Nahdlatul Ulama Chairman is among the world’s most influential Muslim leaders

“As the world’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama adheres to the traditions of Sunni Islam, and teaches that the primary message of Islam is universal love and compassion”

~ The Muslim 500

AMMAN, Jordan, 1 January 2025 — For the third year running, the world’s premier index of Muslim power and influence, The Muslim 500, has ranked Nahdlatul Ulama Chairman KH. Yahya Cholil Staquf among the 20 most influential Muslims on earth.

At number 19, Mr. Staquf is judged to be more influential than Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who governs the Arab world’s most populous state (ranked number 20), and seven places behind Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.

KH. A. Mustofa Bisri, former head of the Nahdlatul Ulama Supreme Council and Chairman of the Center for Shared Civilizational Values, has also been named as one of the world’s most influential Muslims for the fifteenth consecutive year.

The Muslim 500 is published by The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, a research entity affiliated with the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, headquartered in Amman, capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Mr. Staquf’s Muslim 500 profile may be read in full below.

Download a PDF of Shaykh Yahya Cholil Staquf’s profile in The Muslim 500

Share this communiqué via

Download a PDF copy of this communiqué

You may also wish to read:

Online profile of KH. Yahya Cholil Staquf

A New Religious Strategy for Effective Peacebuilding in the Middle East

The Wall Street Journal: “How to Make the Islamic World Less Radical”