Islamic Televangelists Draw Acolytes, Critics
July 22, 2005
Religion and television have been a powerful combination in this country, and the same thing is true in the Middle East. Arab channel surfers looking for a dose of Islamic preaching needn’t look far.
Amr Khalid, a 38-year-old former accountant from Egypt, is one of a handful of Islamic televangelists winning converts among young, upper-middle class Arabs. He and others use many of the same techniques used by Christian televangelists in the West.
Threatened by Khalid’s popularity, the Egyptian government banned him from preaching in his own country. He now lives in England, but his satellite TV shows and Internet site are more popular than ever.
