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 i 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 ii 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 3 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 4