al-Azhar calls for interfaith dialogue

Rasa – The Grand Imam of al-Azhar called for a dialogue between divine religions in an attempt to fight against religious extremism and added that the behaviour of a minor extremist group should not be generalized for all of Islam.

News ID: 4156

Date: 12 April 2016 - 15:23

RNA – In a meeting with Volker Kauder, a German politician and the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Shaykh Ahmad al-Tayyib, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar University, stressed upon the necessity of interfaith dialogue and noted, “Divine religions have not been revealed for mercilessness; therefore, the behaviour of a minor extremist group should not be introduced as Islamic.”

He rejected any form of extremism and said these groups which are active under the name of Islam follow a particular approach which does not have any relation with Islam.

al-Tayyib referred to efforts of al-Azhar to confront deviate ideologies and noted: “al-Azhar, in a bid to safeguard the youths against extremist thoughts, has prioritized the plan for deploying religious propagandists across the country and launched the convoy of peace and friendship to expand Islamic culture among all nations.”

In another part of his remarks, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar University stressed, “al-Azhar is a watchdog for Takfiri fatwas and extremist ideologies and is studying terrorist movements and provides them with proper answers.”

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