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, 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. each year the biographies are updated.