In 2017, Mahershala Ali was the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar as a supporting actor for “Moonlight”. He won the same prize in 2019 for 'Green Book'.
Ahmed has also become Pakistani-origin performer to be nominated for any acting race. Earlier, he also became the first Muslim, and first Asian, to win a lead acting Emmy in 2017 when he won the prize for lead actor in a limited series or movie for 'The Night of'.