Muslim Preacher with An Upbeat Message
December 4th, 2007My good Friend Emma sent me this link to an interesting article from the Washington Post about a young Muslim preacher from Egypt named Moez Masoud, who is adopting rather a modern approach of preaching Islamic values. He has his own TV show on Iqra’a , the religious channel part of the Arab Radio & Television Network (ART), where he preaches tolerance towards non-Muslims and encourages understanding and compassion towards homosexuals!
Masoud was born and raised in Kuwait where he received his primary education at an American school, he later graduated from the American University in Cairo.
According to the article,his popularity is rising exponentially and has reached enourmous levels amongst youth in Egypt, he composes songs that they download on their mobiles, they also download vidoes of him from You Tube.He loves playing music, watching films, and enjoying life, he even qouted Bob Dylan, Metallica, and Pearl Jam in an interview the newspaper had with him!
I’ve never been a fan of religious television,and to be honest I don’t think I’ll ever be!, though reading the article made me really want to look him up on you tube to see who he really is as I had not heard of him!.Here is a video I found of him lecturing a mix of Arab and western audiences in English.
I think I can relate to him sort of, as both of us were born and raised in Kuwait and we both received our primary education at western schools there, where one would grow up in a completely different environment than children educated at public schools, would listen to the type of music , normally Arab kids wouldn’t know of, I remember when my cousins here in Jordan would be listening to popular Arab singers , me and my siblings were loving the hard rock bands of the eighties like Metallica, Guns’N’ Roses, Def Leppard, and many many others!
That given, I can understand to a great extent why he’s being influenced by western figures even in his religious preachings, though I still found it a bit surprising!
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[...] Muslim clergyman from Egypt is preaching tolerance towards homosexuals, reports Jordanian Mohammed Al Azraq. Share [...]
Muslim Preacher Preaching ? Please.
Go read Qawm Loot’s story. That’s what the Quran says about Homosexuality, and I’d rather take the Quran’s take on it rather than some methodologist whose cosmogeographical vastness is enough to fuck an average human being.
Well TI3GIB,
I didn’t reflect my own opinion about it, I merely reported it and linked to the original article!
TI3GIB
there is a misunderstanding here. Moez Masoud draws a line between homosexuality (the urge) and sodomy (the act)..
read more about it here
i am not defending him because i am a big fan…seriously i dislike his kind of “preachers” who got their agendas determined by the western demands….doh…the guy wasted a whole episode on homosexuality and in 30 episode he said not a single world about opposing tyranny for example…..probably because our tyrants are the west best friends and defending homosexuality is a western trend
No I don’t see how this is related.
Homosexuals are heavily discriminated against and oppressed in our countries, both socially and legally. Our so-called “tyrants” make no effort opposing their mistreatment, and to be honest, Western governments could care less. The relationship between Western govts and Arab ones are strictly economic/political, it’s not their job or their interest to preach those things to us.
though musics or things of that kind are not necessarily in conflict with religion and one might use them to attract more people, we should be careful not to deface the religion and then saying: “gush… this is now a more attractive one!”
adding some things to a religion or deleting some of its priniciples may lead to making something out of original one which is nomore a religion but a hotchpotch. i.e. every Religion (for example: Islam) has its own definition and is conceptualized within its own solid framework; changing the very essence of it makes something which is not the Islam at all.
needless to say that I dont mean exactly this man. few months ago, a nun was reported hre who tries Islam in the morning and Christianity in the evening; what she was doing is neither Islam, nor Christianity. I’m afraid if going with this flow lead us to a situation in which we see developments of this kind in the reports:
the exact opposite is true
i am sure you know what is Rand corporation and what is its rule in forming the US foreign policy since the cold war
here is there report on “moderate Muslims” summarized (in arabic)
No it’s not.
The example you provided is of an American organization that is seemingly independent from the government. I am referring directly to Western governments and their role and influence in our countries, not people or organizations in Western societies.
And either way, U.S foreign policy has what to do with defending homosexuality? I still see no relevance of your argument.
Also, being homosexual and defending homosexuality is not a “Western” trend. It’s just frowned upon in certain societies more so than others. It’s not something people acquire from the West.
Kind of like how a human having 2 eyes, 2 ears, a mouth… 2 legs… is a Western trend…
Ignoramus go educate yourself…
apparently you don’t know who set up RAND in the first place
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAND
http://www.hereinreality.com/news/rand.html
and apparently again you didn’t have a good look at the Rand report; in it there is the answer why defending homosexuality (and promoting the western values which is in conflict with Islamic values) is important in the US war on the “islamists”
i meant accepting homosexuality (sodomy) as a normal practice in the society…..this is what the west is trying to push down our throats
Seems as though you don’t understand how to refute an argument.
I said this:
Where this:
Is not a refutation of. In fact, it reinforces my argument.
This practically has nothing to do with my opinion. Homosexuality is not and will never be a “Western” trend. Just because RAND implied so doesn’t actually make it so. Homosexuality is a universal practice. There are homosexuals and gay rights activists everywhere including in the Arab world and they are not at all associated with “Westernism.”
How is it being shoved down our throats? Because one report defended and promoted homosexual rights?
It seems as though you are trying to dismiss homosexuality as “Western corruption,” if this is indeed the case, then you practically know nothing about homosexuality and the fight for gay rights in Arab-Muslim countries.
There is no link between homosexuality and Westernism or U.S foreign policy. Please make an effort to make some sense.
Saying homosexuality is a Western concept is as nonsensical as saying brushing your teeth is a Western thing.
[...] Masoud, a famous young Egyptian preaching a brand of “feel good Islam”. Here’s a video of him preaching in English to a mixed crowd of Muslims and [...]
Waleed,
I got that message clearly, but I see it as completely irrational and pointless. Facilitate the idea, but be counter to the inevitable action ? Why dance around the thought, and not go straight at it.
Very western inclined.
Esra,
I believe the point you failed to read from Waleed is the that not homosexuality itself, but rather homosexual rights activism was first practiced and derived from Western methodology. The notion that this activism suggests is poorly drafted and unconvincing in refuting how homosexuality is an abnormality against nature.
It suggest that gay people deserve gay rights because they’re gay, from that same concept what rights do I deserve as a straight male for being a straight male. It doesn’t make any sense and it feeds to it’s immorality and abnormality.
Cheers
Well, just because it’s more visible in the West, does not at all make it something derived from the West. Since homosexuality has existed way, way before the whole “West vs. Islam” conspiracy came along, then so has gay rights activism. It has always existed, the difference is how much attention the media gives to it now as opposed to before when it was regarded as an even bigger taboo. Gay rights activism is not essentially Western. It’s just more extensively covered and visible in Western media outlets.
But do you think that justifies abuse against homosexuals?
I disagree with a homosexual’s lifestyle. That is my personal opinion. But I won’t impose this opinion on others and I will never claim the arrogance to tell them how they should live their lives.
They should be free to do what they want, no one has the right to impose their own opinions and beliefs on others regardless of how much we disagree. If they’re not bothering us, why do we bother and oppress them? Let them live their life. Tolerating homosexuals doesn’t mean you preach homosexuality, so what exactly do we lose if we tolerate their basic rights? It’s not like our societies are going to be overridden with homosexuals, they are and will always be just a minority. I don’t understand why people feel so threatened by it.
Rampant homosexuality was responsible for the decline of the Greek and Roman empires.
It had nothing to do with political and territorial disputes, I’m sure. Damn those homosexuals.
I almost laughed myself to death…
Let me quote Einstein….
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.
I suppose rampant homosexuality in Saudi Arabia and the Pashtun penchant for raping little boys in their madrassas will further spur the downward spiral of Islamic societies, by that logic.
Thanks for clearing that up for me.
Says who?
PeacefulVanguard,
Says nature. Duality is nature’s (notice I didn’t say god’s) bred solution to the continuation of life. Homosexuality in that sense is a pursuit towards a dysfunction of that order. Not to mention that spiritually (notice i didn’t say god here either) it’s a portrayal of strict self-accomplishment and show poor moral towards integration and belonging.
Jina,
If all you’re going to offer is laughing and quoting of context, then I feel obligated to tell you. No one gives a shit what you have to say.
Esra,
You’ve completely dodged the point.
Thanks,
Actually, I give a shit to what he has to say.
How so? You implied that homosexual activism is a Western concept, with absolutely nothing to back it up. If homosexuality has existed way before (it is obviously pre-Islamic) then so has the fight for their rights. I can’t bare witnessing people sitting around and dismissing anything they dislike as a corrupt form of “Westernization.”
Everyone except you… don’t categorize everyone else with you. And when an idiot makes an idiotic comment, there is no point in debating any point… I am not going to debate you when you argue that 1+1 is 3…
You are an ignoramus and stay like that… you are doing your kind a favour so we can all laugh at you…