Khalifa was born in Fontana, California, while his father, Rashad Khalifa, obtained a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside. As a child, he relocated to the Middle East on two occasions. When he was a few months old, his family moved to Alexandria, Egypt, where his father worked for the Egyptian government. After three years in Egypt, the Khalifas moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where they lived for seven years. They then moved to Tripoli, Libya, as his father consulted for the Libyan government for a year. Then, his family moved to Tucson, Arizona.\n', '

Khalifa attended Sahuaro High School in Tucson. For the school\'s American football team, he played as a quarterback and was named All-City by the Arizona Daily Star. He also played shortstop on the school\'s baseball team, which won the Class 5A state championship, defeating Phoenix Brophy High School.\n', '

Khalifa was chosen by the Pittsburgh Pirates as the seventh overall selection in the 1982 Major League Baseball Draft. Though he signed a letter of intent to attend Arizona State University, Khalifa signed with the Pirates, receiving a $100,000 signing bonus. In 1982, he played for the Gulf Coast Pirates of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League (GCL) and the Greenwood Pirates of the Class A South Atlantic League. In 48 games played for Greenwood, Khalifa had a .305 batting average. He played six games for the GCL Pirates. In 1983, he played for the Alexandria Dukes of the Class A Carolina League, batting .270 in 103 games, and received five games of playing time for the Lynn Sailors of the Class AA Eastern League.\n', '

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