'The Muslim 500: The World's Most Influential 500 Muslims'

AMMAN, Jordan, November 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The 2012 edition of 'The Muslim 500: The World's Most Influential 500 Muslims' is now available!!!

 'The Muslim 500' introduces a list of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world. It ranks the Top 50, and places the remaining 450 into 13 categories: Scholarly, Political, Administration of Religious Affairs, Preachers and Spiritual Guides, Philanthropy/Charity and Development, Social Issues, Business, Science and Technology, Arts and Culture, Quran Reciters, Media, Celebrities and Sports and Radicals

 These people are the movers and shakers of the contemporary Muslim world. Knowing them, and their ideas gives a solid foundation for understanding how Muslims' view themselves.

The publication is available for FREE download at http://www.themuslim500.com .

A hard copy can be ordered from the same site.

The 2012 Edition has:

•     Updated Bios: We took a year's worth of updates, spent months going through all the bios, and edited many bios, expanding on a number of them.

•    Expanded Introduction: A new expanded introduction by Professor S. Abdullah Schleifer (more than double the size of last year's) surveying the major events in the Muslim World from the turbulent past year, and covering more subjects than all previous issues.

•     Reformated and expanded 'Issues of the Day': now approximately 5 times larger than previous issues, and covering the issues in more depth. Also, for the first time we feature exclusive pieces by distinguished guest writers covering issues such as US Foreign Policy, Islamophobia, Circumcision Controversy as well as pieces on Gaza, the destruction of Sufi shrines, interfaith, the massacre of the Rohingya, the fight for Al-Azhar, the Integral Chairs and more.

•     Arab Summer Box: An "Arab Summer?" box has replaced the 'Arab Spring' boxes from last year for the top 50, highlighting each person's response to the Arab Spring and how it has affected their influence.

•     New List: We have added many new names to the list. With a pool of over a billion candidates from numerous fields of endeavours, there are literally hundreds that are close to making the list in any given year. This year many have crossed the line, mainly due to their recent work.

The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre  (RISSC) is an independent research entity affiliated with the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought is an international Islamic non-governmental, independent institute headquartered in Amman, the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.