PM Imran, ARY Digital Network's President and CEO Salman Iqbal among 500 most influential Muslims

ISLAMABAD: The Jordan-based Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre has named Prime Minister Imran Khan as ‘Man of the Year’ and renowned cleric Maulana Tariq Jameel and CEO ARY Network Salman Iqbal among the 2020’s World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims.

The latest ranking of most influential Muslims was released in ‘The Muslim 500’ magazine published by an international Islamic non-governmental, independent institute headquartered in Amman, Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre.

PM Imran Khan, renowned clerics Maulana Tariq Jameel and Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, as well as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) ARY Network Salman Iqbal, have been named among the influential Muslims.

The magazine’s editor wrote that Imran Khan would have been nominated as Man of the Year among all prominent Muslim personalities if ‘The Muslim 500’ was print back in 1992 due to his brilliant performance in cricket, resulting into Pakistan winning the Cricket World Cup, ‘a sport I have always admired for its combination of elegance and intense competitive play.’

“I also was touched when Khan launched a successful fund raising campaign to establish a hospital devoted to both the care of victims of cancer as well as research. This was his magnificent response to the loss of his mother to cancer in 1985 and given Imran Khan’s extraordinary popularity with Pakistanis both at home as well as among the large number of Pakistani expats along with his own, no doubt, generous personal contribution—he raised sufficient funds so that by 1994 the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital opened its doors in Lahore. 75 percent of its patients receive free-care.”

Moreover, the US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (Democrat, Michigan) has been named ‘Woman of the Year’ by the annual magazine started in 2009.

Among prominent global personalities, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Singapore President Halimah Yacob, famous footballer Mohamed Salah, youngest Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai were also named among the influential Muslims across the globe.