Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir have been jointly ranked at number one in the 2027 edition of The Muslim 500, the annual list of the world’s 500 most influential Muslims, in a first for the publication’s 18-year history.
The list, published by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre (RISSC) in Amman, Jordan, places five leaders together at the top: King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir of Pakistan, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye.
According to the publication, the joint top ranking recognises the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, a mutual defence pact signed on 7 August 2026 and activated during an emergency summit in Riyadh. The agreement brings together Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan in a collective security arrangement.
The book describes the pact as built on a “one for all, all for one” approach to security, joining Saudi wealth, Turkish weapons technology and Pakistani military strength into a single mutual defence alliance. The editors call the 2027 edition a historic turning point for the list.
In the list, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is recognised for political leadership, while Field Marshal Asim Munir, who is Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff, is recognised for military leadership.
Last year, Sharif and Munir were in the unranked section of the list, while King Salman was eighth, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman 14th and President Erdogan seventh, according to reports on the new edition.
Below the joint number one, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Mojtaba Khamenei is ranked fourth, King Abdullah II of Jordan fifth and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani sixth. Pakistan’s leading scholar, Justice Sheikh Muhammad Taqi Usmani, is ranked seventh in the list.
Other prominent leaders in the top 50 include Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at 13th and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at 16th, according to reports on the edition released in early November 2026.
The Muslim 500 assesses influence across political leadership, religious scholarship, economic clout, social impact and the ability to bring change in the Muslim world. The publication divides its 500 names into a ranked top 50 and a further 450 figures listed according to their field of influence.
