Al-Azhar Grand Imam, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, received President of the National Council of Austria, Wolfgang Sobotka, and his accompanying delegation, at the headquarters of Al-Azhar, to enhance means of cooperation between the two sides.

At the beginning of the meeting, His Eminence welcomed the President of the National Council of Austria, indicating that Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif takes on the responsibility of enhancing the values of tolerance, dialogue and acceptance of the other, and that it always communicates with all major religious institutions in Europe. He pointed out that Al-Azhar has a program for foreign imams to train them in dealing with the false ideas propagated by terrorist groups.

His Eminence referred to the sincere endeavors he undertook, joined by Pope Francis, Pope of the Vatican, to promote dialogue between the East and the West, and the joint work that culminated in the cosigning of the Human Fraternity Document. He stressed that religion was not an obstacle to coming up with this document, but rather the real obstacle consisted in those who hijack religion to support their special agendas, such as terrorist groups that distorted the image of religions by misinterpreting many terms such as jihad, caliphate, and others.

During the meeting, the Austrian official, for his part, praised the great role played by Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif and its Grand Imam in combating extremism and consolidating the principles of peace, coexistence and acceptance of the other. He stressed that training foreign imams and preachers at Al-Azhar is a unique experience that enhances the true teachings of Islam, hoping that his country will benefit from this program by training imams in Austria in presenting the true image of Islam, so that the Muslims may not live in isolation within a society parallel to the Austrian society. He also stressed the role and importance of Egypt as a mainstay for security and stability in the Middle East and as the great gateway to Africa.