The publication highlights people who are influential as Muslims.

That is people whose influence is

derived from their practice of Islam or from the fact that they are Muslim.[4] Nominations are
evaluated on the basis of the influence that particular Muslims have had within the Muslim
community and the manner in which their influence has benefited the Muslim community, both within
the Islamic world and in terms of representing Islam to non-Muslims.[5] "Influential" for the purposes
of the book is defined as "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".[6][7]
The publication defines eligible entries with the following: "Traditional Islam (96% of the world's
Muslims): Also known as Orthodox Islam, this ideology is not politicized and largely based on
consensus of correct opinion—thus including the Sunni, Shi'a, and Ibadi branches of practice (and
their subgroups) within the fold of Islam, and not groups such as the Druze or the Ahmadiyya,
among others."[8]
The book starts with an overall top 50, ranked the most influential Muslims in the world. The
remaining 450 most prominent Muslims is broken down into 15 categories without ranking,[9][10] of
scholarly, political, administrative, lineage, preachers and spiritual guides, women, youth,
philanthropy/charity, development, science and technology, arts and culture, Qu'ran reciters, media,
radicals, international Islamic networks and issues of the day.[11] Each year the biographies are
updated.[3]
The publication also gives an insight into the different ways that Muslims impact the world and also
shows the diversity of how people are living as Muslims today.[9] The book's appendices
comprehensively list populations of Muslims in nations worldwide, and its introduction gives a
snapshot view of different ideological movements within the Muslim world, breaking down clearly
distinctions between traditional Islam and recent radical innovations.[12]