CAIRO: Popular Muslim televangelist Amr Khaled said he is no longer allowed to give classes or lectures in Egypt, according to a letter published exclusively in Al-Masry Al-Youm daily as a response to a report they printed alleged that he was ordered to leave Egypt,
In the letter published Saturday, Khaled denied allegations in a June 3 article that Egyptian State Security pressured him to leave the country.
“I have the freedom to leave, enter [Egypt] and live in my home and my country; however, I’m not allowed to give any classes or lectures at mosques or any other place that offers to host me – and I was not given a reason for this [decision], Khaled wrote.
The paper reported last week that Khaled clashed with security six months ago regarding the content of an upcoming season of his show “Parables from the Quran. In the episode, Khaled tells the story of Moses and the Pharaoh of Egypt.
Khaled refuted these claims, emphasizing that they are moving forward with production, and that he is still preparing the material before recording.
The paper had also reported that State Security had banned Khaled from shooting his new show “Al-Mujaddidun (The Modernizers), and that he had sent his family to London, where he has enrolled his son in school.
“Our reality show ‘Al-Mujaddidun’ was supposed to start airing in March, however, the production company backed out in the last minute. You can ask them why they did that because I don’t know why, but I wish them the best of luck, he wrote.
Khaled first denied these allegations to the news portal Islamonline.net on June 3, saying that he had not received any orders or official requests from Egyptian security bodies to leave the country and go to London. At the time, he was in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) giving a lecture.
Known for being moderate and reaching our to Arab youth, Khaled is widely considered to have revolutionized the art of Islamic preaching.
In 2002 he was allegedly asked to leave the country because his growing influence was seen as a threat. Five years later Khaled, who presents several television programs, ranked number 13 on Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
