Iman Chairman welcomes Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar's statement that relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims must be one of mutual recognition
Jueves, 29 Septiembre 2011
The Middle East Media Research Institute has published an analysis of the latest article and views of the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar on non-Muslims.
Al-Azhar, based in Cairo, is the one of the most important centers of learning and the supreme religious authority in the Muslim world. In an article published June 23, 2011 in the Egyptian government daily Al-Ahram, its head, Al-Azhar Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Al-Tayeb, expressed remarkably tolerant views towards non-Muslims, especially Christians and Jews.
He wrote: "A Muslim cannot imagine all of mankind sharing a single creed or turning to a single religion – even if this religion is Islam. As long as this remains the case, the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims [must be] one of mutual recognition. The Islamic world has absorbed all the religions of the known world. In its western regions it encountered the Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Christianity, and in its eastern region it encountered Hinduism and Buddhism."
In the article, Al-Tayeb distinguishes between the fundamentals of the faith on the one hand and religious laws (shari'a) on the other. He states that the three Abrahamic religions – Islam, Judaism, and Christianity – share the fundamentals of faith, ritual, and morality, and differ only in their specific shari'a laws. He adds that since shari'a depends on circumstances of time and place, the existence of different shari'as is only natural.
An examination of Al-Tayeb's writing reveals that this trend of tolerance towards Christianity and Judaism goes back to his days as president of Al-Azhar University (2004-2010), though this recent article is the most far-reaching expression of this trend to date.
Commenting on article and the views of the Grand Sheikh, Ribal Al-Assad, Chairman of the Iman Foundation, said:
"I welcome the Grand Sheikh's tolerant views of non-Muslims. I absolutely agree that the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims must be one of mutual recognition. It is only through dialogue between people that we will we bring about reconciliation, mutual acceptance and peace in the world today."
