CAIRO: An electronic mail message (e-mail) entitled "Strictly Confidential , preceded with the tag "Forward, is circulated on the Internet to forewarn people of a conspiracy against Islamic preacher Amr Khaled; asking Muslims to pray for the popular young man. Amr Khaled, often described as a modern televangelist, began preaching in Egypt less than a decade ago, gaining popularity among Egyptian and Arab youth. Many relate to Khaled as a "moderate Islamic voice that had risen among extremist views, old-fashioned Al-Azhar clerics and worn-out manners of preaching. During his early years, Khaled -thin moustache, well-groomed and abandoning the traditional Islamic robes for a suit- often talked about the love of God and his prophets and good Muslim manners. The e-mail currently circulating about Khaled, claiming a to have proof of a "secret conspiracy , was allegedly originally issued by a high-profile Egyptian security official, who remains undisclosed. The sender urges people to believe that there is a conspiracy aimed at destroying Khaled, defaming his image in Egypt and elsewhere. The message listed three methods security officials are allegedly employing to end "the Khaled phenomenon. According to the mail, the three methods are supposedly centered on media and verbal campaigns against him. Outlets like leftist magazine Rose El Youssef, according to the mail, will be encouraged to badmouth him and raise questions about his morality. In addition, Al-Azhar clerics will be urged to discredit his religious authority, "they will press on the fact that he is not an Azhar graduate, read the mail. The third and last procedure, outlined in the e-mail, lies in resorting to the fundamentalist Salafi scholars to attack Khaled's manner of preaching and distrust his piety. In addition, the mail read, the security will block Khaled from leaving the country. This is not the first time,however, that security officials are accused of plotting against Khaled. A few years ago, when the preacher suddenly left the country for London "to undertake further Islamic studies, as he had said; strong rumors circulated that Khaled was deported by the Egyptian government in order to limit his influence on youth. Khaled, in many statements, denied the rumors. This year, he has visited Egypt several times,but refrained from talking widely to the press. Although this mail message sounds more like an unfounded exaggeration, some recent events shed more light on the allegations voiced in the email. As the message surfaced, prominent presenter Amr Adib accompanied by Islamic scholar Khaled El-Guindy have discussed on Monday an Al-Azhar cleric's fuming attacks against Amr Khaled in the daily Al Qahira Al Youm cable-TV show. Many leftist columnists in mainstream media outlets, including Rose El Youssef, have voicied their hardlined views against the preacher, albeit his leave from Egypt. There is no foundation,however, that these incidents are part of a formal campaign against Khaled, or instigated by official policy. Nonetheless, for Khaled's zealous supporters, such incidents could support that their claims are genuine. Mona, who refused to disclose her surname, was one of those who forwarded the email to her friends and acquaintances." Although there have always been attacks on Amr Khaled, I haven't felt the effect of this email yet in media outlets or among Al-Azhar scholars. According to Mona, "There is a possibility that the message content is not true, although I do not doubt that those in control of the country's politics do not want him to preach. Al- Azhar,on the other hand, refused any allegations that there is (or will be) a systematic attack on Khaled. "We did not attack Amr Khaled and we have no reason whatsoever to do so, said Omar Bastawi, director of Al-Azhar clergy Cairo office."We were only asked [by the media] if Amr was an Al- Azhar scholar or not.We said he is not . Amr personally announced this fact in several [media outlets], said Bastawi. The aforementioned case of an Al-Azhar cleric discrediting Khaled seems to be an individual act of an "angry sheikh as opposed to being part of "a government scheme against Khaled. The cleric is attacking the young preacher "because Amr Khaled did what [the cleric] could not do, concluded El-Guindy on Monday's show,complimenting Khaled's perceived far-reaching influence and winding up what he believed to be the reason behind the attacks.
