WATANI International
20 February 2011
In a press conference held last Wednesday at al-Azhar in Cairo and reported by the Nile News TV State-owned channel, the grand Imam of al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayeb warned of any attempt to change the second article of the Constitution, which stipulates that Islam is the State religion, Arabic its language, and Islamic jurisdiction, sharia, the major source of legislation. He stressed that the second article of the Constitution is “not open to change or update. It is among the State constants and any attempt to meddle with it can lead to a sectarian strife.”
“This is not a statement”, he explained. “It is al-Azhar’s stance.”
In reply to a question on whether al-Azhar would engage in dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Tayeb explained that al-Azhar is an Islamic educational institution while the MB is a political movement. “Our faith is the same, but our scope of work is different. We enjoy mutual respect, however,” he said
Tayeb stressed that Egypt is embarking upon an era in which economic reform is needed, so that no sector of the community would be over-eating while others suffer from hunger. He also said the media should be placed in the hands of honourable intellectuals.