Amr Khaled

Infobox Person
name = Amr Khaled
عمرو خالد


image_size =
caption =
birth_date = birth date and age|1967|9|5
birth_place = Alexandria, Egypt
occupation = Islamic activist/preacher Accountant
spouse =
religion = Islam
nationality = Egyptian

Amr Mohamed Helmi Khaled ( _ar. عمرو محمد 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." Amr Khaled has recently been chosen as number 13 of the world's most influential people by Time Magazine [ [http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326_1615754_1616173,00.html The TIME 100 (13 of 100)] ] and sixth most influential intellectual in the world by "Prospect" magazine [ [http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=10261 Prospect magazine (article 10261)] ] . He was also chosen as number 6 in Foreign Policy Magazine's 2008 list of The World's Top 20 Public Intellectuals.

Early days

Amr Khaled was born in Alexandria, Egypt. He graduated from Cairo University in 1988 with a degree in Accounting. In 2001, he received a diploma from an Islamic Studies Institute. He is currently studying for his Ph.D at the University of Wales. [ [http://www.amrkhaled.net/profile.php Amr Khaled CV] ]

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.

Ministry and audience

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 "Faith Based Development" (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.Fact|date=July 2008 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.

hows

"Call for Coexistence" (Arabic: دعوة للتعايش) is a TV program 2007, presented by Amr Khaled. "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 Names of God in the Qur'an.

Qura’n Stories(Arabic:فصص الفرآن) this is Amr Khaled’s recent show for Ramadan 2008,In which he focused on the moral lessons not only of prophets but normal people as well. The main idea of this program is to full the viewers with enthusiasm to be more active and affect their society positivley.

Critics

Some detractors criticise Amr Khaled for not being a specialist in Islamic legal science, and therefore not qualified to preach.Fact|date=July 2008 His reply is that he is only a preacher who does not issue answers on matters of jurisprudence (fiqh).Fact|date=July 2008

Traditionalists from Al Azhar are uncomfortable with his rising popularity.Fact|date=July 2008 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.Fact|date=July 2008 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 until he came back to Egypt recently.Fact|date=July 2008 He then announced in "Mahmoud Saad's" Talk show "Al-Youm Al Sabea" that the Egyptian authoroties told him that if he would like to stay in Egypt he has to stop any public appearance, which he could not accept.Fact|date=July 2008 Thus he started his Beirut-London four years journey.

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.Fact|date=July 2008

References

* [http://www.radicalmiddleway.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=126&Itemid=43 The Radical Middle Way]
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article336386.ece "Amr Khaled: Islam's Billy Graham."] David Hardacker, "The Independent", January 4, 2006.
* [http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2006-03/09/article03.shtml "Copenhagen Conference Eyes Better Muslim-West Dialogue."] Nidal Abu Arif, "Islam Online", March 9, 2006.
* [http://www.muslimsofeurope.com/steering.php Muslims of Europe Conference] July 2006.
* [http://www.gawaher.com/index.php?showtopic=7094 Islamic Forum]
* [http://www.yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=726&p=lastpage&a=1 A phenomenon called Amr Khaled.] A. Sallem Qasem, "Yemen Times", April 2004.

ee also

* Mustafa Hosni
* Nilesat
* List of Da'is
* Moez Masoud

External links

* [http://www.amrkhaled.net/acategories/categories79.html Official website] en icon
* [http://www.amrkhaled.net Official website] ar icon
* [http://www.qualitylectures.com Amr Khaled's video full lectures]
* [http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=Amr%20Khaled&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv Amr Khaled's video lectures on Google Video]
* [http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Amr+Khaled Amr Khaled's video lectures of YouTube]
* [http://www.rightstart.org.uk/ Right Start Foundation]
* [http://users.ox.ac.uk/~metheses/Wise.html A Master of Philosophy Thesis on Amr Khaled] by Lindsay Wise, Oxford University
* [http://www.egypttoday.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=7718 A Day in the life of Amr Khaled] Egypt Today Magazine.
* [http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1126/p06s01-woaf.html CSMonitor: Moderate Muslim Voice falls silent] from 2002
* [http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/616/eg7.htm Preacher on the run] (Al Ahram Weekly)
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1127740,00.html Britain’s secret plans to win Muslim hearts and minds]