RELIGIOUS FIGURES from Pakistan

Top 7

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Pakistani Religious Figures of all time. This list of famous Pakistani Religious Figures is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Guru Nanak (1469 - 1539)

With an HPI of 70.27, Guru Nanak is the most famous Pakistani Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 92 different languages on wikipedia.

Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: [gʊɾuː naːnəkᵊ], ), also known as Bābā Nānak ('Father Nānak'), was an Indian spiritual teacher, mystic and poet, who is regarded as the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. Nanak is said to have travelled far and wide across Asia teaching people the message of Ik Onkar (ੴ, 'One God'), who dwells in every one of his creations and constitutes the eternal Truth. With this concept, he would set up a unique spiritual, social, and political platform based on equality, fraternal love, goodness, and virtue. Nanak's words are registered in the form of 974 poetic hymns, or shabda, in the holy religious scripture of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, with some of the major prayers being the Japji Sahib (jap, 'to recite'; ji and sahib are suffixes signifying respect); the Asa di Var ('Ballad of Hope'); and the Sidh Gosht ('Discussion with the Siddhas'). It is part of Sikh religious belief that the spirit of Nanak's sanctity, divinity, and religious authority had descended upon each of the nine subsequent Gurus when the Guruship was devolved on to them. His birthday is celebrated as Guru Nanak Gurpurab, annually across India.

2. Fariduddin Ganjshakar (1178 - 1265)

With an HPI of 56.48, Fariduddin Ganjshakar is the 2nd most famous Pakistani Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Farīduddīn Masūd Ganjshakar (c. 4 April 1188 – 7 May 1266), commonly known as Bābā Farīd or Sheikh Farīd (also in Anglicised spelling Fareed, Fareed ud-Deen, Masood, etc.), was a 13th-century Punjabi Muslim mystic, poet and preacher. Revered by Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs alike, he remains one of the most revered Muslim mystics of South Asia during the Islamic Golden Age.

3. Naropa (1016 - 1100)

With an HPI of 56.04, Naropa is the 3rd most famous Pakistani Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Nāropā (Prakrit; Sanskrit: Nāropāda, Naḍapāda or Abhayakirti) was an Indian Buddhist Mahasiddha. He was the disciple of Tilopa and brother, or some sources say partner and pupil, of Niguma. As an Indian Mahasiddha, Naropa's instructions inform Vajrayana, particularly his six yogas of Naropa relevant to the completion stage of anuttarayogatantra. He was also one of the "gatekeepers" of Vikramashila monastery which is located in Bihar. Although some accounts relate that Naropa was the personal teacher of Marpa Lotsawa, other accounts suggest that Marpa held Naropa's lineage through intermediary disciples only.

4. Lokaksema (147 - 200)

With an HPI of 53.58, Lokaksema is the 4th most famous Pakistani Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Lokakṣema (लोकक्षेम, Chinese: 支婁迦讖; pinyin: Zhī Lóujiāchèn) (flourished 147–189) was a Kushan Buddhist monk who travelled to China during the Han dynasty and is among one of the first known translators of Mahayana religious texts into any language.

5. Mirza Masroor Ahmad (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 44.69, Mirza Masroor Ahmad is the 5th most famous Pakistani Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Mirza Masroor Ahmad (مرزا مسرور احمد; born 15 September 1950) is the current and fifth leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. His official title within the movement is Fifth Caliph of the Messiah (Arabic: خليفة المسيح الخامس, khalīfatul masīh al-khāmis). He was elected on 22 April 2003, three days after the death of his predecessor Mirza Tahir Ahmad. Following the death of the fourth caliph, the Electoral College, for the first time in the history of the community, convened outside the Indian subcontinent and in the city of London, after which Mirza Masroor Ahmad was elected as the fifth caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. At the very commencement of his accession, he found himself forced into exile from Pakistan in response to pressure from the Government of Pakistan. Since being elected, he has travelled extensively across the world to meet the members of the community and address their annual gatherings. In many of the countries he has visited it has been the first visit by an Ahmadiyya caliph.

6. Valerian Gracias (1900 - 1978)

With an HPI of 40.99, Valerian Gracias is the 6th most famous Pakistani Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Valerian Gracias (23 October 1900 – 11 September 1978) was an Indian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Bombay from 1950 until his death and was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 1953 by Pope Pius XII.

7. Hafiz Saeed (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 39.85, Hafiz Saeed is the 7th most famous Pakistani Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed (Urdu: حافظ محمد سعید, born 5 June 1950) is a Pakistani Islamic preacher and a militant convicted of terrorism. He co-founded Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based Islamist militant organization that is designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, India, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia, and Russia. He is listed on India's NIA Most Wanted. In April 2012, the United States placed a bounty of US$10 million on Saeed for his role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 civilians. While India officially supported the American move, there were protests against it in Pakistan. After the 2008 Mumbai attacks, he was designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee of the Security Council. He is also listed on the United States Department of the Treasury's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. In July 2019, three months before the scheduled reviewal of Pakistan's action plan by the Financial Action Task Force, Saeed was arrested by Pakistani authorities and sentenced to an 11-year prison sentence. In early April 2022, he was sentenced an additional 31 years for terror financing.