The Muslim world is going through a difficult phase due to the division and fragmentation that has afflicted it, and there is no way to prosper except through its unity, the Grand Imam

 

The Zionist entity was put in the region to weaken and distract us from achieving our goals, not to live in peace among us, as they claim, the Grand Imam

 

Pakistan requests an increase in the number of its students studying at Al-Azhar

 

Al-Azhar Grand Imam and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders (MCE), Prof. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb received Mr. Chaudhry Salik Hussain, the Pakistani Minister of Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony, today, Monday, at Al-Azhar, to discuss ways to support Al-Azhar’s dawah and education in Pakistan.

 

His Eminence the Grand Imam said that our Islamic world is going through a difficult phase due to the state of division and fragmentation that has afflicted and weakened it. He stressed that there is no solution to treat this disease except by complying with what Allah Almighty has said, {and do not dispute with one another, or you would be discouraged and weakened} (Qur'an 8:46). He stressed that Al-Azhar is keen on the unity, strength and prosperity of the Islamic world, and that Al-Azhar does not hesitate to provide all forms of dawah and educational support to the various Muslim countries.

 

The Grand Imam pointed out that the current circumstances have proven the urgent need for the unity of the Muslim world, its cohesion and addressing its relevant issues. His Eminence stated, “I am one of those who believe that the Zionist entity was planted in our region not to live in peace side by side with Palestine and the Arab world, but rather to weaken us and distract us from addressing important issues. Even if their malicious wishes were fulfilled and they took all of Palestine - and they will not achieve that, God willing - they will begin the next day planning to seize a new part of our Arab world and rob its wealth and resources.”

 

His Eminence stressed that despite the global interest in women’s rights and the holding of many international conferences calling for their protection and granting them their full rights, we find that most of the martyrs in Gaza are women and children, as if the Palestinian woman is an exception to this global interest. We have not found anyone who supports her or calls for granting her the least of her rights, which are food, medicine and shelter. He added that the Palestinian woman is the least fortunate woman in the world, as she either loses her life to treacherous bullets or because of hunger and lack of medicine.

 

The Pakistani Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony expressed his happiness for meeting the Grand Imam. He expressed his country's constant endeavor to enhance cooperation with Al-Azhar in addressing some internal challenges, most notably combating extremism, by hosting Pakistani imams and training them at the Al-Azhar Academy for Training Imams and Preachers according to an academic curriculum that takes into account the country's internal challenges.

 

 

The Pakistani Minister stressed his country's request to increase the number of Pakistani students coming to study at Al-Azhar, noting that Al-Azhar's graduates in Pakistan play a positive role in protecting the country from the dangers of intellectual extremism and spreading the true message of Islam. He added that they enjoy a position and credibility with the Pakistani people, and hold the highest positions in religious institutions and bodies.

 

The Pakistani Minister also extended an official invitation to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar to visit Pakistan, stressing the Pakistani people’s aspiration for this important visit, which will have a great impact on various levels. His Eminence welcomed the generous invitation and expressed his readiness to visit Pakistan at the earliest opportunity, and to meet once again with Pakistani scholars and visit the places that His Eminence visited more than a quarter of a century ago when he held the position of Dean of the Faculty of Fundamentals of Religion at the International Islamic University (IIU) in Islamabad.