Al-Azhar Grand Imam, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, received Sheikh Jamal Fouda, the Imam of Al-Noor Mosque, whose worshipers were massacred in the city of Christchurch in New Zealand (NZ).

His Eminence the Grand Imam said that Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif strongly condemns any terrorist attack on any house of worship regardless of the religion it belongs to. He pointed out that people with deviant thought who belong to different religions sometimes commit terrorism. Some people seek to attribute terrorism to Islam and propagate Islamophobia; however, they do not link the terrorist practices of followers of other religions to those religions which we also see as innocent of this violence.

His Eminence stressed that the imams of mosques, especially in the West, have a responsibility to clarify true Islam, and reject attempts to link it to terrorism, expressing his sincere greetings to and appreciation for the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Mrs. Jacinda Ardern, for her supportive and sympathetic stances with the Muslims in her country.

His Eminence also sent a message to the Muslims in New Zealand, urging them to be a constructive and stabilizing factor in their own country, and to represent Islam in an honorable manner that exalts the values of the homeland and citizenship.

The Imam of Al-Noor Mosque in New Zealand conveyed the gratitude and appreciation of the NZ Muslims to Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif and His Eminence for supporting them. He thanked the Grand Imam for swiftly condemning and rejecting the terrorist incident which afflicted them, classifying it as a terrorist act, the case which has had a significant impact on the international community’s dealing with it as such.