Al-Azhar Grand Imam, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, received, at Al-Azhar Headquarters, Mr. John Barsa, the Acting Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington, and his accompanying delegation.

Mr. Barsa said that he was keen to meet the Grand Imam- even though his visit lasted for one day - because he had been following up with the great and important efforts by Al-Azhar and the Grand Imam to sow seeds of goodness and peace among people, and to combat all forms of violence, intolerance and hate speech. He added that this is what the USAID seeks to do for the sake of advancement of humankind, in addition to discussing and solving the problems of economic development and religious freedom. Mr. Barsa stressed the USAID’s keenness to cooperate with Al-Azhar to uproot hatred and terrorism all over the world. He noted that Al-Azhar is a religious institution with a great reputation,  which graduates ambassadors spread across the world, adding that the efforts of Al-Azhar do not only serve Egypt, but also Islam in general.

The Grand Imam, for his part, said that the easiest way to solve the problems of economic development in the world is to end wars and hate speech, confront extremism and terrorism seriously, and fight extremists regardless of their religious affiliations, rather than fight religion itself. He added that all of this will only happen after examining the real causes of terrorism, and suggesting solutions to them honestly and objectively. HE noted that the preservation and protection of man should be our supreme goal. He confirmed that Al-Azhar is the conscience of the nation. It was the first institution to heed the danger of extremism and terrorism and work on combating it, all out of its responsibility towards religion and humanity.