Amr Khaled campaign

Meedan | Egyptian televangelist launches campaign to counter Muslim-Christian strife on the internet "After only a few days, the web-based campaign “An Internet Free of Sectarian Strife” has managed to garner over seven thousand supporters. The campaign was launched by the well-known Muslim preacher Amr Khaled, who has called upon both Muslims and Christians to desist from “campaigns of digital incitement” against each other."

Details: اهتمام إعلامي بحملة "إنترنت بلا فتنة" amrkhaled.net, 9 Jan 2011

Amr Khaled in Yemen (update)

Amr Khaled, The National, From podcasts and Friday sermons, a new start for Yemen, 28 Nov 2010 " ... we have selected 100 of the Muslim world's most respected and renowned preachers whom we will bring to Yemen. With the support of Yemen's Ministry of Endowments (Awqaf), they will be trained to broadcast true Islamic teachings. We will use the latest technologies - podcasts and the internet - as well as the most traditional - Friday sermons in the mosque."

The net is only one part of this. [Note: Internet World Stats, Yemen "420,000 Internet users as of June, 2010; 1.8% of the population, according to ITU."]

Amr Khaled in Yemen

Mohammed Mukhashaf and Mohamed Sudam, Reuters/Arab News, Egyptian TV preacher to fight extremism in Yemen, 24 Nov 2010 "Yemen has enlisted the help of a popular Egyptian television preacher to help it dislodge militant Islamists’ foothold within its conservative population."

Amr Khaled interview

Qantara.de - A Call for Muslims in the West to Serve Their Societies, 11 Nov 2010 Amr Khaled interview

4Shbab

Negar Azimi , NYTimes.com, Islam’s Answer to MTV, 13 Aug 2010 "“The media is changing everything,” Abu Haiba told me. “Television, the Internet, Facebook. We have to think faster, move faster. Time flies! 4Shbab is part of that change. It’s more than music. We have 25,000 members in the 4Shbab Forum. We get 3,000 S.M.S. a day from viewers. I have fans in Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Iraq — you name it. We think of it as a new kind of preaching for the ‘rebound generation.’ ”"

Also see 4shbab.com

Footnote: On their site I happened upon an article from 2009 on internet 'addiction', which is worth a look (especially for the pictures).

Research on TV

Two useful new pieces of research:

Yasmin Moll, Arab Media & Society, Islamic Televangelism: Religion, Media and Visuality in Contemporary Egypt with references to Mustafa Hosni, Amr Khaled and Moez Masoud.

Secondly, Maurice Chammah, , Arab Media & Society, Cosmopolitan Islamism and its Critics: Ahmed Abu Haiba, 4Shbab TV, and Western Reception

I haven't fully read these pieces yet.

Amr Khaled

New and noted: informaworld.com: Aaron Rock, 'Amr Khaled: From Da'wa to Political and Religious Leadership', British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Volume 37, Issue 1 April 2010 , pages 15 - 37

I've just received this, so haven't read it fully yet. It contains a number of references to the role of the Internet in relation to religious and political authority, so will be relevant to regular readers of this blog.

Muslim Green Guide

Juan Cole pointed to



Amr Khaled Interview: Muslim Green Guide See the Muslim Green Guide (pdf) more more information.

Amr Khaled

meedan, Amr Khaled's "Mujadidoun": Islamic Reality TV? , 18 Jan 2010 "According to Al-Risala Saudi newspaper, Khaled asserted that there would be no mixing of sexes on the programme. He added saying that there would be two teams; one for young men and the other for young women, each doing their work separately."

Amr Khaled

Bikya Masr, Egypt: Telepreacher Amr Khaled under threat over alleged Jewish sympathy, 1 Sept 09 "Egypt’s leading television preacher Amr Khaled finds himself once again facing controversy after discussing the story of Moses and alleging the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh’s killed male Jews during this period in history. The telepreacher’s controversial story was part of his “Stories of the Qur’an” series that has been airing since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan."

Yemen > Amr Khaled

sabanews.net, Amr Khaled to deliver lectures on Palestinian case, 11 Jan 09 "Speaking to Saba, Khaled said that he will also take part in a development and social project under the title of "activate youth to face poverty and illiteracy " which aims at helping about 4500 children to return to schools.

"Khaled added that he will deliver a number of Islamic lectures in the capital Sana'a and Dhamar and Ibb provinces to call on Yemeni youth to use the internet for making a dialogue with the world in order to define the Palestinian case."

Mostafa Hosni

Profile of Mostafa Hosni:

LA Times, Imam for a new generation, 31 Dec 08

"Hosni's path is similar to that of other popular TV preachers, such as Amr Khaled and Moez Masoud, charismatic men who started in commerce and were eventually drawn to religious fervor and a desire to repackage Islam. This brand of preacher has not eclipsed the influence of imams and clerics, but it has forced traditional holy men to reckon with the power of the Internet and the allure of simplifying centuries-old texts to fit modern times."

Research

ISIM Review has articles on 'Islamic religious Practice in Outer Space' (based on the activities of astronaut Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor) and 'Purposeful Art: Between Television Preachers and the State' - focusing on Egypt. These are in issue 22, which isn't yet online (should be soon, I guess)

Jihad Against Drugs

Islam Online, Jihad Against Drugs, 2 Apr 08 "Ever since he declared jihad against drugs last month, Egyptian preacher Amr Khaled's call has been resonating across Arab countries with addicts reaching out for help."

Details: AmrKhaled.net

CBSNews, Preaching Islam On TV, 10 Dec 07 "Muslim televangelist Amr Khaled is spreading his message of personal responsibility through Islam to more than 20 million homes throughout the Middle East and the West. Mark Phillips reports." [video report]