President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, the Sultan of Sokoto, Saád Abubakar, and a Maiduguri-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ibrahim Saleh, have all been named among the World’s 50 most influential Muslim leaders.

An annual publication of the World’s 500 most influential Muslims – The Muslim 500 – recognised the three Nigerian leaders in its 7th edition published recently.

According to the publication, of the 1.7 billion Muslims in the world today, those recognised have a sense of belonging to Muslim community worldwide, besides being citizens of their respective countries.

The publication explained the influence some Muslims have on other Muslims to include: any person who has the power (be it cultural, ideological, financial, political or otherwise) to make a change that will have a significant impact on the Muslim world.

Even though the publication listed the top 500 influential Muslim leaders, the first part recognised the top 50 in which Messrs. Buhari, Abubakar and Saleh appear.

President Buhari was listed as the Number 20, while the Sultan and Sheikh Saleh are listed as numbers 24 and 38 respectively.