Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir have shared the top spot in the latest edition of the world’s 500 most influential Muslims, alongside the Saudi king and crown prince and the Turkish president.
The rankings have been compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre (RISSC), a research institute based in Amman, Jordan. It has been publishing an annual report titled “The 500 Most Influential Muslims” since 2009, recognising and highlighting individuals who have made significant contributions to Muslim communities.
This is the first time that the list features multiple names for the top rank, recognising the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, according to the edition.
“While this unified top spot features five individuals, it is actually divided into three shared entries that represent a massive shift in how Muslim nations are working together to protect one another. The main reason for this historic decision is the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement,” the edition said.
It added, “This mutual-defence pact unites the immense wealth of Saudi Arabia, the advanced tech and manufacturing of Turkiye, and the powerful military strength of Pakistan into a collective alliance.
“Modelled on a ‘one for all, all for one’ approach to security, this pact has completely reshaped regional politics.”
The report also acknowledged that “over the past year, Pakistan has navigated an intricate set of economic stabilisation challenges, regional security pressures, and major-power diplomatic balancing acts”.
It noted that Islamabad engaged in “regional shuttle diplomacy” in the Middle East to advocate for de-escalation, “even as domestic energy markets faced immediate pressures via elevated import costs and emergency fuel conservation measures”.
Following the leaders of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, at the fourth and fifth place in the list are Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and Jordan’s King Abdullah II, respectively.
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani is ranked at number six while United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan has been ranked at number 12. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Saeed El-Sisi is at number 22.
Pakistani Scholar Sheikh Muhammad Taqi Usmani has been listed as the seventh most influential Muslim, while Scholar Maulana Tariq Jamil is ranked at 32.
Footballer Mohamed Salah is ranked at 39.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is listed at number 45, followed by Syrian Interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa at the 46th place.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is listed as the 49th most influential Muslim in the list.
Honourable mentions in politics include Hamas Chief Khalil Al-Hayya, former prime minister Imran Khan, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and American Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed.
Similarly, honourable mentions in the “Social Issues, Science, Arts & Culture, Media and Sports” category include Jordan’s Queen Rania Al-Abdullah, British composer Sami Yusuf, Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda, British-American broadcaster and journalist Mehdi Hasan and Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef.
Every year, the RISSC also names two people as Man of the Year and Woman of the Year.
This year, Palestinian paediatrician Dr Hussam Abu Safiya has been named as the Man of the Year. He is described as “a doctor who refused to abandon his patients, buried his son and returned to the wards, and has now spent more than six hundred days in Israeli custody without charge or trial”.
Under Israel’s invasion of Gaza, he documented attacks on medical facilities and appealed to the international community to protect Gaza’s health infrastructure. “A man with no army, no office and no freedom has done more than most governments to remind the world what courage and integrity look like,” the report says.
Minab school attack survivor Fatemeh Zahra Sheikhabadi has been honoured as the Woman of the Year. After surviving the US strikes on her school, she travelled to Geneva and addressed the UN Human Rights Council, urging world leaders to “hear the voices of the children of Minab”, the report says.
“She is honoured not as a symbol of a war, but as herself: a girl who lost her friends and her teachers on an ordinary morning, and who lived to tell their story so that it would not be lost with them.”
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