Al-Azhar Grand Imam, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, received the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jean-Yves Le Drian. The Grand Imam said that the Muslims, both the rulers and the ruled, declare their categorical rejection of terrorism that raises the banner of Islam. Islam, its Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the Muslims are innocent of terrorism. He added that he previously said these words in the heart of Europe, in London, Paris, Geneva, Rome, and in the United Nations, Asia and everywhere. He added, “Terrorists are criminal killers, and we are not responsible for them; and we do not say this as an apology on behalf of Islam because Islam has not made any mistakes, and it is not responsible for anyone's actions. With this Azhari turban on my head, I carried roses in the Bataclan Square, renounced terrorism and sent our condolences to the victims.”

His Eminence said that it is necessary for European officials to realize that this terrorism does not represent Islam or the Muslims. In fact, the Muslims are the first victims of terrorism, their countries have suffered from terrorism, and their economies are affected by terrorism. He added, “If we say that Christianity is not responsible for the events in New Zealand, we must also acknowledge that Islam is not responsible for the terrorism of those who kill in its name; never accept accusing Islam of terrorism. I followed the statements of the French Foreign Minister during the crisis, and the statement won our appreciation and admiration, as it dealt with the situation wisely and rationally.”

The Grand Imam stressed that “when it comes to talking about Islam and its Prophet (peace be upon him), I am not good at speaking with diplomacy, and I will always be the first to protest against any insult to our religion and our Prophet (pbuh). I wonder why we hear such offensive statements because they defame France and build a wall of hatred between it and the Arab and Muslim countries. These statements are exploited by extremists to carry out terrorist acts; therefore, the officials bear some responsibility in this connection. The duty of governments is to prevent crimes before they happen. When a newspaper offends about two billion Muslims, this is not freedom of expression; rather, this is a crime that hurts the feelings of Muslims and all moderate people, and harms the interests of France itself with Arab and Muslim countries.” 

The Grand Imam stressed that he is ready to discuss anything, “but insulting our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is completely unacceptable, and if you consider insulting our Prophet freedom of expression, then we reject this freedom categorically. Furthermore, we will sue whoever offends our Prophet (pbuh) at international courts even if we spent our whole life in defending the Prophet (pbuh)—the noble Messenger who came as a mercy to the worlds. I call upon the countries who claim the rights and freedoms to take concrete, tangible steps to stop any statements linking terrorism with Islam, and to stop using the term ‘Islamist’ as this term hurts the feelings of the Muslims. It is not wise to risk hurting the feelings of millions of people for the sake of an offensive newspaper; this is a strange logic.” 

The Grand Imam pointed out that terrorism is an international creation, and the Arab world is the theater on which terrorist crimes are carried out, and that he personally wonders at the inability of this world, which boasts of its progress and power, to chase these terrorists. If there were a serious desire to eliminate terrorism, they would have eliminated it. HE added that he believes that terrorism is a weapon for hire that countries hand to each other, and the victims here are Muslims and Arabs. He pointed out that Al-Azhar is ready to cooperate with everybody to eliminate extremism and terrorism, and will spare no effort to do that.

The Grand Imam expressed Al-Azhar’s readiness to cooperate with France at Al-Azhar’s expense to correct misconceptions about Islam, and to combat extremist thought and extremism in France, saying that “we do not want anything in return for that because we work for peace, which is the message of Islam; and we are ready to provide a special platform for dialogue to promote moderation and cooperation in the French language, and to cooperate with France as we have cooperated with the Vatican and the Council of Churches and the major religious institutions around the world. The Human Fraternity Document was the best witness to this cooperation, which if officials read and considered carefully, the world would avoid problems.”