His Majesty King Vajiralongkorn, King of Thailand, received the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders (MCE), Prof. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, at the Royal Palace in Bangkok, in the presence of Queen consort of Thailand, Queen Suthida. His Majesty welcomed the Grand Imam, expressing his happiness with His Eminence's noble visit praising the efforts of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif and the Muslim Council of Elders to spread and promote the values of dialogue, peace, tolerance and human coexistence. 

 

His Majesty King Vajiralongkorn stressed that Al-Azhar is highly appreciated by the Thai people who live in harmony and peace. He expressed his country's keenness to raise the level of cooperation and relations with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif by increasing the number of students to be enrolled at Al-Azhar as well as Al-Azhar envoys to Thailand, in addition to the expansion of religious institutes that teach the Al-Azhar curriculum, and the coordination between Al-Azhar institution and the Islamic centers in Thailand. He pointed out that Al-Azhar is not only a reference for Thai Muslims, but it is a global scientific beacon for spreading enlightened moderate thought.

 

His Majesty explained that all Muslim families in Thailand are keen to send their children to study at Al-Azhar University, as Al-Azhar graduates hold a high status in Thai society. He expressed his confidence that this historic visit by the Grand Imam will result in the launch of many inspiring initiatives and projects, and that Muslims in Thailand will have the opportunity to attend public meetings held by the institutions for the Sheikh of Al-Azhar during his stay in the country.

 

For his part, Al-Azhar Grand Imam and MCE Chairman expressed his happiness for visiting Thailand and his appreciation for the warm welcome, stressing that Thai students coming to study at Al-Azhar set an example in their commitment to ethics and diligence in acquiring knowledge, and they have distinguished social participation in various faculties of Al-Azhar University. He indicated that Al-Azhar does not only graduate students, but it is also keen to enhance communication with its graduates in various parts of the world so that they may be ambassadors of peace, tolerance, coexistence and human brotherhood.

 

His Eminence the Grand Imam confirmed Al-Azhar’s readiness to establish centers for teaching the Arabic language in Thailand, to serve Muslims to learn the language of the Qur’an, to increase training courses for Thai imams at Al-Azhar Academy, to increase scholarships provided to the children of Muslims in Thailand to complete their studies at Al-Azhar, and to increase the number of Azhari envoys to meet the needs of Thai society.

 

His Eminence the Grand Imam also expressed the readiness of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif and the MCE to hold a global conference on coexistence in Thailand, with the attendance of a number of religious leaders and icons from all over the world, to confirm the importance of promoting peaceful coexistence and human brotherhood.