Al-Azhar Grand Imam, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, met today, Wednesday, at Al-Azhar headquarters, a delegation from the University of Lyon and French Embassy officials, headed by Professor Jim Walker, Vice President of the University of Lyon for International Relations, to discuss ways of scientific and cultural cooperation and the exchange of students and professors.

In the name of Al-Azhar, its scholars and students, the Grand Imam welcomed the French delegation, expressing his interest in such visits that focus on educational and cultural aspects. Such scientific and cultural cooperation between universities cause peoples and cultures to meet, which is the easiest and best way to get them to know each other, and to establish peace, values of dialogue and coexistence, and understanding the correct image of different religions, beliefs and cultures. Al-Azhar establishes these principles through its moderate approach, without whose safety and purity, Al-Azhar would not have survived and prospered for more than a thousand years. It is the institution entrusted with the statement of true Islam for people everywhere.

Al-Azhar Grand Imam confirmed his interest in teaching foreign languages at Al-Azhar, and that he had believed in the importance of this matter since he was a student until he became President of the University in 2003 AD.

His Eminence indicated that Al-Azhar has a center for teaching the French language to qualify students from Arab and Sharia colleges to complete their scientific careers in French universities, and that there is permanent and effective cooperation with the French Cultural Center in Cairo in this regard.

For their part, the delegation from the University of Lyon expressed their pleasure at visiting Al-Azhar and meeting the Grand Imam, expressing their great admiration for the beauty of the architecture of Al-Azhar headquarters, which embodies the nobility of this institution, as well as their appreciation of the hospitality they found there. They said this was the first time such a number of specialists from the University of Lyon and the French Embassy gathered in visiting Al-Azhar. This reflects their belief in the importance of the visit and the new horizons that will be opened in the fields of Arabic and Islamic studies as a result of cooperation with the prestigious Al-Azhar University in various fields of linguistic, Islamic studies and applied sciences.

The Head of the French delegation stressed the University of Lyon’s interest in working with giant partners such as Al-Azhar institution, cooperation in common scientific fields, leading to exchanging visits and scientific missions at the level of students and professors, and teaching and learning French and Arabic. Training teachers of French, and learning foreign languages is an essential part of international relations, which do not improve or last without mastering languages and knowing the other.

At the end of the meeting, the two sides agreed on scientific and cultural cooperation, the exchange of visits and scientific missions at the level of students and professors, and the selection of representatives from the two sides to start coordination to move forward in activating this agreement and cooperation. The fields of cooperation should be multiple to serve the relations between Al-Azhar and Lyon University, and not limited to learning Languages, but extends to other fields such as the study of history, civilization, geography, Egyptology, medicine and Islamic studies.

Al-Azhar Grand Imam expressed Al-Azhar's readiness to train French imams to demonstrate the correct image of Islam, combat extremist ideas, and benefit from this important program that many countries around the world have benefited from.

It is worth mentioning that the meeting was attended by Ambassador Heidi Serry, Egypt's new Consul General in Marseille and Southern France, Françoise Dupac, Chargé d'Affaires of France to Egypt, and Professor Frederic Viollet, Director of the Center for French Language Studies. Professor Stéphane Walter, Professor of Arabic and Political Science, member of the Applied Linguistics Research Center and coordinator of the partnership project, attended the meeting in addition to a number of linguistics professors from the University of Lyon, and officials from the French Institute in Egypt.