In its list of the most persuasive Muslims in the world, Jordan’s Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center has named Prime Minister Imran Khan as its ‘Man of the Year’.
The center, is an autonomous research entity with the Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Jordan. The institute has named American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib is this year’s Muslim 500 Woman of the Year. She is the first Palestinian-American woman and joint first Muslim woman to be elected to the American Congress as member of the House of Representatives.
Professor S Abdallah Schleifer, a Professor Emeritus of Journalism in the American University in Cairo, who chose both the winners for the titles, said that if the Muslim 500 was in print back in 1992 and he was then Chief
Editor he would have nominated Khan as 'Muslim Man of the Year'.
"Because of his brilliant performance in cricket, which culminated in Pakistan winning the 1992 Cricket World Cup — a sport I have always admired for its combination of elegance and intense competitive play,” Schleifer further said.
The professor continued that Khan’s role in cricket was not the only criteria for him being bestowed with the title. "I also was touched when Khan launched a successful fund raising campaign to establish a hospital devoted to both the care of victims of cancer as well as research. This was his magnificent response to the loss of his mother to cancer in 1985."
Schleifer further said that what is particularly to Khan's credit is that upon assuming office last year, Khan had made his top priorities to work for a lasting peace with India. "He wanted to normalize relations through trade, and settling the Kashmir dispute, 'the foremost impediment' in the Prime Minister’s own words 'to the normalization of relations between us," the professor added.
However, Modi has continously rejected his call for peace talks. “This is Imran Khan’s great dilemma— how do you make a much desired lasting peace with a nation governed by those who have neither interest nor need to make a lasting peace with Pakistan, and against whom any form of war would be hopeless,” Schleifer said.