As Al-Azhar peace conference is held in Cairo this week, several times did the Islamic scholar Islam Buheiry appear in Egyptian media explaining how does Al-Azhar, the great Islamic institution that was founded more than 1000 years ago, supports the Islamic State terrorist organization and its activities instead of facing it by refusing to call it infidel and teach its ideology in its universities.
This comes months after Egypt’s president Abdul Fattah al-Sisi called for “revamping religious speech in accordance with the tolerant Islamic religion. The Egyptian president called on the Awqaf Ministry and Al-Azhar, the highest Sunni authority in the country, to do more to combat extremist ideology and promote a moderate understanding of Islam.
Buheiry added that former Sheikh of Al-Azhar has removed extremist curricula that incite hatred of non-Muslims and exaggerate the superiority of Muslims that they can’t be punished if they kill non-Muslims. However, the current Sheikh of Al-Azhar has restored such fanatic curricula.
We do have so many problems in Egypt, but when it comes to killing of innocent people in the name of religion supported by the highest Sunni authority in the country, there is nothing more important to think about. I wonder: why did the great Islamic institution decide to add fuel to the fire? Egypt really needs healing rather than destruction.
