Al-Azhar Scholar punished for visiting an Iranian seminary

Rasa - Azhar scholar Ahmed Karima, who is still in Iran, was suspended from the council – led by Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb.

News ID: 1166

Date: 17 September 2014 - 23:41

RNA (Cairo) - According to a statement issued by Al-Azhar's Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, the council has suspended a member of its Supreme Council after he visited a Shiite seminary in Iran.

According to a statement issued by council Secretary-General Ahmed Agiba, al-Azhar scholar Ahmed Karima, who is still in Iran, was suspended from the council – led by Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb – for giving lectures at a Shiite seminary in Iran without the council's permission.

Agiba said the Al-Azhar had since launched an investigation into the incident, the findings of which – along with al-Tayeb's recommendation – will determine whether Karima's membership status will be reinstated.

Karima, who has yet to respond to the move, could not be reached for comment.

Earlier this week, Al -Azhar denied Iranian media reports that it had sent any of its scholars to Iran, after a photo was circulated on social media purporting to show Karima in a Shiite Hawza.

In a strongly-worded statement, Al-Azhar voiced its "deep dissatisfaction" with the reports, vowing to take legal action against Karima if it was proven that he said that he had been officially dispatched to Iran by Al-Azhar.

"Such a claim would be a stark infringement on Al-Azhar and a violation of its bylaws," read the Al-Azhar statement.

Al -Azhar accuses Iran of "spreadingShiite ideology in the Sunni-Muslim world."

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