The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre (RISSC) has named 25 Pakistanis, including former Prime Minister (PM), Imran Khan, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Qamar Javed Bajwa, and Malala Yousufzai, in its list of the top 500 most influential Muslims in the world in 2023.
Out of all 25 Pakistanis, renowned Islamic scholar, Justice Sheikh Muhammad Taqi Usmani, has been named as the sixth most influential Muslim in the world, while the founding leader of Dawat-e-Islami, Sheikh Muhammad Ilyas Attar Qadri, has been ranked 50th on the list.
As far as other Pakistani personalities are concerned, Imran Khan and Malala Yousufzai, have also been mentioned in the honorary top 50 list, along with being named as the top leaders in their respective fields.
The following are the top Pakistani Muslims in their disciplines, as featured in the Muslim 500 magazine:
Administration of Religious Affairs
Leader of the Shia Ulema Council (SUC), Ayatollah Syed Sajid Ali Naqvi, has been named in this category along with Jamat-e-Islami’s (JI) Chief, Siraj-ul-Haq.
Political
The political list of Pakistani influential Muslims features COAS, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, PTI’s Chairman, Imran Khan, and PML-N’s Sharif duo, Nawaz Sharif, and Shehbaz Sharif.
Social Issues
Malala Yousufzai and Muniba Mazari, share their names in the category due to their significant contribution to the country’s social issues.
Business
In this section, Pakistani-American business/sports tycoon and billionaire, Shahid Khan, is the only one from his country.
Science and Technology
Furthermore, the Coordinator-General (CG) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Prof. Atta-ur-Rehman, Sitara-i-Imtiaz winner Computer Scientist and Chief Digital Officer (CDO) of Jang Group, Umar Saif, and an award-winning Physicist, Irfan Siddiqui, have been featured as the pioneers of their field in the Muslim world.
Media
Jang Group’s Founder, Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman, ARY’s CEO, Salman Iqbal, and Senior Defence Analyst, Zaid Hamid, have the honor of being the top Muslims in the field of media in Pakistan.
Arts and Culture
A country with tremendous contributions in the global arts and culture sector could not have lagged behind in this category, therefore famed Pakistani nasheed and hamd reciter, Ismail Al-Hajj Siddiq, acclaimed mystic vocalist, Abida Parveen, another prominent nasheed reciter, Muhammad Owais Raza Qadri, and Oscar-winning filmmaker, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, have been ranked among the most influential Muslims.
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