in 2015, the top 50 was again dominated by religious scholars and heads of state. the top five, was king abdullah of jordan; ahmed el-tayeb, the grand sheikh of egypt's al-azhar university; king salman of saudi arabia; iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei; and king mohammed vi of morocco. turkish president recept tayyip erdogan came in at number eight, but surprisingly syrian president bashar al-assad did not make the top 50 this year or last, though he is still listed in the 500. the prime minister of iraq did not make the list, but iraq's grand ayatollah sayyid ali hussein sistani did, coming in at number nine.