PESHAWAR: Prof Mohammad Ibrahim Khan has been elected as provincial chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) till October 31, 2024.
He took the oath of his new office on the occasion of the central shura of the party in Mansoor Lahore on Monday. The office of JI provincial president had fallen vacant with the resignation of Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan on April 20.
Prof Mohammad Ibrahim Khan was made acting chief of the province and the process for electing a new head was launched soon. Postal ballots were circulated among the party members in the province. The provincial shura had shortlisted three names for the convenience of the party members to vote for anyone among them.
The three candidates included Prof Ibrahim Khan, who was holding the office of central vice-president and acting provincial president of the party, Maulana Mohammad Ismail, the provincial deputy chief of the party and Maulana Ataur Rahman, provincial deputy chief.
The JI has a tradition of electing all office-bearers. The election as per the party constitution is called Istiswab (plebiscite).All the full members of the party (Arkaan) can vote for all the offices. The central chief of the party enjoys several discretionary powers, which he mostly exercises after having a consultation with the central shura. It is also a discretionary power of the central chief of the party to name anyone as provincial chief against the opinion of the Arkaan. However, he normally does not use this discretion.
Prof Ibrahim is among the senior-most members of the party in the country. He has already served in different positions in the party. Born in Bannu city of the province in 1952, Prof Ibrahim got his early education in his native town. He secured his LLB and master’s in journalism degrees from Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan. After completing his education, he joined the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Gomal University as a teacher. However, after a few years, he quit the teaching job and joined JI as a full-time worker. His affiliation with JI started from his student life when he became a member of Islami Jamiat Talaba.
He served the student organization of JI in various capacities. In 1987, he was made provincial secretary-general of the party and he served in this capacity till 1994 when he was elevated as provincial president of the party. Prof Ibrahim served as provincial chief of the party till 2004 when he was replaced by the current central chief of the party Sirajul Haq.
He also served as central deputy chief of the party for several years. He has represented Jamaat-e-Islami in the Senate of Pakistan and remained a member of various official forums.