I will never cease to express my conviction that, with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyib as its Grand Imam, al-Azhar has reinstated itself as a stronghold of enlightened Islam. Since its
I will never cease to express my conviction that, with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyib as its Grand Imam, al-Azhar has reinstated itself as a stronghold of enlightened Islam. Since its establishment in the 10th century, al-Azhar has been the highest authority on Sunni Islam in the world, and gained a reputation of endorsing a tolerant, enlightened version of Islam. Following the 25 January Revolution, al-Azhar rose to embrace a role which cannot be sufficiently underscored in asserting citizenship rights and in leading the Egyptians towards national awareness.
Last May, al-Azhar issued a document which tackled the basis of the democratic State, and the essentiality of separating religion from the State and faith from politics. In December, it issued a statement on the Arab countries’ movement towards freedom and democracy, known worldwide as the Arab Spring. In January this year, and in keeping with its enlightened role, al-Azhar released a document on basic freedoms and human rights.
I believe that the content of this momentous document as well as its timing are not haphazard. Al-Azhar’s Bill of Rights came to settle a number of issues which had surfaced during the post-revolution phase and until Egypt found its path to true democracy. The sentiments that engulfed Egyptians ranged from worry to terror, especially as many felt that the legendary moderation and tolerance, which had since time immemorial dominated the Egyptian character, were changing. Al-Azhar’s Bill of Rights put matters into their right perspective and showed that the attempts to tamper with Egypt’s destiny had no place in Islam, human rights, or freedoms. It is thus with comfort that I applaud the Basic Freedoms Document and commend al-Azhar’s enlightenment role. Let us have a quick review of the most important points in the document:
• Introduction: Egyptians, as well as Arab and Islamic nations, look up to the umma’s (nation’s) scholars and intellectuals, to define the relation between the comprehensive principles of the tolerant Islamic sharia and the basic freedoms agreed upon by international treaties. These constitute the freedom of belief, freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of scientific research, and the freedom of literary and artistic creativity. This document carries the common intellectual denominators of freedoms and human rights, as determined by al-Azhar’s scholars and Egypt’s intellectuals. It cites what they have concluded to be the collection of principles and regulations that govern these freedoms; at the same time preserving communal harmony and disallowing the propagation of concepts which, under the pretext of ‘enforcing virtue and combating vice’, are exploited to interfere with public and private freedoms. Such calls contradict the civilisational and social development of modern Egypt, especially at a time where the nation is in need of unity and a moderate understanding of religion, which has always been the religious mission of al-Azhar and its responsibility to the community and the homeland.
The system of freedoms, the core of the document:
• Freedom of belief: complete equality in rights and duties is the cornerstone of modern societal structure. Freedom of belief is among the fullness of citizenship rights, is granted to all and is supported by the clear-cut fundamentals of religion as well as the basics of law and constitutions. Accordingly, any sort of compulsion, persecution or discrimination based on religion is criminalised. Every individual in the community may believe in whichever thoughts he or she wishes, without encroaching on the community’s right to maintain its belief in the heavenly creeds. The three heavenly religions are sacred; individuals are free to perform their rites without trespassing on the feelings of others, verbally or actively profaning them, or disrupting public order. Freedom of belief implies acknowledging the legitimacy of pluralism; nurturing the right to differ; rejecting trends of exclusion or judging others as apostates; and renouncing attempts to condemn others’ faiths or inspect their consciences.
• Freedom of opinion and expression: Freedom of opinion is the mother of all freedoms. It is manifested through the free expression of opinions in the different venues of expression, in writing, speech, artistic production and digital communication. Freedom of opinion goes beyond the individual and extends to the formation of parties and civil society organisations. It covers the press, the audiovisual and digital media; and the freedom to acquire the information needed to express opinion. All these freedoms should be backed by constitutional texts, in order for them to transcend regular laws which are liable to change. The Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) in Egypt has decided to expand the notion of freedom of expression to include constructive criticism, even if harshly worded. The SCC stated: “Freedom of public expression should not be hampered by verbal correctness; infringements should be dealt with tolerantly.” In this context, however, it is essential to alert to the necessity of respecting the doctrines and rites of the three heavenly religions, since violations in this regard threaten the national fabric and security. Nobody has the right to instigate sectarian strife or doctrinal dogmatism under the name of freedom of expression. Notwithstanding, the right to endeavour evidence-based scientific opinion, far from sensationalism, among specialised circles is granted. Freedom of opinion and expression reflects the true face of democracy, and can only be achieved through argument and counter-argument within the ethics of dialogue, as endorsed by civilisational norms in refined communities.
• Freedom of scientific research: Serious scientific research in the humanities, physics, mathematics and other sciences is the locomotive that drives human development, and the means to fathom the laws of the universe to bring them to serve humanity. For this to materialise, research institutions and expert scholars must have full academic freedom to experiment, propose hypotheses, consider probabilities, and apply strict scientific measures to reach results. Scientific institutions are entitled to creative imagination and expert knowledge to be able to augment human knowledge. Many Muslim scientists were, throughout several centuries, pillars and leaders of scientific knowledge. It is high time for the Arab and Islamic nation to venture back into the powerful arena of knowledge, especially that the West was on the verge of monopolising the field, were it not for Japan, China, India, and South East Asia, who brilliantly broke the monopoly. It is now the turn of the Egyptians and Arabs to conquer the world of scientific and civilisational debate, in a world that leaves behind the weak and under-developed.
• Freedom of literary and artistic creativity: Literary and artistic creativity thrives in the various genres of literature, song-writing, drama, poetry, story-writing and narration, theatre, biography-writing visual fine arts; cinema, television, musical arts; and all other modern forms of literature and art. Literature and arts in their entirety aim at developing awareness, enhancing the imagination, refining the sense of beauty, and cultivating and expanding the human senses. They also take a critical look at the community, attempting to bring out what is better and finer. All such refined functions work to enrich the language and the culture; develop thought; and activate the imagination, while preserving superior religious and ethical values. Literary and artistic creativity are among the most significant aspects of the blossoming system for basic freedoms, and the most effective in propelling awareness in a community and enriching its soul. The more entrenched discerning freedom is in a community, the more obvious evidence that community is civilised.
I relay my thanks to al-Azhar. It has indeed proved it is a beam of light in face of forces of darkness and coercion.
WATANI International
19 February 2012