Dubbed the "chic sheikh" for his dapper dress, lay Muslim preacher Amr Khaled has taken Egypt's youth by storm with satellite broadcasts and mosque appearances that have given a new face to the ancient message of Islam.
His popularity has soared so fast that Egypt's authorities, ever wary of any fresh stirring of Islamic fervor that could breed a political challenge, have sought to curb his activities, banning new broadcasts and his preaching at mosques.
But his cassettes, videos, CD-ROMs and DVDs are still selling like hot cakes and at least two separate satellite channels aired regular repeats of old broadcasts during the holy month of Ramadan.
Until the ban, his public appearances attracted large crowds of mostly young people, and women in particular, who flocked to hear the 34-year-old clad in his suit and tie preach at mosques in Cairo.
His modern dress and trim mustache, which contrasts with the more typical bearded and robed sheikhs, has earned him the nickname "the chic sheikh," but his message can be just as traditional as other Muslim preachers.
"Women, why are you shy of wearing your veils? Men, why are you embarrassed to offer your prayers at the mosque," Khaled asked his studio audience during one of the daily broadcasts screened by an Islamic satellite channel and carrying English subtitles.
Khaled's influence has been credited with motivating many of the young women in his audience to take up the veil, or hijab, a headscarf that covers the hair but leaves the face visible.
"When I hear him talk about Islam, I just want to hear more and more. I have bought several of his cassettes," said Mona, a 47-year-old civil engineer who wears the veil.
"He is very convincing and he analyzes all aspects of our religion -- prayer, fasting, 'zakat' (charity), pilgrimage and the 'shehada' (declaration of faith). He also talks about manners Muslims should have, such as honesty, kindness and patience."
21ST CENTURY MESSAGE
Khaled preaches conservative Islamic values in terms that relate to life in the 21st century, including practicalities such as advice on how to behave on beaches during the summer's middle-class migration to the north coast.
"I like the way he talks. It reaches everyone, especially young people, and he gives information about the friends of the Prophet Mohammed, which is not known to most people," said Amal, a translator, aged 40.
Khaled's presentation is lively, informal and peppered with Egyptian slang. It is punctuated with drama, and even humor, that brings the scriptures to life and captivates his audience.
From an upper-middle class family, the son of a doctor and grandson of a prime minister, Khaled has endeared himself to the younger generation and the middle and upper classes, who do not respond so well to traditional preachers or fire-and-brimstone sermons.
"Amr Khaled ... is a casual preacher ... with a casual discourse also. That means he presents the argument in a very simple way," said Nabil Abdel-Fattah, editor of Al Ahram newspaper's annual report on the state of religion in Egypt.
Khaled, who does not have the formal qualifications of a sheikh despite his knowledge of Islam, has proved himself a master of modern media. Alongside his broadcasts, he has launched a Web site, www.forislam.com.
Abdel-Wahab, a 23-year-old shopkeeper who sells cassettes and videos in central Cairo, said Khaled's tapes were the best-selling religious cassettes.
He displayed four boxed packs each containing up to 12 cassettes on topics like "The Path to God" or "The Gift," costing $5 to $9 each. The shopkeeper said he thought the secret of Khaled's success was "his ability to simplify matters."
But analyst Abdel-Fattah said that by simplifying matters, Khaled could be pandering to the desires of the middle and upper classes to skirt sensitive political and economic issues, such as the huge disparities of wealth in Egypt and how Muslims should act to solve such problems.
"The new generation needs a discourse without any serious questions about, for example, power, political issues and serious questions about wealth in Egypt and the social and political status," he said.
Some of his sterner critics say he has failed to address himself to the poorer sectors of society, and see his success in making the wealthy feel less guilty about their consumption.
RIVALING POP STARS
Abdel-Fattah described Khaled's appeal as "Islam without questions, Islam without obligations" and as "fast religious discourse, like fast food."
Khaled's cassette sales rival those of the biggest pop stars, but the authorities, keen to prevent any Islamist revival in Egypt, a former hotbed of Islamic militancy, have curtailed his preaching and banned him from the airwaves.
When his activities were further restricted just before the Nov. 6 start of this year's Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, newspapers reported that Khaled had suddenly traveled to Britain to study for a PhD and continue preaching there.
The exact circumstances of his departure remain unclear. Local newspapers reported he was asked to give up all preaching activities because he had "tackled issues that had recently caused problems." But they did not give details.
He was banned from preaching at a mosque in central Cairo in July 2001 -- officially because of the traffic jams caused by convoys of youths driving to the area to hear him speak.
He then moved to preach at a mosque just outside Cairo where he was banned several times, most recently in June.
Egypt has attempted to keep a tight lid on Islamic activities since an armed insurgency in the mid-1990s cost more than 1,000 lives and landed tens of thousands of suspected Islamic militants in jail.
But Khaled recently told the English-language Al Ahram Weekly: "I don't know why I was banned ... All I can say is that my country has been very respectful to me and that the lessons will be resumed very soon, God willing."