MY HOMAGE TO PROF MAHMOUD AZAB OF AL-AZAR UNIVERSITY, CAIRO: A scholarly champion of Inter-Faith Dialogue I am deeply saddened to know that Prof Mahmoud Azab, who served as an advisor to the Grand Imam of Al-Azar, a 1000-year-old globally respected centre of Islamic learning in Cairo, is no more. He passed away in Cairo on June 29. He was 68. I had an opportunity to meet him at his office when I visited Egypt in February this year. I had been introduced to him by a friend in Rome who volunteers for the Community of Sant’Egidio, a church-inspired organisation that is dedicated to promoting inter-faith dialogue and conflict-resolution around the world. Prof Azab, a strong votary of Muslim-Christian dialogue in Egypt, was an active collaborator with the Community of Sant’Egidio in this mission. I presented to him my book ‘Music of the Spinning Wheel: Mahatma Gandhi’s Manifesto for the Internet Age’. I asked Prof Azab why the people of Egypt, a Muslim majority nation, rose in revolt against the Muslim Brotherhood and toppled the government of Mohammed Morsi? He said, “Muslims in Egypt believe in moderate Islam. They believe in pluralism and peaceful co-existence with their Christian brethren. They are also proud of their pre-Islamic civilizational heritage. All this is unacceptable to the Muslim Brotherhood, who want to impose their extremist ideology of Islam on Egypt. A peculiar circumstance in the aftermath of the 2011 revolution [which toppled the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak] helped them come to power. But Egyptian people soon realised that the Brotherhood was exploiting Islam for its own narrow political and social agenda. It even branded all those Muslims opposed to it as ‘infidels’. It became so unpopular that over 30 million people came onto the streets all over the country in June 2013 demanding its ouster from power.” I asked him what effect the anti-Mubarak and anti-Morsi uprisings had had on Egyptian society and on the mindset of the people. “Fundamental and deep-going” is how he described their impact. “Our people, especially the youth, have begun to question everything. They do not accept anything just because it is coming from someone in a position of authority. They are questioning everything, even religion. The only thing they do not question is their Egyptian identity, which is very dear to them.” Does Al-Azar play any political role in the gigantic convulsions taking place in Egypt? [When I visited Cairo, Abdel Fatah el-Sisi had not yet been elected the country’s president, although it was widely expected that he would contest, and win, the elections scheduled in May.] Prof. Azab replied that Al-Azar, a religious institution, scrupulously stays away from politics. He further stated that religion should not be mixed with politics at all. * * * Here are more elaborate responses to similar questions in an interview Prof Azab gave, a day before his death, to Didier Leroy, researcher at the Royal Military Academy of Belgium. (dailynewsegypt/2014/07/09/egypt-mourns-emblematic-figure-interfaith-dialogue-tribute-dr-mahmoud-azab/) Didier Leroy: How would you describe the role played by Al-Azhar in Egyptian politics? Mahmoud Azab: My institution does not play a political role like the Muslim Brotherhood or Salafi parties, but rather a national one. It is paramount not to confuse these two roles. The current leader of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, has devoted the last three years to ensuring that our institution regains this very important role, one which it had begun to lose somewhat over the last quarter century. There are four key moments to remember [in its recent history]. Firstly, Al-Azhar was the cradle of resistance against the invader during the Bonaparte epoch. The second historical moment took place in 1919, when Al-Azhar organised the resistance against the English. At the time, the Coptic Pope met with the Al-Azhar authorities and together they created the flag uniting the Christian cross and the Islamic crescent, along with the slogan “Religion is for God, the Nation is for all”. That flag reappeared for the first time in Tahrir Square three years ago. The third historical moment was in 1958, when Egypt massively backed President Nasser during the Suez War. The fourth and final moment started in January 2011, with the revolution. Didier Leroy: Could you comment the stance taken by Al-Azhar during the “coup” in the summer of 2013? Mahmoud Azab: For decades, Egypt has waited for the awakening of democracy and freedom. That is why, when the [first] new constitution was being voted on after the revolution, we – Al-Azhar and the Coptic Church – both opted out. Egypt needed a constitution based upon citizenship. Whether or not Europe was misled by parts of the media, we were here and we saw more than 25 million people on the streets on 30 June last year. Egypt was about to burst, and the army intervened in order to maintain internal security. There is currently some criticism of it, but our army is a national army, counting, among others, peasants’ sons. In every Egyptian family, there is a cousin or an uncle who is a soldier or an officer in the army. It is not a sectarian or ethnic force that is opposed to the people. For us, 30 June was a revolution. And if you absolutely insist on using the term “coup”, then it was a “coup” demanded by the people. Al-Azhar and the Church were next to the army, to defend the people. Other parties’ leaders were also there, the Salafis included, despite our differences on a vast number of topics. Didier Leroy: What is Al-Azhar’s stance towards “Islamist” political actors? Mahmoud Azab: Being a representative for Al-Azhar, I stand for an Islam that is not involved in political issues. When Islam meddles with politics, Islam loses. We are thus against all currents that seek to exploit Islam for their political goals. The declaration issued by Al-Azhar in June 2011 shows that we stand for a democratic Egypt. We do not want Egypt to be governed by a religious state, like what happened in Europe during the Middle Ages. Islam does not require a special form of government, it rather insists on justice. It is important to neutralise the Islamic values that are misused. * * * My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family of Prof Mahmoud Azab.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 08:55:39 +0000
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