Today, Wednesday, at Al-Azhar Headquarters, HE the Grand Imam received Mr. Gareth Bailey, British Ambassador to Egypt, to discuss ways of enhancing bilateral joint cooperation. The Grand Imam said, “Al-Azhar is always keen to enhance academic and cultural cooperation with Britain, based on the belief in the necessity of civilized communication between the East and the West”. He also noted that he had initiated academic exchange programs with universities in Britain and Europe to graduate generations open to the West and able to communicate with the Western minds. This resulted in the presence of many Azharite students and researchers in British and European universities. The Grand Imam also expressed his pleasure at HRH Prince Charles’ keenness to make his visit to Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif an integral item on the agenda of his visit to Egypt, which reflects the great status in which he holds Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif. The Grand Imam also expressed his appreciation for HRH Prince Charles’ kind invitation to him to visit the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies in Britain, stressing his keenness to visit it soon.

 

For his part, the British Ambassador expressed his pleasure at this important meeting, and his great appreciation for the efforts of the Grand Imam in promoting interfaith dialogue and presenting to the world the correct image of Islam as a religion that adopts the values of peace and respect for the other. He also asserted Britain’s keenness to continue and develop academic cooperation with Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif, given the prominent role the latter plays in promoting interfaith and intercultural dialogue and communication across the world. The British Ambassador also conveyed the greetings of HRH Prince Charles, Heir Apparent to the British throne, to HE the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, and his great pleasure at the warm welcome he had received during his visit to Al-Azhar. He thus addressed an official invitation to the Grand Imam to visit the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies in Britain and to deliver a speech on the role of Islam in protecting the environment and addressing the challenges of climate change.