Amr Khaled

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Amr Khaled عمرو خالد
Amr Khaled promotional image
Born	September 5, 1967 (age 39) Alexandria, Egypt
Occupation	Islamic activist/preacher

Amr Mahmoud Helmi Khaled (Arabic: عمرو محمود حلمي خالد) (born September 5, 1967) is an Egyptian Muslim activist and preacher. The New York Times Magazine, in reference to Khaled's popularity in Arab countries, described him in its April 30, 2006 issue as "the world's most famous and influential Muslim televangelist."

1 Early days
2 Ministry and audience
3 Shows
4 Critics
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Early days

Amr Khaled was born in Alexandria, Egypt to a wealthy Egyptian family. He graduated from Cairo University in 1988 with a degree in Accounting. In 2001, he received a diploma from the Islamic Studies Institute.^{[citation needed]} He is currently studying for his Ph.D at the University of Wales.

He began preaching in mosques in 1990 while still working as an accountant. In 1998, he moved to full-time preaching, primarily on satellite television. Khaled's popular lectures, which can be seen on the IQRA channel via the NILESAT direct broadcast satellites, are also distributed over the Internet and on audio and video cassette tapes.

[edit] Ministry and audience

Khaled in an interview.

Amr Khaled rejects extremism and strongly denounces the actions of Osama bin Laden. He announced that Arab Muslims want to live peacefully in coexistence with the West. His main teachings remain the same as those before him in more modern media, talking about everyday actions to get closer to Allah such as honesty, humbleness, and being polite. He believes that for society to improve it must change from the grassroots (from the bottom up).

Khaled promotes community development in the Arabic and Muslim nation based on what he terms "Development using Faith" (Arabic: التنمية بالإيمان). The idea is for people to develop their communities and countries with faith as their motivator and guide.

Khaled's primary audience consists of Muslim Arabs ages fifteen through thirty five who come from the upper middle class. Khaled believes these are the ones most capable of changing the Islamic world. He is noted for his understandable everyday language and his friendly approach, even joking at times during his lectures.

[edit] Shows

Life Makers logo.

Life Makers (Arabic: صناع الحياة) was a TV program aired from 2004 to 2005, presented by Amr Khaled, and is the main concept of his life. In this program the focus shifts from purely religious 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 and they are in progress.

On the Path of the Beloved (Arabic: على خطى الحبيب) was Amr Khaled's show for Ramadan 2005 in which he recounted and discussed the life journey (Sira) of the prophet Muhammad. This show focused on Muhammad's personal side and how he dealt with difficult situations in his life.

In Thy Name We Live (Arabic:باسمك نحيا) was Amr Khaled's show for Ramadan 2006, aired live at 7:30 GMT every night from Makkah. The main concept of this show was strengthening viewers' faith through the meanings of the 99 Names of God in the Qur'an.

[edit] Critics

Some detractors criticise Amr Khaled for not being a specialist in Islamic legal science, and therefore not qualified to preach. His reply is that he is only a preacher who does not issue answers on matters of jurisprudence (fiqh).

Traditionalists from Al Azhar are uncomfortable with his rising popularity. The Egyptian authorities, apparently alarmed that people who are learning from him are multiplying in numbers among the ranks of influential and wealthy families, are believed to have forced him into exile abroad. However, he has always replied to inquiries from his viewers on the TV that he was not banned from airing in Egypt or in other Arab countries.

The British Sunday Times reported on May 30, 2004 that Sir Andrew Turnbull, the cabinet secretary and one of Tony Blair’s closest aides, intended to seek Amr Khaled's aid in furthering the British government’s agenda regarding Muslims. This article hurt Khaled's reputation among those Muslims who are resentful of the attitude of current western governments towards them.