Friday, December 25, 2009

Amr Khaled : The modern preacher

A new reality TV show will launch on January 8 on Dubai TV called Al Mujaddidun. The show was created by Amr Khaled a famous Egyptian preacher and is said to be inspired by the Apprentice, the American TV show.

Amr Khaled, has gained enormous popularity in the world of Islamic preaching and was ranked in 2007 the 13th most influential people in the world in the Time magazine.  
Why is this Egyptian scholar often referred to as preaching rock-star so different from the others?
There are a lot of reasons:
  • He is young and quite fashionable unlike the typical old -shcool preachers with long beards and jellabas
  • He is very knowledgeable and is currently doing a PhD in the University of Wales
  • He has a very modern and sociological approach to religion and is very much focused on inspiring the youth
Due to his growing popularity and often controversy about his way of preaching he was removed from Egypt.
Too much religion?
At that time, some used say to that he was told to leave Cairo because he had too much of a religious impact on the society which was too influential for the government .

Also, some rumors used to say that the women from the President's family wanted to get veiled because of him.

At that time, it was a very normal social phenomenon to see women getting veiled after listening to Amr Khaled's preaching.

It seems like he had put the whole country in a higher level of religious fervency. Young and old people would always swear by his shows, his cassettes and website.

But his ban only helped him gain more popularity and he was broadcasted by many satellite channels.
The right language 

It could be true that Amr Khaled's approach very much differs from the traditional Al Azhar style of preaching.

This is the key to his success, he is the modern preacher who knows how to talk to the youth and focuses on Islamic behavior rather than actions .

In a recent article by the BBC  a girl was quoted saying "he speaks our language" referring to Khaled and why he has so much impact on the youth. 

In fact, his show is all about the community and how to make the 16 contestants who come from various Arab countries active.


"The aim of it is not to make money, but to make the youth ready to support the society," he told the BBC.

With his modern take on religion and society how can Amr Khaled not be one of the most influential people in the world?  

(Photo by Randa El Tahawy)

1 comment:

amr diabnewstyle said...

i believe that amr khaled was trule the 13th most influencial person in the world at the year 2007 .. but i wish to know why did he lose some of his influence on people ..
in my opinion - which may or may not be true - that depending on new style and fashion in his shows make him turns into what is like opera show .. and i guess that he lost some of his islamic identity.. and im not trying to say that islam ignores fashion and style - im not sure of that - but i mean that his audiences kind had changed ...
in the other hand : Amr khaled is really new in his topics, but he is not every time new in his style..
i mean that he uses the same human receptors every time . what made desensitization in people used to have the same impression..
the type of people how used to follow him usually reminds me with the christian tv shows who usually stay impressed and say ooooooo wooow opening their mouthes and eyes..
all what i've written is just what i see and it's not neccecirly true .. and i guess that amr khaled is more a phenomenon of the capitalism with a good heart ...