Amr Khaled: Heralding Sisi's newest messenger

- "Sir, it's late right now. Can we postpone it until the morning so I can write something good and film it nicely?"

- "Why are you arguing, Sheikh Amr? The country is on a knife's edge and the youth need someone to calm them down. Record one of your talks and upload it online immediately."

Did a conversation such as this take place between the televangelist preacher Amr Khaled and an Egyptian general before Khaled recorded a message to the Egyptian youth and published it without the usual effects he uses on his shows?

Or did Khaled decide to make a spontaneous recording so it would be more persuasive to the "target audience"?

Egyptians realised that they had been duped by a weak and timid president whose regime was only able to crack down on peaceful civilians

Did the regime of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi want to use Khaled's power of persuasion again like it did ahead of the August 2013 Rabaa massacre - when authorities summoned Khaled along with Sheikh Ali Gomaa, the former Grand Mufti, to give officers a pep talk before they went to commit the massacre?

Whether Khaled's message was based on an official request or a voluntary act, it reflects the state of the Sisi regime, which has nothing better to offer than Khaled's self-help inspirational quotes.

The take-home message from these videos is that the Egyptian people are lazy and do not put in the effort, which is the reason for their wretched situation and the failure of their national saviour, Sisi, who does not help those who do not help themselves.

Two years ago, Egyptian regime officials used to shower the Egyptian people with praise because there was a majority at the time that approved of Sisi's crimes and massacres. The authorities celebrated the "manly" leader who killed anyone who destabilised the country.

However, as the days went by and the regime's scandals and failures began to be revealed, more and more Egyptians realised that they had been duped by a weak and timid president whose regime was only able to crack down on peaceful civilians, while militants and terrorists ran amuck.

Therefore, the regime had to change its messaging, and as if on cue, Amr Khaled enters. He has been silent through all the past crises, but now promotes a "fix yourself first" message intended to sedate the people.

Before I am accused of making assumptions about people's intentions and criticising those who want to reform society, let me remind readers that if such people really wanted reform they could very politely ask army leaders to initiate societal reforms by reforming their institutions.

These preachers could also politely ask police chiefs to do something about those mentally instable officers who do not cease torturing prisoners and terrorising innocent citizens, or send a kind message to judges explaining the detrimental effects of their unjust rulings.

These preachers could also politely ask police chiefs to do something about those mentally instable officers who do not cease torturing prisoners

Naturally, these "great reformers" would not dare send such messages because they know the dangers involved with such demands, and because they in reality benefit from the existence of a military regime that values loyalty more than competence.

They would not risk their current interests for the sake of a civil democratic state - in which people could question the qualifications that have allowed these celebrities to hold cultural, religious and media positions, through which they rake in millions.

That is why they will invest all their energies and recourses to serve the military regime, either voluntarily or when ordered, by channeling the regime's messages to people - even if those messages were contradictory.

This seems to be the case with Amr Khaled, the Sisi regime's latest messenger.

Belal Fadl is an Egyptian writer and analyst. Follow Belal on Twitter: @belalfadl

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of al-Araby al-Jadeed, its editorial board or staff.