His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, calls on the international, African, Arab and Muslim communities to assume their responsibilities, join hands and support Egypt and Sudan in preserving their water rights in the Nile River, and to counter claims by some countries to “ownership” of certain natural recourses meant to gain them singlehanded control of it in a way that harms life in other countries. He then asserted that all religions agree that ownership of natural resources indispensable for people’s lives are common, and they should never be left for a single individual, people, or country to unilaterally control it, to the exclusion of other countries sharing it! He further affirmed that water, in its broadest sense, starting from the drop to the rivers and seas, comes at the top of such indispensable resources, as religious laws dictate that its ownership should be common and collective, forbidding singlehanded or exclusive control of it by a certain individual, people, or country. Such singlehanded, restrictive control means denying others a right granted to them by Almighty Allah; they control things that they do not own in the first place. So, whoever exclusively controls it is unjust and transgressive; and respective local, regional, and international entities should protect the people’s rights by holding the transgressor back and preventing it from its excess and corruption on earth.

The Grand Imam expressed his appreciation for the Egyptian and Sudanese diplomatic efforts for adopting the language of serious negotiations, and for striving to find solutions that preserve everyone's right to invest in natural resources without violating the rights of others in any way. He also stressed that persistent disregard for the rights of others - especially basic rights, like water right - is forbidden by Sharia, as well as being against morals, norms and international and local laws, and if this door is opened, it will bring evil consequences for world peace, as some rivers run through more than five countries. Would it be conceivable then that one of these countries exclusively controls it!