Muslim televangelist calls for interfaith dialogue at Baker Institute lecture

Muslim televangelist calls for interfaith dialogue at Baker Institute lecture

BY FRANZ BROTZEN
Rice News staff

Saying Muslim and Christian societies have many areas of common values, Muslim televangelist Amr Khaled called for a positive dialogue between the two religions at a recent lecture at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

	AMR KHALED

Khaled, a pioneer in religious and socially conscious satellite broadcasting in the Arab and Muslim world, told a packed Doré Commons that dialogue will be the solution to problems in the future.

He also described some of the debates within Islam about the role of women, and offered women encouragement. “I believe that women in the Middle East are ready to participate and to do a great job if we give them the chance,” he said.

Speaking intermittently in Arabic and English, Khaled made references to the prominent part women played in the time of the Prophet Muhammad. Today, Khaled said, women face much injustice in the Middle East, from domestic violence to so-called honor killings. Even girls experience different standards. Fathers will welcome back wayward sons, he pointed out, but will expel daughters from their homes for the same transgressions. 

Khaled sought to place the debate over women’s rights within the larger context of human rights in the Middle East. Injustice trickles down in hierarchical societies, he said, and often women suffer because of their already low social status. But, Khaled insisted, this is not in keeping with Islamic teachings.

Khaled, who began preaching in 1990 and whose broadcasts now reach tens of millions, described a youth program he founded called Life Makers. On its Web site, viewers were asked to send in their “dreams.” After a slow initial response, Khaled recounted, the “dreams” began to arrive in huge numbers: 700,000 in the first two months, 1 million in the next two. And 70 percent of the respondents were women, he said, wishing for jobs, empowerment and an end to social problems like drug addiction. “They wanted to do something,” Khaled said. “Just give them a chance!”

Khaled also led a group of youth from Life Makers to Denmark after the 2005 publication of a series of controversial cartoons in a Danish newspaper that ignited a firestorm of anger in the Muslim world. The trip resulted in a meaningful dialogue, he said.

Khaled encouraged Muslim women to get involved in society in ways that help, like volunteering for charities. Such practical steps, he said, will cause men’s attitudes to change over time.

The event was sponsored by the Kelly Day Endowment on the Status of Women and Human Rights in the Middle East. The endowment is named in honor of Kelly Day of Los Angeles and her commitment to women’s and human rights issues.