups within through it.
“Had We sent down this Qur’ān upon a mountain, you would have surely seen it humbled, rent asunder by
the fear of God. And such similitudes do We strike for mankind, that perhaps they may reflect.
He is God, than Whom there is no other god, Knower of the unseen and the visible. He is the Compassionate,
the Merciful.
He is God, than Whom there is no other god, the King, the Holy, the Peace, the Securer, the Guardian, the
Mighty, the Compeller, the Exalted. Glorified be God above what partners they ascribe!
He is God, the Creator, the Maker, the Shaper. To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. All that is in the
heavens and the earth glorify Him, and He is the Mighty, the Wise.”
Exile, 21 - 24
Calligraphy by Hasan Kan’an © FreeIslamicCalligraphy.com
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