Amr Khaled
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Amr Khaled is a young Muslim Egyptian preacher and Islamic televangelist. He could be called a lay preacher who unexpectedly rose to fame in Egypt in recent years.
Amr Khaled, being from a wealthy family, is financially secure and often sharply dressed. His tone is calm and he gives advice in a friendly manner. He speaks of returning to Islamic values.
He began preaching in mosques, and then switched to using Satellite TV (his lectures can been seen on the IQRA channel on NILESAT) as his main vehicle. His lectures are popular, and are distributed over the internet as well as on cassette tapes. Traditionalists from Al Azhar are uncomfortable with his rising popularity. The Egyptian authorities, apparently alarmed that his followers are multiplying in numbers, even among the ranks of influential and wealthy families, are believed to have forced him into exile abroad. However, he has always replied to inquires from his viewers on the TV that he was not banned from airing in Egypt or in other Arab countries.
His detractors often criticise him for being non-specialized in Islamic science, and therefore not qualified to preach. His reply is that he is only a 'preacher', who does not issue answers on matters of juristic fiqh.
Approach
Amr Khaled targets university-student-aged Muslim Arab youth who come from the upper-middle class. He uses the same approach of the Muslim Brotherhood, a religious-political group that is officially banned in Egypt and that Nasser killed its great member Sayed Kotb. Yet, he refrains from directing criticism to the government or attacking its policies. Instead, he tries to win the official support by supporting some of the goals of the government and moving people towards them. His main tool in moving people is through their emotions which is observed not only in his selection of words but also in his voice. He aims at presenting Islam in a modern context.
Life Makers
Life Makers is the latest TV program by Amr Khaled. In this program the focus shifts from purely religous talk to action projects. The stated goal of the program is to produce a renaissance for the Arab and Muslim world. Projects in agriculture, education, small industries, healthcare and other fields have been started.
External links
- Amr Khaled's web site (http://www.amrkhaled.net)
- A Master of Philosophy Thesis on Amr Khaled by Lindsay Wise, University of Oxford (http://users.ox.ac.uk/~metheses/Wise.html)
- CSMonitor: Moderate Muslim Voice falls silent (http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1126/p06s01-woaf.html)
- A phenonmenon called Amr Khaled (http://www.yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=726&p=lastpage&a=1)