The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Professor Ahmad At-Tayyeb was concerned about the sufferings and pleas of the Myanmar Rohingya Muslims who have been subject to religious persecution, murder, burning, forced displacement, and genocide at the hands of the Burmese authorities.

His Eminence frequently sought to save them and find a solution to their crises through dialogue with the Burmese authorities. He held a number of dialogue tours in early January 2017, with young leaders representing all religions and ethnicities in Myanmar, including monks and religious men, in the presence of the Ambassador of Myanmar in Cairo. The dialogues were meant to discuss means of coexistence, investigate the causes of the dispute in Myanmar, and try to develop radical solutions to end it and consolidate the foundations of citizenship and coexistence among the citizens. This was intended as a first step towards blazing the path of peace for the Rohingya Muslims.

The efforts made by Grand Imam At-Tayyeb to reconcile conflicting views, however, did not bear fruit, as they were shunned by the Burmese authorities. The killings, arson, genocide and displacement of Muslims in Rakhine, Myanmar, were even revived more ferociously.

Yet, Grand Imam At-Tayyeb did not keep silent about these inhumane violations. He appeared in a televised speech addressing the whole world and expressing his anger and indignation at the inhuman crimes against Muslims in Myanmar, and genocide and ethnic cleansing against Muslim citizens there at the hands of the Burmese authorities. He declared that Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif will lead humanitarian actions at the Arab, Islamic and international levels to stop these massacres, which are suffered by the Muslim citizens alone in Myanmar. He also demanded that all international bodies, organizations and human rights associations do their duty and take necessary measures to investigate these reprehensible crimes to track down the perpetrators and bring them to the International Court of Justice to stand trial as war criminals for the brutal atrocities they have committed.

The Grand Imam also announced that he would head a delegation to visit the refugee camps in Bangladesh, but he apologized on a short notice because of the terrorist incident that took place in the Rawda Mosque in North Sinai, coinciding with the date of the visit. Then, he decided to double the value of aid, and to distribute 2,000 packages weighing fifty tons of food to the Rohingya refugee camps. Meanwhile, the relief team moved to several of these camps on the Bangladeshi border, where the distribution process took place in coordination with the Emirates Red Crescent and the Bangladesh Red Crescent to ensure that aid reach the largest number possible of Burmese refugees in Bangladesh.

Grand Imam At-Tayyeb concluded his moving televised speech by saying, “From here, in Egypt, the heart of Arabism and Islam, and from Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif, we utter a resounding humanitarian cry to demand immediate action from the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the European Union and the United Nations, especially the Security Council, and above all from the decision-makers in the Arab and Muslim countries. The outcry is addressed to these entities to exert their utmost political and economic pressure towards bringing the ruling authorities in Myanmar back to reason and justice, and to stop the policy of racial and religious discrimination among the citizens.”

That touching speech, mixed with sadness and anger, had a great impact in drawing the attention of the international community to the Rohingya Muslims’ cause after a long silence. Many countries, human rights and relief organizations and associations went to the Rohingya camps on the Bangladeshi border for their relief. This was followed by serious international moves by United Nations investigators, urging world leaders to impose targeted economic sanctions on companies doing business with Myanmar's military, as well as unilateral steps taken by several countries to impose sanctions on Myanmar for its ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya Muslims.