The Grand Imam: Al-Azhar will not hesitate to provide the necessary scientific and da’wah support to Somalia

The Grand Imam orders the establishment of a committee to coordinate efforts with Somalia in light of its internal needs and challenges

The Somali President invites the Grand Imam to visit Somalia and confirms: A historic event and a message of solidarity with Somalia against extremist ideologies

The Somali President: Somalia is in dire need of Al-Azhar scholars and their moderate approach

The Somali President calls on the Grand Imam to establish more Azhari institutes in Somalia to confront extremist ideologies

The Somali President: Al-Azhar curricula  are more important to us than the tanks and military supplies for fighting extremist groups

His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, received today, Saturday, at Al-Azhar headquarters, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of the Republic of Somalia to discuss ways to enhance Al-Azhar’s scientific and da’wah support for the Somali people.

His Eminence welcomed the Somali President to Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, stressing the depth of the historical relationship between Somalia and Al-Azhar, which has been strengthened through Azhari scholars sent to Somalia. He added that Somali students who study at Al-Azhar have an important role in shaping the features of this historical relationship. His Eminence pointed out that there are 2,200 Somali students studying at the various educational levels of Al-Azhar, which provides 70 scholarships to Somali students annually. In addition, there is an Azhari institute in Somalia which includes 26 Azhari envoys.

His Eminence confirmed that Al-Azhar is ready to allocate part of the scholarships provided to Somali students to study science, medicine, pharmacy, agriculture, and engineering, along with the Islamic and Arabic sciences, to meet the needs of the Somali people and face the most prominent internal challenges in this Arab country that is dear to all Arabs. 

He stressed Al-Azhar’s full solidarity with Somalia in preserving the unity of its land, and denounced the foreign attempts aimed at tampering with its stability.

For his part, the Somali President expressed his happiness for being at Al-Azhar headquarters and meeting His Eminence for the second time. He also expressed his appreciation to the Grand Imam for his efforts to spread the culture of co-existence, global peace and human fraternity and to face extreme ideologies.

President Mohamud also extended a formal invitation to the Grand Imam to visit Somalia, stressing that this visit will be a historic one and a message of solidarity to the Somali people in facing extremist groups. The Grand Imam accepted the invitation, stressing that he would visit Somalia as soon as possible, God willing.

President Mohamud clarified the current situation inside Somalia, stating that his country is going through a lengthy war against extremist groups, supported by international parties that try to destabilize and divide Somalia. He added that during the last 16 years, some extremist groups have controlled parts of Somalia and that many battles have been fought against them, particularly against the dissemination of their extreme and bloody ideas among Somali youth and children. Some of these children, as young as five-years old, joined them, bore arms, and took part in war.

The Somali President stressed Somalia's urgent need for Al-Azhar approach, its scholars, and envoys. He stressed that the war against these extremist ideologies is more important than military war, and that the Azhari thought is more important than the tanks and military supplies with which Somalia fights these groups. He added that the people of Somalia can be empowered with the moderate Azhari thought to face this extremist thought. He called on the Grand Imam to establish more  Azhari institutes in Somalia, especially in the primary stages of education.

For his part, His Eminence the Grand Imam affirmed that Al-Azhar will not hesitate to support the Somali people and meet all their scientific and da’wah needs. He directed the executive officials of Al-Azhar to consider establishing a mini-committee with members from both Al-Azhari and Somalia to study Somalia’s needs for Azhari institutes, training courses for Somali imams and preachers, and allocating scholarships in line with Somalia’s internal challenges. 

The Somali President welcomed this proposal, stressing that it is an important step in coordinating joint efforts, and that he will appoint a personal representative in this committee alongside officials of the Somali Embassy in Cairo.