|
|
|
|
|
|
This interview was made by Amr Selim with Mr. Amr Khaled in "He" magazine volume 4, number 4 . Autumn 2002
And in the following lines you can read the whole interview
The men and women who put humanity on the road to the belief and respect of god are people of greater resolve, will, force, and religious faith than anyone else. One such man, is Amr Khaled, the soft-spoken, moderate evangelist whose avidly watched program on the Egyptian Satellite Channel Ikra and his cassettes and videotapes that sell from Mohandiseen to Midan Ataba, quickly snapped up like hit songs, have made him the most popular Egyptian preacher of the day.
interview by Amr Selim
Personable, reasonable and dressed in the suits and mustache favored by his age group in Egypt, part of Khaled's appeal is that he seems the embodiment of the average “got to the club for a game of football“ guy. He's all that and more. He's an accountant whose hobby-preaching at mosques, private gatherings and on television-has made him into an Egyptian phenomenon, a televangelist who appeals to a wide stratum of society from the poorest working class areas to the neighborhoods where the country's hip and elite rub shoulders.
“Amr Khaled, I like this guy because he's not like some other sheikhs you hear. Telling you of the tortures of hell awaiting or about how evil America is,“ says Ahmed Sioum, from Abbaseya. “he speaks of your relationship with god, your family in a way that you can understand. He encourages rather condemns. “ It may be his easy, articulate manner that has catapulted Khaled to international stardom as the most popular Muslims televangelist of his day. He speaks the vernacular of the Egyptian middle class, he reduces the complicated verses of the Qur'an to simple stories and he says he knows that nobody is perfect.
“I love god very much and my desire is simply to make people love religions,“ says Khaled. “if you love religion you will be blessed with a happy life. My ambition is to help people come to love god.“
A charismatic preacher, Khaled uses simple language and folksy humor to advocate a traditional, yet moderate view of Islam that is almost direct rebuttal of the style of other populist religious preachers in Egypt, the Arab world as a whole and the U.S. for that matter, Muslim or christian. Unlike, some of his predecessors and peers in the medium, Khaled style is inclusive rather than patronizing or insulting, even when speaking of the West.
“Muslim's shouldn't reject Western civilization as a whole,“ says, Khaled, “but we must not accept the negative aspects into our lives just the good to make a balance between the soul and the body. People satisfy their souls, what I am trying to do is to make people balance their souls and their bodies. People should be proud to be citizens of their nation and should strive to better society. These are my main concern and the goals of my message to people. Some people stop me in the street to shake hands and say that they are very religious Christians but they like I way talk about god and respect other monotheistic faiths.“
By contrast, Muslims worldwide were shocked by the recent derogatory remarks of America's Reverend Jerry Falwell spoken on the U.S. television network CBS early this month. The conservative Baptist minister told the CBS audience that Islam's prophet “was a violent man, a man of war. Jesus set the example for love, as did Moses,“ Falwell said. “I think Mohamed set an opposite Example.“
Little was said by Western politicians in condemnation of the remarks until five people were killed and forty-seven injured in Hindu-Muslim riots during a one-day strike called to protest Falwell's statements.
Khaled has steered clear of extremism and politics', but his popularity has forced a change of venue from the mosque in Mohandissin where he got started to a larger one in 6th of October City. There have also been rumors of his occasional encouragement to keep low profile by the government. “Sometimes too, there are rumors that I am a graduate of AUC,“ says Khaled,“ but, I'm actually a graduate of the Faculty of Commerce at Cairo University. Khaled is an accountant by profession whose hobby is religious outreach to the people. His many fans in Egypt and beyond, who throng by the thousands to the suburban Cairo mosque to hear his religious homilies, snap up tapes of his speeches and sit transfixed before their television sets to watch his live twice-weekly show.
Celebrity preachers are nothing new for the Muslims world. But Khaled, 35, is in a class by himself. His lectures, it seems, satisfies an urgent hunger in his listeners for a religious model that is neither dangerously political nor terribly strict.
While most televangelists are deemed dour, rigid men who admonish sinners about their shameful lives, reminding them that hellfires are being stocked to receive them, Khaled expounds about the need for Muslims to be polite, satisfied and well groomed and sweet-talks people into praying more often by regaling them with anecdotes from his own life as the rather privileged of an Alexandrian doctor.
“my grandfather, who died when I was in secondary school, was my first instructor in Islam. He gave me simple books to read and told me stories of the Prophet, PBUH, and his companions. He had an easy way of doing it, which excited my curiosity. You shouldn't push your children. The important Thing is to plant the seed of Islam in them.
“I used to live my life like a normal guy, not living up to my potential as a Muslim. During college, one of the best things that happened to me was meeting some of the moderate Islamic groups on campus through my memberships in the student union.“
The greatest change for Khaled came when he was in secondary school during Ramadan when he started to seriously question his faith, realizing that to be a true believer, one must surrender reason and rely on faith; tangible entities are easier to accept than ideas –the seen world easier to grasp than the unseen. If we could know God, rather than believe in him, we would be “knowers“ rather than a community of believers.
“That year, Ramadan was in summer and it was hot so I started going to bed after the TV programs ended. I often thought of my girlfriend that I was placing our relationship above my religion. I prayed and woke up the next day feeling closer to god. I kept reading the Qur'an for the next four months, getting closer to God and feeling more complete. I admonished my friends at the club not to curse and kept up my prayers in the mosque. I realized how happy I was, much more than my friends who were not praying, or were sporadic in their religious duties.
“ The closer to God I came, the more I knew that I had a message and wanted to convey it. I'm trying to make people love God and act right. My message is based on three things: the first is proper manners and behavior, the second is faith and spirit and the third is patriotisnm to your nation, as country or the Muslim nation as a whole.“
One of Khaled's greatest concerns is youth. “I once had a number of conversations with a young man who was struggling with drug use. He was unable to get help from the medical profession and sought my advice. I am happy to say he has, beaten drug addiction, taken to regular prayers performed the hajj and is in a good job.“ Besides desiring them to be God-fearing Muslims, Khaled encourages young people to seek gainful employment. “ the proper image for a Muslim is prosperity, to live in good spirit and acceptance of god's will.“
A student studying for his Masters, Khaled refrains from lecturing prior to and during exam periods. “I don't want the students to use my lectures as an alibi for not studying.“
Khaled's story recalls that of other men and women who were pulled out of their ordinary lives into the services of what they summoned forth.
Knowledge of God's will is the pillar whereupon religion in its entirety hinges. Without such knowledge, any action does not have any real value whatsoever: it has neither essence nor value. Khaled believes that this is the moral dilemma of the West, particularly of America which he feels misunderstands Islam, either purposefully or through ignorance.
“What happened on September 11th was an atrocious act, but it is unfair to accuse Islam for it and for people to think that this is Islam.
“We have a Islamic civilizations built centuries years ago. You can't force to effect change as America seems bent on doing in Iraq, but you can discuss, analyze, and negotiate.
“As I said before, any civilization is built on three things: spirit, manner and money. But the West is ruling and living through is material wealth and misses the spiritual faith, but a lack resources. Instead of saying we have what you don't and vice-versa, we should strive to respect and understand each other's civilizations rather than creating a clash between civilizations.“
Khaled, intentionally or not has set himself as a total antithesis of the turbaned, bearded, caricature that is prevalent in the west when thinking of Muslim religious figures. The Economist recently wrote of him: “ In Egypt, a country that has been the incubator of modern Islamist militancy, the most fashionable face of the faith today sports a trim moustache, a jacket and tie and a jovial manner of an insu ance salesman. “ It continues: “The rise to fame of Amr Khaled…is just one sign of the accelerating depoliticisation of Islam“.
The Economist article, for all its rather sneering positivity, resorts to the same clichéd belief about Muslims, tarring us all with the label of extremism. This failure to recognize the wide diversity of Muslim life, as diverse as religious life anywhere, is itself the antithesis of Khaled's message to youth, that of love of God and respect for the other monotheistic faiths.
Khaled also takes umbrage at media reports of his courting the son and the daughters of the rich and famous. A charge he strenuously denies.
“I am surprised at the way the media is making too much of it; while every one listens to Madonna and admire Maradona playing football, and others where they don't have any message to give to people while I preach people to good things specially the youngsters who are the future.“
A typical sermon, a friend who watches his program called “Ramadan Treasures“ explains, beings with stories of the Prophet Mohamed, then swerves gently into matters of character.
“Try to behave in a way that would not offend the angels, and remember that an angel would be repelled by some one who smokes, spits or dresses sloppily.“
Khaled's fame soared when the Saudi-owned ART satellite network broadcast each of his nightly Ramadan sermons live, bringing him into living rooms across the Arab world, Australia, Canada and Europe on the Ikra Channel.
At some point in all his talks, he speaks to women about putting on a veil, or hegab.
The prophet Mohamed PBUH used to criticize the behavior of both men and women. And he used to ask their opinion as well. I have never asked my wife not to work. She is an assistant professor in the faculty of Arts. In fact she is finishing her PhD. We married when we were young and didn't conceive a child for ten years. Two years ago, I went on the hajj and prayed very hard to god on Mount Mena. When I came down recalled my wife and she told me she was pregnant. Our son's name is Ali and I hope for him to attend the best schools to get a good education, play sports and learn to be a proper Muslim.
Khald's followers are those questioning what is happening around us looking to keep the way of life they want to hold on to and the values they feel comfortable with.
His answer is genuine, it's not borrowed or imported from any where. It's from the heart
|
|
تنبيه:لن يتم قبول التعليقات التي بغير اللغة العربية أو الانجليزية**
| تعليقات الزوار |
| طالب علم | 2008-04-13 |
About AMR khalid |
بسم الله
اود ان اعبر عن راى فى عمرو خالد و هذا الراى يستند الى ما فتح الله به على من علم قليل فى الكتاب و السنة و اقوال السلف العلماء و المشايخ
اود ان اقول ان عمرو خالد يجب عليه اولا ان يتعلم العلم الصحيح و لا يبتكر من عنده فيضل كما هو الحال فكثير من الاحاديث التى يقولها اما ضعيف او موضوع بالاضافة انه عامل دين مودرن على هوى الشباب و يتسبب فى اباحة محرمات كثيرة مثل الموسيقى وغيرها و من الواضح انه احد اثنين اما انه متربح من ذلك او انه يملى عليه ما يقوله لانه فعلا لا يدعو الى الله على بصيرة
| |
| |
| |
