From videos left behind by suicide bombers to movies like Syriana, Americans have become quite familiar with radicalized Muslim youth. But last week, a remarkable Egyptian evangelist, whose influence reaches across much of the Muslim world, offered a different vision: young Muslims driven by both hope and faith.
At the U.S.-Islamic World Forum that just wrapped up in Doha, Amr Khaled was everywhere with his message that faith is a powerful force and motivator for young people in the Middle East, but that it doesn't have to lead to jihad.
“You see the pyramids,” he said. “They were built with faith.” It would be a big mistake to ignore the role of Islam in the Middle East, he said. Instead, the goal should be focused on channeling that faith in positive directions, for good--for the person, the community, and the region.
An accountant who became a Muslim leader and television personality, Khaled has tried to get young people to focus on something beyond their own problems. So he urged on his television show that they collect clothes for poor people. In a month, he said, he had received a million bags of used clothing. He was astounded by the will and energy that went into this effort. At the Doha gathering, aimed at fostering dialogue between the U.S. and the Muslim world, he challenged others to find positive outlets for all this untapped energy.
And he also wants to see young people dream, dream of what they can be and what they can do. He asked, again on his television program, for people to send him dreams. For two weeks, he got nothing. No dreams. The young people, he said, had forgotten how to dream. No one had ever asked them what it was they aspired to. But with his encouragement, the dreams started to come. Eventually, a flood of dreams poured in: 700,000 dreams, all now up on his website. The power of hope was unleashed.
How can anyone help? Freedom and jobs, was his answer. Freedom to dream and participate, and jobs, to give young people the chance to respect themselves and earn respect from others. That’s where the energy needs to go. And the flip side? He quoted one young person who said: “Do not make me be an extremist.”
This was the fifth year of the forum, sponsored by the Brookings Institution and the Emirate of Qatar. Its purpose is to "address the critical issues dividing the United States and the Muslim world." Khaled was part of a panel that was asked: what advice would you offer to the new U.S. President next January? He focused on how important it is for the U.S. to understand the dynamic at work and to do what it can, especially with civil society, to make the dreams of young people a reality.
The problems Khaled points to are clearly largely for the countries of the Middle East to solve: jobs do not materialize with the wave of a magic wand but need sound policies and close attention to education and training. But considering the close ties the U.S. has to his native Egypt and the huge influx of aid dollars there, his implication is that the U.S. could do more to support job creation and to reach out to young people. Khaled’s enthusiasm is infectious and his message brought a welcome tone of hope into discussions that often began and ended with dangers and disappointments.
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