Amr Khaled is a Muslim preacher and motivational speaker. His television programs are carried on IQRAA TV and broadcast via satellite throughout the Muslim world. He also publishes his own website, books, CDs and cassettes. While his lectures are usually delivered in Arabic, programs are often subtitled in English. His website carries articles in nearly 20 languages.
Amr Khaled promotes grassroots development efforts, and has launched an organization called "The Lifemakers" (Sunaa al-Hayah in Arabic) which involves youth in community service projects. He is also chairman of the UK-based Right Start Foundation.
Amr Khaled is extremely popular with young, middle-class Muslims in the Arab world. Sometimes described as "more popular than Oprah," his success in reaching out to this group stem from his use of everyday language to discuss issues that face people daily. He uses real-life examples and speaks passionately from the heart, urging youth to draw closer to Islam and be active in building a better future for their communities.
Amr Khaled trained as an accountant in Egypt before beginning to give Islamic lectures full-time in 1998. He is sometimes criticized as not being qualified to speak about Islam, as he does not have any formal religious training. Khaled counters that while he motivates and gives guidance, he does not issue legal rulings.
"Muslims are living as parasites on the world. Our problem is that we have got used to taking without ever giving. Don't tell us it is a Western conspiracy against us, it is not."
"I also have a message of reform and development, which I call 'development through faith'. Faith is the motor of development and one can't do without it. I am not a Mufti, and I don't deliver legal judgments on what's permitted or forbidden under Islamic law. What I want to do is to move Arabic youth."
"Young people have huge reserves of energy, and I am leading that momentum peacefully, and in moderation."
Official Website:
Articles:
- "Islam's Billy Graham" by The Independent
- "A Preacher's Puzzle" by Al-Ahram Weekly
- "I Want to Move Arabic Youth!" by Qantara
- "Biography of Amr Khaled" by Alkalima
- "Broadcasting the Nahda" by TBS Journal
