“I will follow up with the case myself until the criminal receives due punishment;” with these words, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar expressed his sadness and pain in the phone call he made to offer condolences to the family of the “martyr of knowledge,” student Asma’ Ar-Rifa‘i. The third-year student at the Faculty of Nursing, Al-Azhar University, was found murdered inside an apartment where she had lived with female colleagues in Nasr City, Cairo.

Imam At-Tayyeb also assigned an official delegation of Al-Azhar University leaders, headed by the University President, to offer condolences to the family of martyr Asma’ Ar-Rifa‘i in her hometown of Mansoura, Dakahlia.

As soon as the Grand Imam learned that the murdered student would spend the summer vacation working in Cairo to provide for her family and that she was known for her academic excellence and moral commitment, he decided to allocate a pilgrimage trip for her parents to be paid for by Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif, in appreciation of their deceased daughter (may Allah have mercy on her). For the Grand Imam, Asma’ struck the most wonderful examples of combining educational excellence with moral commitment, perseverance, and filial duty.

His Eminence kept closely following the course of this legal case through constant contact with the concerned authorities until the perpetrator was arrested and brought to trial and proper punishment according to the law. He was keen to fulfill his promise to the family of Asma’ as he was offering condolences to them.