[1][2][3] The report is issued annually in cooperation with Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in the United States.
He was followed by King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
[7] "Influential" for the purposes of the book is defined as "any person who has the power (be it cultural, ideological, financial, political or otherwise) to make a change that will have a significant impact on the Muslim World".
The remaining 450 most prominent Muslims is broken down into 15 categories without ranking,[10][11] of scholarly, political, administrative, lineage, preachers and spiritual guides, women, youth, philanthropy/charity, development, science and technology, arts and culture, Qu'ran reciters, media, radicals, international Islamic networks and issues of the day.
Lineage is a significant factor – it has its own category – and the predisposition to include children of important people reveals a mindset that indicates achievement is an optional extra.
[12] Timothy Winter (Abdal Hakim Murad) was the highest ranked British Muslim, in an unspecified position between 51st and 60th, considerably higher than the three other British people who made the list – the Conservative Party chairman Baroness Sayeeda Warsi; the UK's first Muslim life peer, Lord Nazir Ahmed; and Dr Anas Al Shaikh Ali, director of the International Institute of Islamic Thought.
Erdoğan was credited with Turkey's "Muslim democracy", and was seen as the leader of a country that, as the Brookings Institution said, "played the 'most constructive' role in the Arab events.
"[18] Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani influence rose during the Arab Spring, moving him to sixth place.
[19] In 2012, the edition was published by S. Abdallah Schleifer, Professor Emeritus and Senior Fellow Kamal Adham Center for Television & Digital Journalism, The American University in Cairo.
[20] It lists the winners according to 13 categories, including spiritual guides, Quran reciters, scholars, politicians, celebrities, sports figures, radicals, and media leaders.
[24] His public support of General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's coup also gave it a strong religious grounding that was necessary for it to achieve the legitimacy needed to prevent a civil war, effectively making him a "king-maker" and cementing his place at the top of the list.
[22] He was followed on the listing by Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud and Iranian Grand Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei.
[23] The US dominates the list again with 41 inclusions including Muhammad Ali, Dr Mehmet Oz, Rep. Keith Ellison, Yasiin Bey (Mos Def), and Fareed Zakaria.
Representing the UK are Mo Farah, Yusuf Islam, Riz Khan, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Cambridge's Dr Timothy Winter and 18 others.
The top spot went back to Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, due to his being the "absolute monarch of the most powerful Arab nation."
The list accords him the place in light of Saudi Arabia being home to Islam's two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, which millions of Muslims visit throughout the year, as well as the kingdom's oil exports.
The top nine are all political leaders and royals, including Morocco's King Mohammed VI and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In total 72 Americans are among the 500 most influential Muslims, a disproportionately strong showing, but only one among the top 50, Sheikh Hamza Yusuf Hanson of Zaytuna Institute listed at number 38.
Since at least 2012, the U.S. has outpaced nations with a far larger Muslim population, with at least 40 notable people of influence, with Pakistan (33), Saudi Arabia (32), Egypt (27) and the UK (27).
[32] In 2020, the top five were Sheikh Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani of Pakistan, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey; King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia; Ayatollah Hajj Sayyid Ali Khamenei of Iran; King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein of Jordan.