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Amr Khaled
THE GLOBAL ELITE

48: Amr Khaled

Egyptian televangelist

 

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Witty and soft-spoken, Khaled is sometimes described as the "anti–bin Laden," a tolerant accountant turned televangelist whose feel-good brand of Islam calls for dialogue over destruction. His sermons are broadcast worldwide—on YouTube and four Arab satellite stations—and his message of self-improvement through hard work and prayer is more Joel Osteen than Moqtada al-Sadr. But the same Western-friendly style that has endeared him to millions of liberal Muslims has angered hard-liners, who forced Khaled into exile in Britain in 2002. There he has reinvented himself as, in the words of one Arab newspaper, a "Pied Piper" for young European Muslims who are following his conciliatory tune.

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