The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb and HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Heir Apparent to the British throne, met Al-Azhar researchers who obtained MA and PhD degrees from British universities under the cooperation protocol between Al-Azhar and the British Council in Cairo. The students and researchers are a product of the fruitful cooperation between Al-Azhar and the United Kingdom to give young researchers at Al-Azhar the opportunity to pursue their studies in major British universities, and acquire necessary skills in dialogue, coexistence and acceptance of the other. He also stressed Al-Azhar’s keenness to strengthen and expand this cooperation by receiving British Imams at Al-Azhar Academy for Training Imams, introducing to them Al-Azhar approach of tolerance, moderation and renunciation of violence.

For his part, Prince Charles praised Al-Azhar researchers and closely spoke with them about their achievements in Britain at the level of promoting a culture of coexistence, dialogue and acceptance of the other. All the researchers emphasized the great benefit they had from their studies in Britain and that they were introduced to a different culture that contributed to refining their skills in dialogue, tolerance, pluralism, and acceptance of the other. Imam At-Tayyeb and Prince Charles were keen to honor Al-Azhar researchers, including Dr. Muhammad Al-Marakbi, who received a doctorate in Islamic Studies from the University of Edinburgh, and Maryam Shehata, a doctoral researcher in Islamic philosophy, at SOAS, University of London. Shehata holds MA in Religious Studies from Yale University School of Theology, USA. Other honorees included Ahmed Othman, instructor at the Al-Azhar English Training Center, and students Muhammad Ashraf, Huda As-Saˁid, and Asmaˀ Al-ˁAskari.