It was a great generosity from Arab West report, and my friend Cornelis Hulsman, the editor in chief, to introduce me to make this interview with Prof. Schleifer, who has a life-long unique intercultural engagement with an amazing experience and a very successful career. This interview was recorded and took place on February 8, 2021.
Sulayman Abdallah Sharif Schleifer [Sulaymān ʿAbd Allāh Sharīf Schleifer] was born as Marc Schleifer in 1935, in Brooklyn, New York, from a Jewish family, and is an American citizen. Abdallah Schleifer 86 years old, chose his name after becoming attracted to Sufi [Ṣūfī] traditions and becoming a Muslim Sufi. His conversion came after he had been exposed to different faiths and ideologies which makes him one of the exceedingly rare kind of persons who explored interfaith dialogue by himself.
He is a senior fellow of the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Amman, Jordan; Editor in chief of The 500 Most Influential Muslims; Professor Emeritus & Senior Fellow, Founder of the Kamal Adham Center for TV & Digital Journalism, American University in Cairo; Global Expert, Foreign Policy Research Institute Philadelphia PA, and the Middle East Institute, Washington DC. Professor. Schleifer is also former NBC Cairo Bureau Chief, and special correspondent for the New York Times in Jerusalem and Amman. He started his journalistic career with the position of managing director of the Jordanian newspaper The Jerusalem Star that later changed its name to The Palestine News. He was also the Middle East correspondent of Jeune Afrique and served as Al Arabiya News Bureau Chief in Washington and was one of its senior experts. Prof. Abdallah Schleifer is also the senior fellow of the Arab-West Foundation, the publisher of Arab-West Report.
