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 king of Saudi Arabia, officially the king of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Arabic: ملك المملكة العربية السعودية, romanized: Malik al-Mamlakat al-ʿArabiyat as-Suʿūdiyya), is head of state of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who holds absolute power. He is the head of the Saudi Arabian royal family, the House of Saud. The king is the commander-in-chief of the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces and the head of the Saudi national honors system. The king is called the "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" (خادم الحرمين الشريفين; Khadim al-Haramayn aš-Šarīfayn), a title that signifies Saudi Arabia's jurisdiction over the mosques of Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina. The title has been used many times through the history of Islam. The first Saudi king to use the title was Faisal; however, King Khalid did not use the title after him. In 1986, King Fahd replaced "His Majesty" with the title of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and it has been since used by both King Abdullah and King Salman. The king has been named the most powerful and influential Muslim and Arab leader in the world according to The Muslim 500.
View the full Wikipedia page for King of Saudi ArabiaAli al-Husayni al-Sistani (Arabic: علي الحسيني السيستاني; born 4 August 1930) is an Islamic scholar and the dean of the Hawza in Najaf, Iraq. A Grand Ayatollah, Sistani is considered one of the leading religious leaders of Twelver Shia Muslims. After the invasion of Iraq and the subsequent overthrow of the authoritarian Baathist regime, Sistani advocated for democratization instead of the system of Wilayat al-Faqih. He has likewise endorsed rule of law, Iraqi nationalism, non-sectarianism and popular sovereignty. He has been a vocal critic of foreign interference in Iraqi affairs and has warned foreign actors against imposing their will on the Iraqi people.
Born in Mashhad, Iran to a Sayyid family, Sistani studied in Qom under Hossein Borujerdi and later in Najaf under Abu al-Qasim al-Khu'i. An Usuli, Sistani rose to the rank of mujtahid in 1960 and succeeded Abd al-A'la al-Sabziwari as Grand Ayatollah. Sistani was included in top positions of The Muslim 500: The World's Most Influential Muslims from 2004 to 2024 and named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2004 and 2005.
View the full Wikipedia page for Ali al-Sistani