Tariq Mohammad Al-Suwaidan (born November 23, 1953 in Kuwait) is a Kuwaiti entrepreneur, and Islamic author and speaker. He is the CEO and owner of Gulf Innovation Group in Kuwait and the general manager of Al-Resalah Satellite TV channel owned by Saudi billionaire prince HRH Alwaleed bin Talal. He is also the chairman of the AWARE (Advocates for Western-Arab Relations & Exchange) center in Kuwait. Al-Suwaidan was trained in the classical Islamic sciences in his youth and spent many years living and studying in the United States, having received a B.S. in petroleum and natural gas engineering from Penn State University and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa. He is well-known in the Middle East and in Muslim communities throughout the world for his management/strategic planning training, motivational speaking and television shows and appearances.

Contents 1 Biographical Details 2 Media & Management 3 Views and Ideology 4 Educational Initiatives 5 Books and Audio Productions 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Biographical Details

Al-Suwaidan lived and studied in the United States, having received a B.S. in petroleum and natural gas engineering from Penn State University and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa.^[1] He currently resides in Kuwait with his wife and six children.

[edit] Media & Management

Al-Suwaidan is a TV personality, with TV shows ranking among the highest in ratings on Middle East satellite TV channels such as MBC, Abu Dhabi TV, Orbit, Dream, Iqra and Al-Resalah TV.^{[2] [3] [4]} An estimated 10 million viewers tune in daily to his show on MBC annually in Ramadan^[5] He has also been interviewed on major networks CNN, BBC, and CBS.^[6]

Al-Suwaidan is the General Manager of Al-Resalah Satellite TV which an Arab newspaper has reported in 2006 was the brainchild of Saudi multi-billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal and that the Supreme Advisory Committee of the new channel included important Saudi Islamist leaders such as Abdullah ibn Sulaiman Al-Manai, Abdullah Omar Naseef, and Hamed Al-Refaie.^[7] Al-Suwaidan defined the goals of the new, Islamic channel as being "in clash with terrorist ideas and said that "Islamic media is any clean media."^[8] However, MEMRI, an organization often critical of Islamic media, has accused al-Reslah of airing anti-Western, anti-Semitic, and pro- Al Qaida content.^[9]

Al-Suwaidan is a management, leadership and strategic planning consultant in the Middle East and is CEO of the Gulf Innovation Groups.^[10] He is frequently consulted by prominent regional governmental and private sector organizations.^[11]. He is also the chairman of the AWARE (Advocates for Western-Arab Relations & Exchange) center in Kuwait.^[12]

[edit] Views and Ideology

Al-Suwaidan is a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood known in Kuwait as the Social Reform Society.^[13][14] Al-Suwaidan holds pro-democratic, pro-free speech and pro-freedom of religion viewpoints that he asserts were an influence of his many years living in the United States.^[15] He has supported the rights of women, within Islamic sharia law, to vote and to hold the highest of political positions.^[16] .^[17]. He has also voiced a need to break with a traditional and historical understanding of Islam in favor of reform.

In November 2000, Al-Suwaidan was a featured speaker at a convention held by the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), described by a former FBI analyst and Treasury Department intelligence official as "intimately tied to the most senior Hamas leadership.^[18][19] Al-Suwaidan told the convention that the the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is a religious battle and that "Muslims would sacrifice their sons for the holy mosque of Al Aqsa." He also said that "You are the spear that would liberate the Holy Land. Every Muslim in the world is behind you."

In a 2006 interview, Al-Suwaidan condemned the 9/11 terrorists saying "these people are very dangerous to themselves, to the Arab world, to the Islamic world itself, and to Islam itself.^[20]

In May 2007, Al-Suwaidan was listed by federal prosecutors, along with a group of U.S Muslim Brotherhood members, as an unindicted co-conspirator in the terrorism financing case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, convicted along with its leaders of financing Hamas.^{[21][22] [23]} Al-Suwaidan has not been charged in any associated prosecutions.

In January 2009, Al-Suwaidan attended a rally for Gaza organized by the National Union of Kuwaiti Students and also attended by other prominent political and religious figures. Two thousand protestors at the rally chanted 'Death to America,' 'Death to Israel,' and 'Prophet Mohammed's army will return' and burned the Israeli flag five times.^[24] Speaking about the rally, Al-Suwaidan said ""This is a message to those who thought we hated the Palestinians. Never."^[25]

[edit] Educational Initiatives

Al-Suwaidan founded the American Creativity Academy in Kuwait, a private institution whose website states that it offers an American college-preparatory education within the context of Islamic values.^{[26] [27]}

[edit] Books and Audio Productions

Dr. Al-Suwaidan is the author of thirty best-selling books and spoken word audio tape albums. His album, ‘Qasas al Anbiyaa’ (Lives of the Prophets) is the highest selling Islamic album in the world with well over 2 million copies sold. Additionally, over 1.2 million listeners have downloaded his lectures on the popular Islamic broadcast website "Islamway".^[28]

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.suwaidan.com/cv.jsp
2. ^ http://www.suwaidan.com/cv.jsp
3. ^ http://www.tbsjournal.com/SuwaidanInterview.html
4. ^ http://www.thedohadebates.com/output/Page29.asp
5. ^ http://www.thedohadebates.com/output/Page29.asp
6. ^ reference needed
7. ^ [http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=78825
8. ^ The Christian Science Monitor, May 2, 2006: The new Muslim TV: media-savvy, modern, and moderate: Ursula Lindsey http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0502/p01s04-wome.html
9. ^ Saudi Billionaire Prince's Hate TV By Steven Stalinsky, The New York Sun, June 21, 2006
10. ^ http://www.gulfinnovation.com/index.jsp?inc=2&cid=1&lang=en
11. ^ http://www.gulfinnovation.com/index.jsp?inc=2&cid=5&lang=en
12. ^ http://www.tbsjournal.com/SuwaidanInterview.html
13. ^ http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/cp79_brown_kuwait_final.pdf
14. ^ http://www.unc.edu/~kurzman/cv/Kurzman_Browers_Comparing_Reformations.pdf
15. ^ http://www.tbsjournal.com/SuwaidanInterview.html
16. ^ Al-Suwaidan on Tim Sebastian's the Doha Debates arguing pro the motion 'This House believes that Arab women should have full equality with men'* http://www.thedohadebates.com/output/page30.asp
17. ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4679252
18. ^ "Muslims urged to `liberate the Holy Land' Chicago Sun-Times Article date: November 25, 2000 Author: Cathleen Falsani
19. ^ “Levitt, Mathew, Hamas : Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad, Yale University Press : May 1, 2006. p. 149 ISBN 0300110537
20. ^ http://www.tbsjournal.com/SuwaidanInterview.html
21. ^ http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/112508dnmetholylandverdicts.1e5022504.html
22. ^ http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/HLF/US_v_HLF_Unindicted_Coconspirators.pdf
23. ^ http://www.nysun.com/national/islamic-groups-named-in-hamas-funding-case/55778/
24. ^ http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NDM4Njg1MTE5
25. ^ "Kuwaitis show strongest support of Palestinians in a decade" Agence France Presse -- English October 6, 2000, Friday SECTION: International news
26. ^ http://www.tbsjournal.com/SuwaidanInterview.html
27. ^ http://www.thedohadebates.com/output/Page29.asp
28. ^ http://www.islamway.com/?iw_s=Scholar&iw_a=lessons&scholar_id=69

[edit] External links

Dr. Tareq Al-Suwaidan's Official Website (Arabic only) [1]

Al-Resalah Satellite TV channel (Arabic only) [2]