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• Ahmed Elsayed 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Preacher and researcher, born in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, in 1985, raised there and later based in Madinah. He is the general supervisor of the 'al-Bina' al-Manhaji' programme, the 'Rising Generation Academy' and the 'San'at al-Muhawir' programme; his stated life mission is 'reviving the Prophetic method' (ihya' minhaj al-nubuwwa), and his books and video programmes circulate widely among young people.

• Ahmed Sbei 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Egyptian comparative-religion researcher from Giza, born in about 1985. He learned Hebrew in order to read his opponents' books in the original, worked in Old Testament textual criticism, and in 2014 founded the YouTube channel Al-Bayyinah (Comparative Religion and Answering Doubts), whose subscribers passed one million; he was detained in 2020 and later released.

• Arash Ferdowsi 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Arash Ferdowsi (born 7 October 1985) is an American entrepreneur of Iranian descent, a co-founder of Dropbox. Born in Overland Park, Kansas, to Iranian immigrant parents, he studied electrical engineering and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, left in his final semester, and launched Dropbox with Drew Houston in 2007, serving as its chief technology officer until 2016.

• Artur Beterbiev 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Russian and Canadian professional boxer (born 1985 in Khasavyurt, Dagestan, of Chechen descent). A world amateur champion in 2009, he won his first 20 professional fights by knockout, held the IBF, WBC and WBA light-heavyweight titles, and became undisputed champion in October 2024 by beating Dmitry Bivol, losing the rematch in February 2025; his record stands at 21 wins (20 by knockout) and one loss. He lives in Montreal and is a Canadian citizen.

• Canan Dağdeviren 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Turkish materials scientist and physicist, born in Istanbul in 1985. She leads the Conformable Decoders research group at the MIT Media Lab, building flexible electromechanical devices that conform to the human body for sensing and energy harvesting, and she was the first Turkish scientist to become a Junior Fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows.

• Daniel Haqiqatjou 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  American Muslim commentator, writer and debater, born in Houston, Texas, in 1985 or 1986 to Iranian parents. He founded the Muslim Skeptic website and YouTube channel in 2015 and the Alasna Institute in 2019, and is the author of The Modernist Menace to Islam (2020).

• Demba Ba 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Senegalese retired footballer, born in Sèvres, France in 1985. A striker who played for Hoffenheim, West Ham United, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Beşiktaş, Shanghai Shenhua and İstanbul Başakşehir, and won 22 caps for Senegal. A practising Muslim, he is known for fasting during Ramadan and for the sujud goal celebration.

• Ferhat Abbas 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Algerian politician and writer (1899–1985). A pharmacist from Sétif, he founded the Democratic Union of the Algerian Manifesto, joined the FLN in 1956 and became the first president of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (1958–1961), then the first president of the National Constituent Assembly after independence.

• Hasan Minhaj 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  American comedian and actor of Indian origin, born in Davis, California, in 1985 to Muslim parents from Aligarh. He rose as a senior correspondent on The Daily Show (2014–2018), then hosted his Netflix show Patriot Act (2018–2020), which won Emmy, Peabody and Webby awards, alongside the stand-up specials Homecoming King and The King's Jester.

• Hasher Al Maktoum 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Emirati racing driver, born in Dubai in 1985. A two-time UAE karting champion, he raced in the FIA GT Championship and French Formula Renault Campus before contesting the Speedcar Series in 2008–2009, finishing seventh in 2009 with a podium at the season finale.

• Humza Yousaf 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Scottish politician of the Scottish National Party, born in Glasgow in 1985 to immigrant parents of Pakistani and Kenyan background. He studied politics at the University of Glasgow, worked as a parliamentary assistant, was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2011, served as justice secretary (2018–2021) and health secretary (2021–2023), won his party's leadership in 2023 and became First Minister of Scotland — the first Muslim and the youngest person to hold the office — and resigned in April 2024.

• Husain Abdullah 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  American football safety (born 1985) from Los Angeles who played seven NFL seasons with Minnesota and Kansas City; a practising Muslim who fasted Ramadan in season, sat out 2012 to perform the Hajj with his brother Hamza, and retired in 2016 after five concussions.

• Ibtihaj Muhammad 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  American sabre fencer, author and entrepreneur, born in New Jersey in 1985. She won World Championship team gold in 2014, and at the Rio 2016 Olympics became the first American woman to compete at the Olympics in hijab and the first Muslim American woman to win an Olympic medal, taking bronze in the women's team sabre.

• Lassana Diarra 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  French retired footballer of Malian descent, born in Paris in 1985. A defensive midfielder who played for Le Havre, Chelsea, Arsenal, Portsmouth, Real Madrid, Anzhi Makhachkala, Lokomotiv Moscow, Olympique de Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain, he won 34 caps for France between 2007 and 2016 before retiring in 2019.

• Mahmud Ali al-Banna 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Egyptian Qur'an reciter (1926–1985) who joined Egyptian Radio in 1948, recited at the Ahmad al-Badawi Mosque in Tanta (1959–1980) and then at al-Hussein Mosque in Cairo, recorded the Qur'an in murattal and mujawwad styles, and was deputy head of the reciters' syndicate from its founding in 1984.

• Mirza Teletović 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Bosnian former basketball player and executive (born 1985) who won two Liga ACB titles with Saski Baskonia, played six NBA seasons, captained Bosnia and Herzegovina, and presided over its basketball federation from 2018 to 2022 before a pulmonary embolism ended his playing career in 2018.

• Mishari Al-Kharraz 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Kuwaiti preacher born in 1985, an imam and khatib at Kuwait's Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, known for his lessons at Kuwait's Grand Mosque on savouring prayer and for his television series 'How to Savour Prayer' and 'How to Deal with Allah', whose original lecture drew tens of thousands.

• Mohammad Nabi 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Afghan cricketer and former captain of the Afghanistan national team, born in Logar in 1985. An all-rounder who bats right-handed and bowls off spin, he played a major role in Afghanistan's rise to the top level of international cricket, playing in their first One Day International in 2009 and their first Test match in 2018, captained the team at the 2014 Asia Cup and the 2015 Cricket World Cup, was the first Afghan player bought in the Indian Premier League auction in 2017, became the first Afghan bowler to take 100 ODI wickets in 2018, has played in Twenty20 franchise leagues worldwide, retired from Test cricket in 2019 to focus on white-ball cricket, and was part of the Afghanistan side that has defeated 45 nations in international cricket.

• Mohammed bin Salman 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia since 21 June 2017 and Prime Minister since 27 September 2022; the son of King Salman. Defence minister from 2015 to 2022 and the author of the Saudi Vision 2030 programme announced in 2016, he has led social and economic reforms that curtailed the religious establishment's role in his country. He is a crown prince, not a king, and no kingship succession is recorded for him.

• Muhammad Zafrullah Khan 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Pakistani jurist and diplomat (1893–1985), the first foreign minister of Pakistan (1947–1954), president of the United Nations General Assembly (1962–1963) and president of the International Court of Justice (1970–1973) — the only Pakistani to hold either presidency. He was a leading member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, presided over its Lahore chapter, and authored many books on Islam and Ahmadiyyat.

• Nabil Abdulrashid 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  British-Nigerian stand-up comedian, born in London in 1985. In 2010 he became the youngest black comedian to perform stand-up at the Hammersmith Apollo, toured his show Don't Panic, I'm Islamic!, finished fourth in the Britain's Got Talent final of 2020, and has appeared on Live at the Apollo, QI and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

• Papiss Cissé 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Senegalese retired footballer, born in Dakar, Senegal in 1985. A forward who scored 22 goals for SC Freiburg in the 2010–11 Bundesliga — then a single-season record for an African player — before spells at Newcastle United, Shandong Luneng, Fenerbahçe and other clubs; he won 36 caps and scored 17 goals for Senegal. A practising Muslim, he is known for performing the sujud when celebrating goals.

• Rafael Aghayev 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Azerbaijani karateka, born in Sumgait in 1985. A five-time world champion and eleven-time European champion in kumite, he took silver in the 75 kg division at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, won gold at the 2013 and 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games, and holds the Karate Combat welterweight title with a 5–0 record.

• Şahika Ercümen 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  Turkish freediver and dietitian, born in Çanakkale in 1985. A world record holder in several freediving disciplines, she set a Guinness-recognised 110 m under-ice dynamic apnea record in 2011 and a 100 m variable-weight no-fins record in 2021, and reached 107 m in October 2025.

• Sariyah Idan 1985 Figures of the last fifty years

  American singer-songwriter born in New York and based in New Orleans. Jazz- and folk-trained and hip-hop educated, she is influenced by the sounds of her Ashkenazi Jewish roots and by Latinx and Caribbean music; she created the solo theatre show Homeless in Homeland, about Jewish identity and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, released her debut album Breaking Shadows (2019) and Glitter & Blood (2023), and has performed at the Kennedy Center, the Skirball Cultural Center and other venues. She is a different person from Sarah Idan, Miss Universe Iraq 2017.

• The Qur'an: The First American Version 1985 Book Books and publishers

  An English rendering of the meanings of the Qur'an by the Canadian-American T. B. Irving, known as al-Hajj Ta'lim Ali, published in 1985: the first Qur'an translation in American English, and the second of the two original translations by Muslims published in the United States after Hilali–Khan; written in succinct, fluent English for second- and third-generation North American Muslims and for non-Muslims, it was funded by donors including the Aossey family of the Midamar halal food company in Cedar Rapids.