Bilal Bashir Bhat
Every year since 2009, the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman, Jordan in collaboration with Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in the United States publishes a report titled “The 500 Most Influential Muslim” to rank the most influential Muslim personalities in the world.
The influence can be of a religious scholar directly addressing Muslims and influencing their beliefs, ideas, and behavior, or it can be of a ruler shaping the socio-economic factors within which people live their lives, or of artists shaping popular culture.
Undoubtedly, the list aimed to acknowledge the influence and contribution of Muslim personalities across the globe is received well by the Muslim World particularly.
The mammoth publication covers personalities in almost every field including Arts and culture, Administration of Religious Affairs, Political, Preachers and spiritual Guides, Scholarly, Business, Media, Science and Technology, Philanthropy, Charity and development, Social Issues, Celebrities and sports, Quran Reciters, etc. The list even has a category of the most influential Muslim extremists in the world.
This year (2024 Edition), the publication has listed around 60 Islamic scholars from the world, besides a handful of scholars are listed among the top 50 influential personalities including Muhammad Taqi Usmai at number 8, Moulana Mehmood Madni at number 16, Tariq Jameel at 34, Muhammad Illiyas Qadri at 47.
Surprisingly in the whole list of 500 influential Muslims, there is no mention of Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza aka EMAM, a great reformer and moderate voice of the Muslim world with an ideology of non-violence.
Today when we see a shift in paradigm from book-reading culture to visual learning, every single video of Muhammad Ali Mirza with authentic references and logical sounds are most watched compared to any Islamic scholar of the world. This tells us about EMAM’s influence over Muslims globally; however, ironically not all this has motivated the publishers of “The 500 Most Influential Muslim” to enlist him in the publication.
Giving to the circumstances on a global level, the stress on unity, tolerance, busting of myths, peace, and non-violent communication has become extremely important, Muhammad Ali Mirza has emerged main player in addressing these issues.
Against Sectarianism
Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza in his speeches often claims that he does not belong to any sect, and he is just a Muslim. He reads scriptures from both factions of Islam and quotes them widely in his speeches. He preaches Islam which is free of any sectarian ideology, which indeed is a need of the hour.
Tolerance
In June 2022, Engineer Ali Mirza criticized panelist Taslim Rehmani for badmouthing Hindu gods in front of BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma on a TV Debate. He said Nupur Sharma abused Muhammad in reaction to that. Journalist Rubika Liakat praised Ali Mirza for his stand with Nupur Sharma on her Twitter account.
Against Extremism
Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza in loud and clear has been an advocate of dialogue to any pertaining issues around the Muslim world. He advocates peace and reconciliation rather than engaging in armed conflict.
Preaching Islam in its real form
Some people (who unfortunately are on the 500 list) have aimed at causing religion to deviate from its essence, preventing religion from being practiced by attempting to add on many difficult practices and superstitions to it. Such practices have sadly resulted in people deviating from Islam. Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza through the authentic reference to Quran and Sunnah has busted such myths and complications to make it in its real essence.
No more Fairy Tales
Unlike illogical stories and charisms attributed to saints by most of scholars these days, Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza’s speeches are based on the concept, which constitutes the essence of the teachings of Islam. He gives references from the Quran and mainstream books, particularly Bukhari and Muslim.
Indeed, Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza serves as a source of inspiration for millions of Muslims across the globe, and when such a deserving person is overlooked, it robs people of the opportunity to be inspired by their achievements and contributions.
Let’s assume skipping Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza could be due to oversight or a lack of awareness and if at all it is a bias then obviously the list is shady and it is crucial for publishers to be thorough, impartial, and well-informed when creating lists of influential personalities for the sake of maintain its impartiality and justice.
Promoting transparency and diversity in the selection process can help ensure that influential personalities are recognized based on their merits and contributions to society.
The writer is a Kashmir-based journalist and can be reached at bilalbashirbhat@gmail.com
