Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and Head of Tajikistan’s Shuroi of Ulamo (Council of Ulama — an Islamic council that issues fatwas (religious rulings) and religious guidance to Islamic religious organizations) Saidmukarram Abduqodirzoda have been listed in this year’ edition of The Muslim 500 , an annual publication, which ranks the most influential Muslims in the world.
The publication, in particular, notes that Emomali Rahmon has been President of Tajikistan since 1994. He has been supporter of Tajik cultural roots, “changing his name from Rahmonov to Rahmon following the decree that banned Slavic name endings and other Soviet-era practices.”
As far as Saidmukarram Abduqodirzoda is concerned, the publication says he is the state-selected Grand Mufti and thus head of Tajikistan’s Muslims, most of whom are Sunnis and whose tradition includes following Hanafi school in matters of jurisprudence and Naqshbandi spiritual path.
Like the previous five years, His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims and the Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), is among the top 50 most influential Muslims in the world. This year, he is ranked 40th.
This year, the top of the list went to His Eminence Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of the al-Azhar. He is followed on the listing by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Jordan’s King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein.
The 500 Most Influential Muslims (also known as The Muslim 500) is an annual publication first published in 2009, which ranks the most influential Muslims in the world.
The publication is compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman, Jordan. 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.
The publication highlights people who are influential as Muslims. That is people whose influence is derived from their practice of Islam or from the fact that they are Muslim. Nominations are evaluated on the basis of the influence that particular Muslims have had within the Muslim community and the manner in which their influence has benefited the Muslim community, both within the Islamic world and in terms of representing Islam to non-Muslims. “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 book starts with an overall top 50, ranked the most influential Muslims in the world. The remaining 450 most prominent Muslims is broken down into 15 categories without ranking, of scholarly, political, administrative, lineage, preachers and spiritual guides, women, youth, philanthropy/charity, development, science and technology, arts and culture, Quran reciters, media, radicals, international Islamic networks and issues of the day.
