Grand Imam of Al-Azhar: Our hope rests on you to confront the absurd wars afflicting our world.

We took the initiative to build bridges of cooperation with religious leaders around the world to promote human fraternity, peace, and dialogue.

We established a unique partnership with Pope Francis, and our joint efforts culminated in the signing of the Human Fraternity Document.

The Egyptian Family House stands as a pioneering model of coexistence and national unity.

World Council of Churches Youth Delegation:

Al-Azhar is a leading intellectual beacon in promoting peace and coexistence across the globe.

His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, Prof. Ahmad al-Tayyeb received today, Wednesday, at Al-Azhar headquarters, the World Council of Churches (WCC) youth delegation to learn about Al-Azhar’s efforts in establishing the values of dialogue, fraternity and peace. His Eminence delivered a lecture on the moderation of Islam and the importance of interfaith dialogue.

The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar said: “All religions have a message of love and peace, and have never been a cause of hatred, conflict, or discord.” He emphasized that Al-Azhar is concerned with the issue of world peace and is exerting every effort to make it a reality for the entire world. His Eminence added, “We have taken the initiative to extend a helping hand to our partners from the churches of the world and cultural and religious institutions around the world, and to build bridges of cooperation with them, including the Vatican, the World Council of Churches, and the Middle East Council of Churches.” He continued, “I have previously visited the World Council of Churches, and I met my brother, the late Pope Francis, on many occasions and at dialogue conferences. We visited him at the Vatican, and he visited us at Al-Azhar. Our joint efforts culminated in the signing of the Human Fraternity Document for Peace and Living Together, which witnessed great international recognition, and the United Nations declared the day of its signing, February 4th of each year, as the International Day of Human Fraternity.”

His Eminence explained that Al-Azhar’s mission is to spread peace locally and globally. It started at the local level by establishing the “Egyptian Family House,” in cooperation with the Egyptian churches, in a pioneering experience that has contributed over the years to consolidating the spirit of cooperation, brotherhood, and tolerance within Egyptian society. It has been an effective tool in preserving the unity of the national fabric. Al-Azhar also have called from day one for the abolition of the term “minorities,” and instead called for the term “citizenship,” emphasizing that everyone is equal. For this purpose, Al-Azhar International Conference on Freedom and Citizenship was held in 2017.

His Eminence continued, saying that today’s youth are required to do two things: First, to believe that religions have one source, that all prophets are brothers, and that peace is the primary goal of the revelation of religions to people. Second, that religions prohibit killing and bloodshed, and have never been a cause of wars, conflicts, or killing, and that all that is rumored in the West that religions are the cause of wars are false claims. His Eminence stressed that the wars that occurred in past centuries, especially the First and Second World Wars, which claimed the lives of more than 70 million people, were not caused by religion, but rather by nationalism, racism, hatred, and other materialistic principles.

The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar stressed that hope is still pinned on today's youth to confront this kind of senseless war that is sweeping our world, and which many countries feed on to maximize their profits from selling weapons. These countries see nothing but their own interests, even if they are at the expense of the innocent and the weak. He emphasized that what we see today of barbarity and hatred in the killing of women, children and the elderly cannot even be seen in the animal world, pointing out that young people must be advocates of peace in order to confront wars and conflicts.

The Grand Imam explained that the problem of contemporary civilization is that it is a materialistic one that does not allow for listening to the moral values that organize people's lives. The desire to sell weapons and practice the arrogance of power and control still exists, which has naturally led to the limited spread of calls for peace and its initiatives, including the Human Fraternity Document. He stressed that religious institutions around the world play an important role in establishing peace and ending wars. He added that he met with his brothers from the fair-minded, non-Zionist Christians and Jews and issued the Document on Human Fraternity, but political decision-makers must also participate in developing mechanisms to benefit from these efforts and activate them in service of humanity.

Members of the World Council of Churches delegation expressed their great happiness at meeting the Grand Imam, and their great appreciation for his great efforts with religious leaders around the world, especially with the late Pope Francis, which resulted in the signing of the Human Fraternity Document, a pioneering document in establishing the principles of peace, dialogue and peaceful coexistence. They affirmed that Al-Azhar has always been a leading intellectual beacon in spreading peace and coexistence around the world, and that they are always keen to listen to it as a platform for moderation and tolerance, and that they will always work side by side with Al-Azhar in serving humanity.