The Muslim 500 – 2019
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
• PERSONS • OF THE YEAR th The Muslim10 Anniversary500 Edition THE WORLD’S 500 MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSLIMS • • with cumulative2019 rankings over ten years th Anniversary Edition 10 The Muslim500 THE WORLD’S 500 MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSLIMS • 2019 • with cumulative rankings over ten years C The 10th Anniversary Edition, The World’s 500 Most Influen- Chief Editor: Prof S Abdallah Schleifer tial Muslims, 2019 Deputy Chief Editor: Ms Farah El-Sharif Managing Editor: Mr Aftab Ahmed ISBN: 978-9957-635-34-3 Editorial Board: Dr Minwer Al-Meheid, Mx Moustafa Jordan National Library Elqabbany, and Ms Zeinab Asfour Deposit No: 2018/10/5192 Researchers: Lamya Al-Khraisha, Moustafa Elqabbany, © 2018 The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre Zeinab Asfour, Noora Chahine, and M AbdulJaleal 20 Sa’ed Bino Road, Dabuq Nasreddin PO BOX 950361 Amman 11195, JORDAN www.rissc.jo Typeset by: M AbdulJaleal Nasreddin All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written per- mission of the publisher. Views expressed in The Muslim 500 do not necessarily reflect 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—2019 11 A Regional Survey 31 The House of Islam 43 The Top 50 112 The Top 50 Ins & Outs 113 The Top 100 Cumulative Influence Over Ten Years 133 Honourable Mentions 141 The 450 Lists 143 Scholarly 153 Political 164 Administration of Religious Affairs 172 Preachers & Spiritual Guides 180 Philanthropy, Charity & Development 183 Social Issues 193 Business 199 Science & Technology 203 Arts & Culture 210 Qur’an Reciters 211 Media 215 Celebrities & Sports Stars 218 Top Extremists 220 New Additions to the 450 Lists 221 The Obituaries 225 Guest Contributions 227 Malaysia in 2018: Resurrecting Islamic Democracy by Nurul Izzah Anwar 230 Manufacturing Imposture, The View on the Theory of Evolution through the Prism of Islam and Science by Abdelhaq M Hamza i 247 Will Americans Stand up Against Trump’s Muslim Ban? by Faisal Kutty 249 Muslims and the Environmental Crisis by Fazlun Khalid 252 An Islamic Framework for the Natural Law of a Just Third Way by Dr. Robert D. Crane 253 Tolerance and Cooperation in the Prophetic Paradigm by Shaykh Faid Muhammad Said 256 Prophetic Leadership, 11 Qualities that Changed the World by Nabeel Al-Azami 261 In the Age of Trump, Muslims Must Learn How to Communicate Again by Muddassar Ahmed 263 The Two Most Important Institutions for British Muslims by Faeem Raza 268 Brief Remarks on Islam, History, Philosophy, and European Triumphalism by Ahab Bdaiwi 271 Book Reviews 277 Major Events of the Last Year 285 Appendix I: World Muslim Population 293 Appendix II: Social Media Statistics 299 The Glossary 305 The Indices 306 The Muslim 500 by Name 312 The Muslim 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 : 1-7 Calligraphy by Hasan Kan’an © FreeIslamicCalligraphy.com elcome to the tenth annual issue of The individuals are listed in each category The Muslim 500: The World’s 500 according to geographical region (Middle East and Most Influential Muslims. We are very North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Europe, Wpleased that we have made it this far and that the Oceania, North America, South America), then in book has evolved as it has. We thank you for all alphabetical order by country and surname. your support and suggestions and look forward to How to measure this influence is of course the continually receiving them. most challenging aspect of the publication, and the There are approximately 1.9 billion Muslims in one where opinions diverge the most. Influence the world today, making up 24.7% 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 well as the updated Top 50 and 450 lists, we inant and lasting influence cannot be denied, espe- have our regular ‘House of Islam’ essay which gives cially the rulers, who in many cases also appoint an overview of Islam and its branches. religious scholars to their respective positions. We have our distinguished chief editor sharing This doesn’t discount the significant amount of his thoughts on the major events in the Muslim influence from other sectors of society. The publi- world over the past twelve months. These are com- cation selects Muslim individuals from a range of plemented by further thoughts from our depu- categories of influence, 13 in total: ty-chief editor. • Scholarly It being the 10th anniversary of The Muslim • Political 500, we have decided to rank all the people men- • Administration of Religious Affairs tioned over the 10 editions and have come up • Preachers and Spiritual Guides with a Top 100 list based on a points system of • Philanthropy/Charity and Development how many times they have appeared in the book • Social Issues and in which sections and ranks. This gives us a • Business good indication of influence over the last decade. • Science and Technology Our ‘Guest Contributions’ section has exclu- • Arts and Culture sive articles covering a wide range of issues. These • Qur’an Reciters are sure to stimulate thought and discussion on • Media current pressing issues. Also, our Book Reviews • Celebrities and Sports Stars review some books that have been published • Extremists recently. 3 The ‘Major Events’ section provides a timeline the book, which we hope will serve as a beautiful of the major events that have taken place over the reminder to pause and reflect as you go through past year. the book. We have also added write-ups within the Appendices I and II provide us with lots of main body of the text about major initiatives (see statistics. Appendix I shows total population and A Common Word on page 155, the Marrakesh Muslim population by country, for all the coun- Declaration on page 161, Free Islamic Calligraphy tries in the world. Appendix II compiles a list of the on page 176, Altafsir.com on page 207). highest Muslim Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Our website [www.TheMuslim500.com] is a users, as well as the highest in the world. popular destination. We welcome your feedback To give a richer visual experience we have also and will take nominations for the 2020 edition included several calligraphy pieces throughout through it. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Creator of the heavens and the earth The Cow 2 : 117 Calligraphy by Hasan Kan’an © FreeIslamicCalligraphy.com 4 Persons of the Year—2019 by Professor S Abdallah Schleifer Twenty-five years after the signing and almost suggested she should spend her life in prison. immediate betrayal of the Oslo Agreement, this A few days later Ahed, aged 16, was arrested at is a time that is witness to the Trump-Netanyahu her home at night.