Top 100 Arabs 2025

69. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah

Chairman, UAE’s Fatwa Council

Origin: Mauritania

Residence: UAE

Sector: culture and society

2024 Rank: 65

Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah, in addition to being the chairman of the UAE Fatwa Council and head of the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace, is also the president of the Forum for Peace in Muslim Societies, Abu Dhabi, a member of the Muslim League’s International High Council of Mosques, Makkah, and a member of the High Council in the Centre for Studying the Aims of Sharia, UK.

Sheikh Abdullah is also a recipient of many prominent awards, such as the King Abdul Aziz Medal with the Rank of Distinction and the Chinguetti Prize for the Category of Islamic Studies for his book A Dialogue from Afar.

Being perpetually involved in highlighting the UAE’s role as a global model of tolerance and peaceful coexistence, Sheikh Abdullah called on religious and political leaders to support a “Century of Peace” initiative, stressing the need for sustained efforts to promote stability, reconciliation, and coexistence worldwide.

Khaled Mohammed Balama

Badr Jafar