Younger Muslims Tune In to Upbeat Religious Message
By Kevin Sullivan Washington Post, December 2, 2007
Edited by Andy Ross
Moez Masoud is a Muslim televangelist, 29, who preaches about Islam in
youthful Arabic slang. He says imams who outlawed art and music are
misinterpreting their faith. He talks about love and relationships, the need
to be compassionate toward homosexuals and tolerant of non-Muslims.
Television preaching in the Middle East was once largely limited to elderly
scholars in white robes reading holy texts from behind a desk and sometimes
inciting violence against nonbelievers. But as TV has evolved from one or
two heavily controlled state channels to hundreds of diverse, private
satellite offerings, Masoud and perhaps a dozen others have emerged as
increasingly popular alternatives.
Masoud is fast becoming an
influential star among youth. And as a product of American-founded schools
in the region, Masoud is able to speak with authority about Western values
in a way many others can't. His most recent show, a 20-part series that
aired this fall on Iqra, one of the region's leading religious channels,
attracted millions of viewers from Syria to Morocco.
The new Muslim
televangelists are riding a satellite TV boom that began after the Persian
Gulf War in 1991, when the region's elites were shocked by the power of CNN.
The Middle East now has at least 370 satellite channels, nearly triple the
number three years ago. Among them are 27 dedicated to Islamic religious
programming, up from five two years ago.
On a recent Monday night in
Alexandria, the ancient Mediterranean city on Egypt's north coast, more than
1,500 people poured into a huge hall to hear Masoud speak. The crowd divided
by sex, as is customary in much of the Muslim world. They were mostly in
their late teens or 20s, university students or young professionals.
Masoud, tall and trim, wearing corduroy pants and a maroon, open-necked
shirt, descended stairs at the back of the stage to loud applause. "Salaam
aleikum," he said, urging his audience to bow their heads for an opening
prayer. For the next 90 minutes, Masoud worked the stage like a seasoned
performer, his voice rising and then falling to a whisper, mixing Koranic
verses with jokes and parables.
"We will be responsible to God on
Judgment Day," he said, arguing that violence against non-Muslims violates
God's will. "He will ask: Did you represent our religion correctly? If you
feel happy that non-Muslims are being killed, this is wrong. They are our
brothers."
Many Muslim preachers say it is sinful for unmarried women
and men to mingle without supervision. But Masoud told his young crowd that
while sex before marriage was wrong, it was important for men and women to
get to know one another.
As soon as Masoud finished, dozens of young
people pushed toward the stage to talk to him. "He's better than Brad Pitt,"
one woman said. For nearly two hours after the end of the lecture, Masoud
took people aside and listened to their problems, some told through tears.
Masoud speaks like an advertising executive because he is one. His day
job is producing and directing commercials. He grew up in Kuwait and
attended American high school there, later graduating from the elite
American University in Cairo. His easy fluency with English and American
culture adds to criticism that Masoud and others are pushing a sort of
Westernized "Islam lite."
In an interview in his Cairo apartment,
where he lives with his wife and young son, Masoud said he has memorized the
entire Koran -- he recites long passages with ease. He said he has spent the
past six years in intensive study of Islam with renowned scholars, including
Ali Gomaa, the grand mufti of Egypt.
As fundamental teachings, Masoud
advocates adherence to prayer five times a day, peace toward all and
abstinence from alcohol, sex outside of marriage and violence. Beyond those
principles, he said, Islam is suffering from a "crisis of interpretation."
In recent years, the Arab world has been increasingly "Westernized" by
Hollywood movies and sexually charged music videos. Some Muslims have
reacted with extreme, fundamentalist interpretations of Islam, while others
have turned secular. Masoud offers a middle-ground solution, balancing
religious devotion with an acceptance of modern life.
Relaxing with a
cup of Nescafe, Masoud picked up his acoustic guitar and strummed a catchy
tune: "There is no contradiction between real Islam and the modern world."
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