Today, Wednesday, at the Headquarters of Al-Azhar, H.E Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif, received Ambassador George Azar, the new Egyptian Ambassador to New Zealand, Tuvalu and Samoa. The Grand Imam confirmed Al-Azhar’s readiness to establish an Arabic Language Center to serve the people of New Zealand, helping them master the language of the Noble Quran. He noted that 17 male and female New Zealand students are enrolled in Al-Azhar, at various educational levels, and that Al-Azhar is ready to increase the number of scholarships allocated to New Zealand Muslims at Al-Azhar and to host New Zealand imams at Al-Azhar International Academy for the Training of Imams and Preachers. Such training, the Grand Imam maintained, is meant to help them undermine extremist ideologies and to address the various issues, such citizenship, coexistence, women’s rights in Islam, Muslim integration in the West, and other issues of concern to Muslims in the West.

For his part, Ambassador Azar expressed his pleasure with the visit and his appreciation for the efforts made by the Grand Imam to promote the values of peace, human fraternity, and positive coexistence, stressing that he will make every effort to benefit from the efforts of Al-Azhar as a soft power for Egypt, and he will follow up with Al-Azhar on the file of establishing an Al-Azhar Arabic Language Center in New Zealand. ‎