Al-Azhar Grand Imam, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, received today, Saturday, at Al-Azhar headquarters a Somali delegation headed by Omar Ali Robley, Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs of the Federal Republic of Somalia, accompanied by Ambassador Elias Sheikh Omar Abu Bakr, Somali Ambassador to Egypt, and a number of Somali officials. The Grand Imam said that this year, Al-Azhar receives 873 male and female students from the State of Somalia, and there are 22 envoys from Al-Azhar in Somalia. HE added that Al-Azhar mission there is one of the oldest Arab missions, in addition to the presence of an Azhari Institute and a branch of the World Association for Al-Azhar Graduates. This confirms Al-Azhar's appreciation and interest in advancing education in the African continent, based on Al-Azhar's role and responsibility towards the Arab and Muslim world.

For their part, the Somali delegation expressed their appreciation for the important role of Al-Azhar in Somalia and the envoys it sends and the medical and relief convoys, with the admission of Somali students at Al-Azhar and the training of imams. This confirms the universality of Al-Azhar and the preference of its moderate methods. It also emphasized that Al-Azhar is a moderate platform around which people from all parts of the world gather, and that Al-Azhar graduates in Somalia enjoy a distinguished position and contribute an important role in promoting moderate thought in Somalia and combating extremist ideas.