Al-Azhar Grand Imam, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, received a delegation from Sciences Po in France, which included a number of specialists in social sciences and international relations, and 27 students of different nationalities at the university.

The Grand Imam said that new conflicts have used the term “religious wars” with the aim of misleading, suggesting that religions are the cause of wars, which is not true, and they used religion for their own ends.

He added that university students have an important role to play in correcting this fallacy, and clarifying that religions had never been a cause of wars, but they rather came to make humanity happy, and to spread brotherhood and mercy among humans, regardless of their gender, race or religion.

The Grand Imam explained that religious scholars expected - through studying human history - the end of human tragedies, the cessation of wars with the progress of science, and bliss and prosperity for the entire humanity; but what happened contradicted all expectations, as both science and wars outpace and fuel each other.

His Eminence emphasized that Al-Azhar is making great efforts on both levels, locally and globally, to establish the principle of coexistence and brotherhood. These efforts include the continuous communication between the Grand Imam and Pope Francis, Pope of the Catholic Church, which culminated in the signing of the Human Fraternity Document (HFD), the most important document in the history of the relationship between Al-Azhar and the Vatican City. He referred to the spirit of friendship and brotherhood between Muslims and Christians in the Egyptian society, as a result of founding the Egyptian Family House (EFH), and as one of the living examples of the role of religions.

Lamis Azab, academic advisor and university teacher specializing in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean affairs, expressed her pleasure to meet the Grand Imam, and her appreciation of his great role in promoting the values of citizenship, coexistence and peace, and in rejecting violence and extremism. She added that the Grand Imam provided an opportunity to learn about the characteristics of Islamic countries and the components of the Egyptian identity and their relationship to each other.

At the end of the meeting, the Grand Imam urged his young guests to research the history of religions, which came to make humanity happy. He urged them to be messengers of peace among people, stressing that there will be no hope of achieving this peace without creating a culture based on mutual respect among human beings, and promoting the spirit of affection and altruism.