Al-Azhar Grand Imam offers his sincere condolences to Pope Tawadros II, the Pope of Alexandria, the Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, and all the Christian brothers, in the incident of the murder of Father Arsanios Wadeed, the Archpriest of the Church of the Virgin and Marpols in Alexandria.

 

His Eminence affirms that killing a person is a major sin that incurs Allah’s wrath, leading to the murderer’s torment in the Hereafter. Allah has made killing one person the same as killing all people. The Almighty says: “Whoever kills someone unless as punishment for killing or corruption in the land, it is as if he has killed all people, and whoever saves someone, it is as if he saved all people” (Qur’an, 5: 32).

 

Al-Azhar Grand Imam also hopes that everyone will notice that this murder and similar incidents are a paved way to ignite religious conflicts between the children of the one nation, especially after Allah had saved Egypt from such wars by His Grace, and then by the vigilance of its people and leaders. His Eminence calls on all citizens to be aware of such conspiracies and to abort them immediately.

 

Al-Azhar Al-Sharif extends its sincere condolences to the family of Archpriest Arsanios Wadeed, and the Christian brothers, and prays to Allah Almighty to preserve Egypt with His protection and strength, and to perpetuate the blessings of security and safety on its people.