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• Dar al-Islam Mosque, Abiquiu, New Mexico 1981 Mosque Built since 1976

  A mosque built in 1981 at Abiquiu, New Mexico, by the Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy in the earthen construction of his New Gourna, with dome, barrel vaults and pointed arches, used mainly by American-born Muslims.

• Al Islami Foods 1981 Brand Enterprise, brands and finance

  Al Islami Foods.

• Herfy 1981 Restaurant Enterprise, brands and finance

  Herfy.

• Islamic Texts Society 1981 Publisher Books and publishers

  A British publishing house in Cambridge, registered as an educational charity, founded in 1981 by a group of scholars including Aisha Gray Henry; it publishes academic and general books on Islam, among them Martin Lings's biography of the Prophet, the Ghazali Series, two volumes of which won the British Book Design and Production Award in 1991 and 1993, and Mohammad Hashim Kamali's Fundamental Rights and Liberties in Islam series.

• Abdolreza Helali 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Iranian maddah (eulogist), born in Khorramshahr in 1981 and raised in Tehran, known for his innovations in maddahi, especially the shoor style, and for leading Tehran's Heyat al-Reza; in 2022 he founded the Takiyegah Agha Morteza Ali cultural and social complex. His Instagram account counted 508,193 followers in November 2026 when read on the platform.

• Abdul-Hussein Dastghaib 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Draft card for Abdul-Hussein Dastghaib, the Iranian ayatollah and exegete; his entry is not yet checked on the page.

• Abdul Samad 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Pakistani archaeologist and civil servant from Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He took an MA in archaeology from the University of Peshawar, first in his class with a gold medal, a PhD from the Free University of Berlin in 2011, and a Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin–Madison; he taught archaeology at Hazara University for almost ten years, was appointed director of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Directorate of Archaeology and Museums in 2014 and later its director general, led Gandhara heritage and museum projects, authored Emergence of Hinduism in Gandhara, and received the Presidential Pride of Performance in 2018; in 2019 the National Accountability Bureau arrested him on allegations of misuse of authority, after which he was granted bail and reinstated.

• Shaykh Ahmadullah 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Bangladeshi Islamic scholar, jurist and social activist, born in Lakshmipur District in 1981. He studied in Qawmi madrasas and graduated from Darul Uloom Hathazari, founded and chairs the As-Sunnah Foundation charity, and founded the IQA.info question-and-answer site; his lectures reach millions through a YouTube channel that began as the Foundation's and now carries his name.

• Ali Al-Habsi 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Omani goalkeeper, born in 1981, and the first Omani footballer to build a career in Europe: Lyn in Norway, Bolton Wanderers, Wigan Athletic — with whom he won the FA Cup in 2013 — Reading, Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia and West Bromwich Albion. Oman's first-choice goalkeeper for nearly two decades, he won the Arabian Gulf Cup with Oman in 2009 and was named the tournament's best goalkeeper four times. He retired in 2020.

• Anwar Sadat 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Egyptian politician and military officer, the third president of Egypt from 1970 until his assassination in 1981. He led Egypt in the October War of 1973 to regain Sinai, then visited Jerusalem in 1977 and signed the Egypt–Israel peace treaty in 1979, sharing the Nobel Peace Prize.

• eL Seed 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  French-Tunisian calligraphy and graffiti artist, born in 1981 in Le Chesnay, near Paris, to a Tunisian family; he did not learn to read or write standard Arabic until his teens, when he reached for his roots. His artist name derives from the French play Le Cid. He fuses Arabic calligraphy with graffiti in what he calls 'calligraffiti'. His best-known works are the 2012 painting of the Jara Mosque minaret in Gabes with a Qur'anic verse on peoples knowing one another, and Perception (2016), an anamorphic work across some fifty buildings in Cairo's Manshiyat Nasr district. He received the UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture in 2017 and is based in Dubai.

• Fawad Khan 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Pakistani actor, producer, screenwriter and singer (born 1981) who began as lead singer of the band Entity Paradigm and rose to fame with the television dramas Humsafar and Zindagi Gulzar Hai, the film Khuda Kay Liye (2007) and his Indian cinema debut in Khoobsurat (2014).

• Ghulam Ghaus Hazarvi 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Draft card for Ghulam Ghaus Hazarvi, the Pakistani scholar and politician; his entry is not yet checked on the page.

• Haitham Talaat 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Egyptian physician, researcher and preacher known for his critique of atheism, born in 1981 in Upper Egypt. He took his bachelor's degree in medicine and surgery in 2004, formerly directed the Humanities Department at the Braheen Center, has written dozens of books answering atheism and religious doubts, and runs an Arabic YouTube channel carrying his debates and lectures, whose videos reach millions of views.

• Hamka 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Indonesian scholar, writer and journalist, born in 1908 and died in 1981; first chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council and a leader of Muhammadiyah, he wrote more than one hundred books, most famously his Qur'an commentary Tafsir Al-Azhar and the novel Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck (The Sinking of the van der Wijck).

• Hanan Attaki 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Indonesian preacher and Qur'an reciter born in Banda Aceh in 1981. He studied at the Ruhul Islam pesantren in Aceh Besar and at Al-Azhar University in Cairo (tafsir and qira'at), founded the Pemuda Hijrah (Shift) youth movement in Bandung in 2015, and is known for youth-oriented lectures and community and environmental activities through the RAHEELA PROJECT.

• Hawar Mulla Mohammed 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Kurdish Iraqi former professional footballer, a winger born in Mosul in 1981. He won 113 caps for Iraq between 2001 and 2012, scoring 20 goals, and was part of the team that won the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. His club career took him from Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya to clubs in Lebanon, Cyprus, the Emirates, Qatar and Iran before he retired in 2015.

• Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Fourth King of Saudi Arabia (1913–1982), a son of King Abdulaziz by Al Jawhara bint Musaed Al Saud. He visited the United States with Faisal in 1943, became deputy prime minister in 1962 and crown prince in 1965, and ascended the throne on 25 March 1975 after Faisal's assassination; his reign saw the oil boom and the 1979 Grand Mosque seizure. He died in Taif on 13 June 1982, was buried at Al Oud cemetery in Riyadh, and was succeeded by his half-brother Fahd.

• Kolo Touré 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Ivorian retired footballer and coach, born in Bouaké, Ivory Coast in 1981. A defender who was part of Arsenal's 'Invincibles' Premier League side of 2003–04, then won the title with Manchester City in 2012, and played for Liverpool and Celtic; he is the African player with the most Premier League appearances (353), won 120 caps for Ivory Coast and lifted the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. He is the elder brother of Yaya Touré.

• M. C. Chagla 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Indian jurist, diplomat and minister (1900–1981), chief justice of the Bombay High Court from 1947 to 1958, then ambassador to the United States (1958–1961) and high commissioner to the United Kingdom (1962–1963). He entered the Union cabinet as minister of education (1963–1966) and served as minister of external affairs (1966–1967). His autobiography, Roses in December (1973), remains a classic of Indian legal life; he was an outspoken critic of the Emergency.

• Mahamadou Diarra 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Malian retired footballer, born in Bamako in 1981. A defensive midfielder who won league titles in France with Lyon and in Spain with Real Madrid, played for Monaco and Fulham, and captained the Mali national team.

• Maher Zain 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Lebanese-Swedish nasheed and R&B singer, born in Tripoli, Lebanon in 1981. Raised in Sweden, he worked as a music producer there and in New York before turning to contemporary Islamic singing; his debut album Thank You Allah (2009) reached a worldwide audience online, followed by Forgive Me (2012), One (2016) and Back To You (2026).

• Mesut Kurtis 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  The Macedonian-Turkish vocalist of 'Burdu Al-'Ala' — a pioneer of multilingual European nasheed.

• Mian Abdul Rashid 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  First Chief Justice of Pakistan (1889-1981), of the Arain Mian family of Baghbanpura, Lahore; Chief Justice of Lahore from 1946, and as the most senior Muslim judge in British India he administered the oath of office to Muhammad Ali Jinnah on 15 August 1947.

• Miftah Maulana Habiburrahman 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Indonesian preacher, born in Lampung in 1981. He leads the Ora Aji Islamic boarding school in Sleman and became known for preaching to marginalised communities and in nightclubs; in 2024 he was appointed the President's Special Envoy for Religious Harmony and resigned the same year.

• Muslim 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Moroccan rapper from Tangier, born in 1981, regarded as a pioneer of Moroccan and Maghreb rap. He founded the group Zanka Flow in 1998, released his first solo album 'Al-Tamarrud' (Rebellion) in 2010, won the Morocco Music Award for best rapper in 2014, and was decorated in 2015 with the Order of the National Reward, knight grade.

• Saud Alsanousi 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Kuwaiti novelist, playwright and journalist, born in 1981. He debuted with The Prisoner of Mirrors (2010); his novel The Bamboo Stalk, about migrant labour and identity in the Gulf, won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2013, making him its youngest winner. His works include Mama Hissa's Mice, on sectarianism in Kuwait, and the trilogy The Scrolls of Mud City (2023–2024).

• Vieux Farka Touré 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Malian singer, guitarist and composer, born at Niafunké in 1981, the son of Ali Farka Touré. He took up the guitar in secret despite his father's discouragement and followed him into 'desert blues' with albums such as Fondo (2009), Mon Pays (2013) and Les Racines (2022), and recorded Ali (2022) with Khruangbin as a tribute to his father's music.

• Waseem Youssef 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Jordanian Muslim preacher of Palestinian origin, born in Irbid in 1981. He served as preacher and imam at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, presented religious programmes on Abu Dhabi TV from 2014, and became known for his attacks on the Muslim Brotherhood and on Salafism and for his controversial statements.

• William Tanuwijaya 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  William Tanuwijaya (born 11 November 1981 in Pematangsiantar, North Sumatra) is an Indonesian entrepreneur, co-founder of the e-commerce company Tokopedia, launched in 2009; he worked twelve-hour nights in an internet cafe to pay his way through BINUS University after his father was diagnosed with cancer, led Tokopedia as chairman and CEO and then as co-chairman of the GoTo group after the 2021 merger, received the Satyalancana Wira Karya in 2019, and has represented Indonesia as a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum.

• Yazeed Al-Rajhi 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Saudi businessman and rally driver, born in Riyadh in 1981. A two-time FIA World Cup champion for cross-country rallies (2021 and 2022), he won the 2025 Dakar Rally, the first Saudi driver to do so.

• Ziaur Rahman 1981 Figures of the last fifty years

  Bangladeshi military leader and politician (19 January 1936 – 30 May 1981), the sixth president of Bangladesh and the founder of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He served in the Pakistan Army, broadcast the declaration of Bangladesh's independence from Chittagong in March 1971 and commanded a sector and a brigade force in the Liberation War, then headed the army after 1975 and held the presidency from 1977 until his assassination at Chittagong, restoring multi-party politics and founding the BNP in 1978. His wife was Khaleda Zia.

• Al-Qadisiyya 1981 Film Films Egypt

  Salah Abu Seif's Egyptian epic on the Battle of al-Qadisiyya and the fall of the Sasanian empire — a classic of Egyptian conquest-era drama.

• Lion of the Desert 1981 Film Films LibyaUnited States

  Moustapha Akkad's film starring Anthony Quinn as the Libyan resistance leader Omar al-Mukhtar; banned in Italy for decades for its depiction of the fascist campaign.

• ISNA Headquarters Mosque, Plainfield, Indiana 1979 Mosque Built since 1976

  The mosque of the Islamic Society of North America's headquarters at Plainfield, Indiana, designed by Gulzar Haider in an austere contemporary manner without traditional iconography, its cubic form a reminder of the Ka'ba; the essay dates it 1979, the caption 1981.