In the 18th annual edition of 'The Muslim 500' published by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre (RISSC) based in Amman, the capital of Jordan, jointly at the top are King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir of Pakistan, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. The IslamOnWeb report said that considering regional defence cooperation among Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey and their growing strategic relations, these five leaders were jointly given the top position.
After the joint top holders, fourth in the list is Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Mojtaba Khamenei, fifth is King Abdullah II of Jordan and sixth is Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Among Islamic thinkers and scholars, Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani of Pakistan is seventh and Habib Omar bin Hafiz, the renowned Yemeni scholar and founder of Dar al-Mustafa, is eighth. In addition, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is 13th, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto 16th, Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf 21st and Indonesian scholar Habib Luthfi bin Yahya 31st.
In the 2027 edition, 'Man of the Year' is Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a Palestinian paediatrician and director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza; his overall position in the list is 50th. He was given this honour in recognition of continuing to provide medical care and standing by patients amid the terrible war situation in Gaza. He continued his duties despite repeated attacks on the hospital, a severe shortage of medical supplies and difficult circumstances including losing his own child; he has been in Israeli custody since being detained during an Israeli forces operation on 27 December 2024. On the other hand, 'Woman of the Year' is Fatemeh Zahra Shekhabadi, a student who survived an attack in February 2026 at Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab city, Iran; she was given this honour in recognition of her outspoken role on the international stage in memory of her deceased classmates and teachers and about the incident.
In the 2027 list, several influential Muslim personalities from India are included — Dr. Bahauddin Muhammad Jamaluddin Nadwi, founding vice-chancellor of Darul Huda Islamic University, Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, Syed Ibrahimul Khalil al-Bukhari, Jamiat leader Maulana Syed Mahmood Madani, Maulana Syed Arshad Madani, Maulana Saad Kandhalvi, Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani, muhtamim of Darul Uloom Deoband, and Dr. Zakir Naik. In 'The Muslim 500' list, 'influential' means people who have the ability to bring about significant change in the Muslim world through religious scholarship, political leadership, social work, culture or economic activity; experts' assessments, public nominations and various social indicators are considered in preparing the list. The publication states the world's Muslim population is approximately 2.2 billion; the top 50 have been ranked in order, while the remaining 450 have been included in 13 separate categories.
