The Muslim 100

Published by: Kube Publishing, Markfield, 2021, 608pp. ISBN: 9781847741769.

The author is an award-winning British writer, literary critic and research scholar. He has penned several internationally acclaimed books including Great Muslims of the West: Makers of Western Islam (Kube, 2017).

In this revised edition, Khan provides concise life sketches of 100 influential Muslims encompassing more than 1400 years of rich Islamic history, civilisation and culture. Interestingly, the book begins and ends with two Muhammads. The Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him) and the greatest boxer and philanthropist, Muhammad Ali. To his credit, it is self-evident that though this is a mammoth endeavour, Khan has accomplished and filled a much-needed gap on the subject in English.

Khan has used the criterion of influence of their contributions and achievements to select his personalities. The concept of influence is subjective. Thus, it is important to understand it from the author himself. He explains that he began by examining their lives and thoughts, and then proceeded to assess the nature of their contribution by evaluating what they actually did and what was so special or extraordinary about their deeds, actions and accomplishments (p. xvi). The author, thereafter, asserts that he determined whether their achievements had made them national, regional or international figures. Khan admits that he was aware from the outset that his method of selection and ranking would be a matter of debate. He claims to have been logical, critical, fair and objective. This has resulted in the representation of people from different schools of theology, philosophy, jurisprudence, Sufism, Hadith and tafsir exponents, modernists and traditionists as well as Ayatullah Khomeini and others figures from Shiism.