While Imran Khan is still struggling to make a mark in Pakistan’s political arena, he has, nevertheless, made it to the list of 100 most successful Muslims in the United Kingdom. But then even in Pakistan he would have made it to any list of 100 that included the country’s most successful sportsmen or social campaigners.

But politics in Pakistan is a closed club activity. To enter this club, you would need to be either a member of a feudal political family or a member of a mafia group or a civil or military top cat. Imran Khan does not belong to any of these categories. And very rightly he has also refused to be adopted by any of them. So, he remains outside and seemingly unsuccessful.

But happily for him he is inside the Muslim Power 100 list of the UK. Does this mean he holds dual nationality like MQM’s Altaf Hussain? But let this question beg for the time being while we revert to our main theme.

Others on the Muslim Power 100 list, besides Imran Khan, are Labour peer Lord Patel of Blackburn, and actor Art Malik, along with boxer Amir Khan, singer Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens, and Harrods boss Mohamed al Fayed.

Some 22 names on the list are company chiefs, including Sir Gulam Noon, whose curry empire is worth around £55m.

For his part, Lord Patel - Britain's first Asian peer - said he was "absolutely delighted" to be included in the Power 100, which, he said, "can only help improve perceptions of Muslims in Britain".

Journalist Rageh Omaah of Al Jazeera, also on the list, said: "Anything that helps to remind people that there's a mainstream British Muslim community that has no problem being proud to be British and Muslim is a good thing."

The UK list, sponsored by the Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB), was compiled from some 6,000 nominations, and judged by a 16-strong panel including Sir Iqbal Sacranie, Lord Bhatia and Dr Ghayassuddin Siddiqui of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain.

The Muslim Power 100 list comes at a time when a large section of British Muslims are finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the rising extremist tendencies among some Muslim youth groups and the practice of British media to project this as a common failing of the entire community.

The increasing number of saturation police swoops on Muslim communities to apprehend suspected terrorists has also led some to ask if Britain had become a police state for Muslims. But then many Muslims also agree with the notion that only in a liberal democracy can one raise and articulate such questions without any fear of being terrorised by the midnight knock.

British Muslims, most having their roots in Pakistan and Bangladesh, make the poorest part of the UK population. Illiteracy is rampant among them and most are either stuck in low-end jobs or make the unemployment list. And one can see visible dots of Muslim ghettos on the British map.

The British law protects and promotes multi-culturalism. But some political leaders have now started blaming multi-culturalism for the rising isolationism among British Muslims which they believe in turn has held them back from integrating and given rise to Muslim ghettos where they suspect extremism breeds.

Against such a bleak backdrop has come the uplifting report of these 100 successful Muslims of Britain. They range from lords to lawyers, from authors to sporting icons, pre-eminent academics to giants of industry. And they all have two things in common: all are Muslim - and all have made an outstanding contribution to British society.

The inaugural Muslim Power 100 list was announced last week-end (Feb.11). Established to recognise Muslims who have made "significant contributions to the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of Britain", the awards came as a timely public reminder of the positive contribution of the vast majority of Britain's Muslim community.

Muslim Power 100 is the first initiative in Britain applauding the vital achievement and contribution being made by the British Muslim community to the social, cultural and economic well being of Britain.

A spokesman for the IBB, Sultan Choudhury, said Sunday’s event was the culmination of nine months' preparation and voting. "We wanted to highlight the positive contributions made by British Muslims to society - contributions that are in complete contrast with media connotations that somehow Muslims are linked to terrorism, are not as educated, or are segregating themselves. The opposite is true - we are integrating and contributing across a wide range of fields."

Excellence awards were also given to nine guests, including Dr Hany El Banna, founder of Islamic Relief, and Haifa Fahoum Al Kaylani, chair of the Arab International Women's Forum.

The UK Muslim population (over two million) is currently growing at a faster rate than any other faith-based community. This community contributes £51 billion per year to Britain’s annual GDP and forms the backbone of Britain’s retail and healthcare sectors. Furthermore, there are over 10,000 Muslim millionaires in Britain making them among the most sought after customers by The UK’s financial services sector.

Muslim Power 100 was launched in conjunction with the Islamic Business Leaders Awards.

Its publication is being distributed to over 80,000 of the leading public and private sector individuals, both in the UK and internationally.

The sponsors of the Muslim Power 100, the IBB is a commercial bank, established in Aug 2004 in the UK to offer Shariat-compliant financial service products to British Muslims. The bank has eight branches in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leicester.

There are approximately 350,000 Muslim households in Britain and the Shariat-compliant financial services market has grown substantially since 2003 - growing by almost 50 per cent in the last year alone.

The IBB was formed by a group of investors from the Middle East to take advantage of the growing market for Shariat-compliant financial services in the UK. The bank also has a Sharia Supervisory Committee to ensure that its products are compliant with Islamic teachings.