Tarique Rahman Included in World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims List for First Time

Bangladesh Prime Minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairman Tarique Rahman has been included for the first time in the list of the world’s 500 most influential Muslim personalities.

He has been featured in the political category of the 2027 edition of The Muslim 500: The World's 500 Most Influential Muslims, published by the Jordan-based Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre (RISSC). The latest edition marks the publication’s 18th annual release.

Alongside Tarique Rahman, two other prominent Bangladeshi women have also been included in the publication. They are renowned human rights activist Dr Hamida Hossain and lawyer and human rights defender Razia Sultana, both listed in the Social Issues category.

According to the publication, Tarique Rahman is a prominent Bangladeshi politician who currently serves as the country's Prime Minister and chairman of the BNP.

He is the son of former President Ziaur Rahman and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. Despite spending 17 years in exile in London, he continued to lead the BNP and oversee its organisational activities.

Following the political changes after the 2024 mass uprising, Tarique Rahman returned to Bangladesh in December 2025. Subsequently, under his leadership, the BNP secured a landslide victory with a two-thirds majority in the national parliamentary election held on February 12, 2026.

The victory marked the party's return to power after a prolonged absence. Tarique Rahman was sworn in as Prime Minister on February 17, 2026, bringing an end to the interim administration led by Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus and ushering in a new elected BNP government.

Among the other two Bangladeshis on the list, Dr Hamida Hossain is a prominent human rights activist, researcher and one of the founders of Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), a leading human rights organisation in Bangladesh. She has been regularly featured in the publication in recognition of her longstanding contributions to women's rights and democratic values.

Razia Sultana, meanwhile, is a distinguished lawyer and human rights activist. She has gained international recognition for her work on the Rohingya crisis, protecting the rights of refugee women and children, and promoting justice at the international level.

Notably, in the previous edition published in 2026, Bangladesh's former interim government Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus was ranked 50th among the world's top 50 most influential Muslims. However, his name does not appear in the 2027 edition.

According to RISSC, the list is compiled based on individuals' ability to exert political, ideological, cultural and economic influence over the world's approximately 2.2 billion Muslims.

Under the publication's methodology, only the top 50 personalities are ranked from 1 to 50. The remaining 450 individuals are included without a numerical ranking and are classified into 13 categories, including politics, religious affairs, social issues, business, science and culture.

All three Bangladeshis featured in the 2027 edition have been included in the unranked section of the list, comprising the remaining 450 personalities.