Full text of Al-Azhar Counter-Violence Document (January 31, 2013):

(This document is announced) at the Headquarters of Al-Azhar and with the participation of a group of senior scholars and representatives of Egyptian churches. On behalf of a crowd of revolutionary youth and of Al-Azhar, the prestigious national academic institution, we declare our commitment to the national principles and higher values of the January 25 Revolution, which are keenly adhered to by all those involved in politics and national affairs, politicians, thought leaders and heads of parties and coalitions, and all parties on across the national spectrum, without discrimination, we, signatories to this document, commit to the following:

1) The human right to life is one of the highest objectives in all religious and secular laws, and there is no good in a nation or society where the citizens’ blood is shed, the dignity of the human being is violated, or just retribution according to the law is lost.

2) Underscoring the inviolability of life and national public and private property, and the crucial distinction between political action and subversive action.

3) Emphasizing the duty of the state and its security institutions to protect the security and safety of citizens, to safeguard their constitutional rights and freedoms, and to preserve public and private property, and to do so in the context of respect for the law and human rights without excess.

4) Renouncing violence in all its types and forms, openly and categorically condemning it, criminalizing it nationally, and religiously forbidding it.

5) Condemning incitement, justification, promotion, defense, or exploitation of violence in any way.

6) Resorting to violence, inciting it, keeping silent about it, maligning each other, spreading rumours, and all forms of moral assassination of individuals and entities involved in public action are moral crimes that everyone must disown.

7) Commitment to peaceful political means in general national action, inculcating these principles in active cadres, and consolidating and disseminating this culture.

8) Commitment to serious dialogue among the parties to the national community, especially in times of crisis and disagreement, working to establish a culture and proprieties of difference, respecting pluralism, and searching for consensus for the benefit of the nation, given that the nation encompasses all through tolerance and turns parochial through fanaticism and division.

9) Protecting the national fabric from manufactured and real sectarian strife, racist calls, outlaw armed groups, illegal foreign penetration, and whatever threatens the safety of the nation, the solidarity of the citizens or the undividedness of national territory.

10) Protecting the Egyptian State is the responsibility of all parties, including the government, the public and the opposition, the youth and the elderly, the parties, the groups, the movements, and the institutions. There is no excuse for anyone if disagreement and political discord causes the dismantling or weakening of state institutions.

 

As we declare our belief in these principles and their corollary sub-principles, democratic culture, national unity, and revolutionary experience, we also call on all politicians, leaders, and activists to abide by them, to cleanse our political life of the dangers and forms of violence, whatever their justifications or slogans. We also call on all citizens of the country; rulers and citizens, whether down in Upper Egypt, in the oases, in the Delta, or in the Canal towns and in Sinai, to reconcile, renounce violence, and promote serious dialogue alone in controversial matters. We call on them to let the judiciary decide on rights cases, respect the will of the people, and uphold the rule of law, towards fully achieving the goals of the 25th Revolution – Allah willing.

Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb,

Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif,

Headquarters of Al-Azhar

January 31, 2013