The antidote to terror

    Amr Khaled is a British-based preacher who is converting thousands of Muslims to the path of peace – and incurring the wrath of hardline Islam. Lesley White meets _the Arab Billy Graham’ (…) In March, Khaled launched a new show, An Invitation to Coexistence, the first time the four main Arabic cable and satellite stations, including the influential pan-Arab religious satellite channel Al-Risalah, have aired a programme in the same prime 9pm slot. The viewing figures are as yet unannounced, but there is talk of an unprecedented 50m record. Khaled’s shows are a revolution in Islamic broadcasting. On Al-Jazeera the esteemed cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, bearded and cloaked, pronounces from behind a desk; but Amr strolls through a bright, modern studio in a cream linen suit, smiling and chatting as if he’s just arrived for Sunday lunch in the conservatory. The opening of his show Life Makers even features cartoons: ?a wretched little boy wearing a chain and collar engraved No goal in my life is led into the sunshine by an enlightened friend who tells ?him to look outside. On one stone sits a Koran and on another a cog, representing self-transformation through industry and effort.

    Share Button

    Sources