Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif, received His Royal Highness Prince Charles, Crown Prince of Wales, and his wife Princess Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, on Thursday at Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif Mosque, to discuss ways to enhance cultural and scientific cooperation between Britain and Al-Azhar, promote dialogue between followers of religions, and discuss contemporary humanitarian crises, foremost of which is the climate change crisis. At the beginning of the meeting, the Grand Imam expressed the welcome and appreciation of Al-Azhar’s scholars of Prince Charles and his wife in the court of Al-Azhar Mosque, expressing His pleasure with this meeting. noting that the courage and wisdom of His Highness and other world leaders, influential in international policies, is what encouraged Al-Azhar to establish bridges of dialogue with various cultures and religions, foremost of which is the openness to the Church of Canterbury, the Vatican and other Christian churches in the East and the West. Such openness has borne many important fruits which culminated in the co-signing of the Document on Human Fraternity with Pope Francis, Pope of the Vatican.

His Eminence said, “Al-Azhar is proud of its strong scholarly relationship with Britain as evident from the fact that many graduates of Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif got the highest academic degrees from major British universities. He also stressed Al-Azhar's keenness to strengthen its scholarly, cultural and religious relationship with Britain and with the Anglican Church, pointing out that Al-Azhar held many rounds of dialogue with the Church of Canterbury “and our dear friend the archbishop Justin Welby” and managed to build up bridges of communication between young people from the East and the West with the aim of promoting the values of peace, tolerance and love. 

On his part, the Crown Prince of Britain expressed his great appreciation for the efforts of the Grand Imam over the past years, especially in combating extremism and religious fanaticism and promoting a culture of dialogue among religions. HRH added that he has followed up with great interest the efforts of the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in spreading the values of tolerance and acceptance of the other during the past period, especially his visit to the Vatican and his meeting with Pope Francis, a step that promoted dialogue among religions and enhanced openness to each other.