Mr. Mohammed Mahdi Akef, Chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood was ranked on the list of 50 of the world's most influential figures in the Arab and Muslim world along with Hamas’s Khaled Meshaal and Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, President of the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS).

The new book was released by “the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center and “The Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding” in the Georgetown University, United States. The study analyzed more than 500 of  the Muslims world's most influential figure including  50 prominent Arab figures ranking them among  the top 50 of  500 of the  world’s influential Muslim figures.

”Al-waleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding” is one of the  world’s most innovative and dynamic research centers specializing in matters concerning  the Islamic world and its relationship to the Christian West as well as studying methods in bridging the gap between the two worlds.

The 195 page book written and published by the renowned American intellectual John Esposito in collaboration with Professor Ibrahim Kal?n began discussing Muslims and their influence. The book included several studies on movements including the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Salafism (or Wahhabism) in Saudi Arabia. The authors believed that the two groups represented Islam in both its   political and spiritual forms.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was ranked 5th, and Dr Yusuf al-Qaradawi was ranked 9th while the Muslim Brotherhood’s Chairman was ranked 12th.  Social activist and modern-day preacher Amr Khaled was ranked 14th while Saudi Scholar Dr. Salman Bin Fahd al-Awda ranked 19th, Sheikh Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti ranked 23rd while Turkish President Abdullah Gul was listed 28th. Vice President of the International Union of Muslim Scholars Abdullah bin Bayyah was ranked 30th and Khaled Meshaal; Hamas’s Political Bureau leader was in 34th.

Sheikh Maulana Mahmoud Madani Jamat-e-Ulema-i-Hind ranked 36, American Muslim Preacher Hamza Yusuf, founder of the Zaytuna Institute for Studies in California, United States ranked 38th, Sheikh Dr. Mustafa Ciric, the Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina was ranked 39, while Datuk Hj Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat', the leader of the Islamic Malaysian Party was ranked 42nd.

Maulana Motiur Rahman Nizami, Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami (the largest political party) Bangladesh ranked 43rd and Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization “ISESCO” ranked 50th.

The book noted that the Muslim Brotherhood’s Chairman, Mohamed Mahdi Akef who assumed office in 2004, was successful in establishing a notable leap in the Movement’s performance, which is described as the largest political opposition in many Arab States. In his assessment, Esposito claimed that Akef who became Chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood has since actively led Egypt’s largest Islamic political party, arranging mass protests condemning the Government's position on war against Gaza, in addition to demanding an apology from the Vatican Pope Benedict XVI during his trip to Jordan for insulting Islam. He continued, "Akef played a leading role in the face of mounting criticism of the Brotherhood’s ideologies and practices because of the group's position in support of the Palestinian and Lebanese armed resistance. Akef distinguishes himself and the Brotherhood by adopting distinctive stances where he has stepped up demands for constitutional reform in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood has openly lashed out at  the Republican administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush on the  “Greater Middle East Initiative” by presenting a counter proposal in 2006 of policies and economic reforms promoted by the Brotherhood where it has been popularly recognized  in Egypt and the Islamic world as  more valid than the US proposal".
 

The book also described the Muslim Brotherhood as the main opposition party in many Muslim countries with branches in most of the Muslim world, with its official headquarters based in Egypt. Members of the organization are found in Bahrain, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Algeria, Sudan, Somalia, Tunisia, Libya, and the United States.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/22854716/The-500-Most-Influential-Muslims