Today, Tuesday, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Prof. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb headed Al-Azhar delegation on a visit to St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Abbasiyya, to greet HH Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, and all Christian fellows on Christmas.

HE the Grand Imam, expressed his sincere greetings to all Christian fellows, praying to Allah Almighty to make this year one full of goodness, love and happiness, and to lift the pandemic and its consequent afflictions. The Grand Imam emphasized that Heavenly messages have many moral commonalities, including values of peace and fraternity, quoting the Noble Messenger’s (pbuh) saying, “O Allah, our Lord and Lord of everything, I bear witness that all humans are brothers and sisters.”

The Grand Imam indicated that the love and affection represented in greeting each other on religious and social occasions is not a form of sheer courtesy or formality, as depicted by some. Rather, it springs from our understanding of the philosophy of our true religion. He stressed the believers’ need to rally around their pristine values towards addressing the crisis of contemporary humanity and confronting the anti-human value flood. He explained that the voice of the believers is the remaining hope to save humanity from the tragedy that threatens the world through disintegrating the concept of the family, combatting and marginalizing religion, and depriving society of its immunity against such crises and disasters.

For his part, HH Pope Tawadros welcomed the Grand Imam and the delegation of Al-Azhar, expressing his pleasure to renew the bonds of love and friendship between Muslims and Christians and rallying around to consolidate Egyptian national fabric on these happy occasions. He maintained that such an aspect reflects the strength of these relations, stressing that preserving the entity of the Egyptian family is a joint responsibility shared by religious, educational, cultural and media institutions, towards reviving community values and to confront the aberrations that undermine morals and values.

The meeting dealt with the climate change crisis and other contemporary human crises and ways to confront them and the role of religion in confronting extremism and fanaticism. The meeting also touched on spreading moderation, promoting the values of brotherhood and peace, and the EFH action strategy during the coming period.

The Grand Imam was accompanied during his visit by Prof. Muhammad Mukhtar Gomaa, Minister of Endowments, Prof. Muhammad Al-Dawini, Deputy of the Grand Imam, and Prof. Nazir Ayyad, Secretary-General of the Islamic Research Academy. The delegation also included Prof. Salama Dawud, Head of Al-Azhar Institutes Sector; Prof. Muhammad Abu Zaid Al-Amir, Vice President of Al-Azhar University; and Prof. Nahla As-Sa‘idi, Head of EDCAIS.