Many Muslims today, especially the youth, need some contemporary role models whom they could see as prime role models worth emulating. They need someone whom they can relate to and aspire to be like.
Today, most Muslims do not aspire to become Muslim scholars and students of knowledge. Rather, many of them aspire to become successful engineers, doctors, athletes, etc., while remaining committed to their deen.
Very suitable role models for them would be committed and practicing Muslims who are successful in their interested fields. They need to see that it is indeed possible for one to be a devout and committed Muslim yet be successful in his respective profession. We should strive to guide these Muslims toward their respective and suitable role models.
Some full-time scholars and students of knowledge erroneously think that they are meant to become every Muslim’s mentor and role model, while, in fact, they fail to realize that many ordinary Muslims do not (and cannot) see them as such, at least not in a holistic sense. Scholars and students of knowledge should and would always serve as role models in certain matters such as Islamic character and other things, but there is more to being a Muslim in the modern world than that. Some Muslims truly need practical role models inspiring them to be committed Muslims yet participate in the world in ways that most scholars and many students of knowledge do not.
My first thought upon reading this is Shaykh Dr Husain Sattar, who has celebrity-status popularity among medical students in the states for his educational resources on pathology. https://muslimmatters.org/2018/01/25/shaykh-dr-hussain-sattar-a-celebrity-in-medical-education/ We need more like this. Scholars should not lock themselves in the ivory towers of the Islamic uloom, they need to be leaders across all domains of life.