Cairo, Egypt - He talks about the glory of God and hands the microphone to a young woman in the audience, asking her to talk about her feelings. His shows are broadcast around the world on satellite channels. Millions visit his state-of-the-art Web site.
But, no, he's not preaching Christ and his name is not Billy Graham. He's preaching Allah and he's the hottest Muslim televangelist in the Arab world.
Welcome to Islam a la Amr Khaled.
Unlike graduates of Al-Azhar, one of the oldest and most prominent Muslim scholarly institutions, with their ankle-length tunics, long beards and somber faces, who speak in stern dictates, the clean-shaven, sharp-suited, smooth-talking former accountant is spreading a different message: You can be hip, modern and Muslim.
For young, educated, up-and-coming Arabs, that is an attractive package.
The American University in Cairo (AUC) is the enclave of Egypt's ruling class, which espouses secularism. Young couples walk around campus hand-in-hand and few headscarves can be seen. Its students are typical followers of Amr Khaled.
"He's very popular here because he is modern and because he is preaching in a simple way," said Engy Medhat, 19, a jeans-clad mass communications student.
Sitting in a coffee shop on campus with friends, Medhat explained Khaled's appeal among the upper-class youth. "Other sheikhs preach in a complicated way and can even make teenagers like us hate the religion."
Lindsay Wise, an "Amr Khaled expert" who wrote a master's thesis about him for Oxford University, says that what is different about Khaled is his simplicity, his inward focus and his Western methods of preaching.
"He makes Islam simple by explaining complex ideas simply to youth," Wise, managing editor of Transnational Broadcasting Studies, a journal published by the Adham Center for Television Journalism at AUC, told The Jerusalem Post. And instead of preaching politics, he "focuses on personal piety."
Instead of dictating the dos and don'ts of Islam, Khaled gives advice and talks about real-life situations.
"He doesn't say, 'God will damn you,'" Medhat said. "He even talks to us about boyfriend-girlfriend relationships without saying it's bad. But he advises us it's better to be married."
Not surprisingly, among upper-class Muslim families his is a household name. His audio cassettes rival those of Arab pop superstars, like Amr Diab, in popularity. And when he gives sermons in his native Cairo, tens of thousands attend.
"Khaled's message operates within the consumer culture of Egypt's nouveau riche, where piety and privilege are made to cohabit as enduring partners," wrote Asef Bayat, a professor of sociology and Middle East studies at AUC, in the English-language Al-Ahram Weekly in May 2003.
While Muslim televangelists are now common, none has adopted the methods of the Christian superstars as Khaled has. Like the Christian televangelists he uses satellite TV, the Internet and audio and video tapes to spread his message.
Although he graduated from Al-Azhar, he is not a sheikh and he cannot issue religious decrees. But he doesn't need to. His anti-smoking campaign had such great results, he was honored by the World Health Organization.
While he is moderate, he is no liberal. He advocates women covering their hair. Still, he supports women working outside of the home, and he berates parents who marry their young daughters to old men.
Of great import in the post-9/11 world, Khaled does not advocate violence. "He is trying now to focus young people's energy toward positive action and away from violence," Wise said.
His moderate, non-political preaching has caught the eyes and ears of Western governments.
"He tends to be a moderate and modern person," a Cairo-based British diplomat said. He said the British Foreign Office has contact with him.
"In terms of having a dialogue, he's somebody we'd want to build a dialogue with. There are not many people like him in the world – from any religion."
But until recently, his own government did not see him in the same positive light. In November 2002, Khaled left Egypt, ostensibly to do his Ph.D. in London. However, many say that the Egyptian government prohibited him from continuing to preach, some say he was "asked" to leave.
Many say his alleged exile was a direct reaction to how close he came to affecting the highest echelons of the elite. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's daughter-in-law supposedly began wearing a headscarf after listening to his tapes.
"If he's reaching sons and daughters and wives and even ministers themselves, then he has more power than some freak who is in a basement building a bomb," Wise said.
Whatever the reason, his exile did not decrease the number of his fans and followers, thanks to modern media technology. He appears regularly on Arab satellite channels.
But over the last three months, he has visited Egypt three times, signaling a change in the government's attitude toward him.
"Some believe that following the recent terror attacks in Egypt," said Wise, "the government has realized that maybe his moderate voice is just what Egyptian youth need."