"Secular youth used Facebook and Twitter two years ago to help topple President Hosni Mubarak from power..."

"... but now Salafi Islamists are gaining sway in Egypt because of TV sheiks like Khaled Abdullah."

Mr. Abdullah, a bearded 48-year-old, isn't a real sheik. But he plays one on a popular Egyptian religious satellite station, where he has blasted the secular-leaning opposition as homosexuals and atheists and decried legislation that would ban marital rape.

"Here in Egypt, anyone who has a beard can be called a sheik," said a smiling Mr. Abdullah, whose daily show on the Al Nas network is watched by millions.