Why has there been this “five-year lull”? Because “Al-Azhar froze talks with the Vatican in 2011 to protest comments by then-Pope Benedict XVI.” What did Benedict say? Andrea Gagliarducci of the Catholic News Agency explains that after a jihad terrorist murdered 23 Christians in a church in Alexandria 2011, Benedict decried “terrorism” and the “strategy […]
Meet Ahmed al-Tayeb, the “Most Influential Muslim in the World”
There’s nothing like knowing Arabic—that is, being privy to the Muslim world’s internal conversations on a daily basis—to disabuse oneself of the supposed differences between so-called “moderate” and “radical” Muslims. Consider the case of Egypt’s Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb. Hardly one to be dismissed as a fanatic who is ignorant of the true tenets of Islam, […]
Egypt: Top Islamic institution preaches “religious freedom” to West, while supporting death penalty for apostates at home
In a statement titled, “The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies Calls on Al Azhar’s Sheikh to Renounce His Remarks Which Contradict Religious Freedom and Support Violent Extremism,” the institute blasted Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb’s recent remarks concerning apostasy, first reported in the English here. Though Tayeb is often portrayed as a “moderate” and “reformer,” the […]
Islam is both a religion and polity, says leading Egyptian cleric
What is the role of Islam in Muslim society? Is it just a religion to be practiced privately, as Christianity is understood in the West? Or does it call for theocracy—governance according to the laws derived from it, also known as Sharia? Dr. Ali Abdel Raziq, whose 1925 book arguing against the caliphate caused an […]
Egypt’s highest Islamic authority — a “moderate” — says apostasy punishable by death
The line between “moderate” and “radical” Muslim continues to fade. On the question of apostasy in Islam—whether a born or converted Muslim has the right to abandon Islam for another or no religion—the radical position is well known: unrepentant apostates are to be punished with death. Yet one of the Muslim world’s greatest authorities, the […]
Pope Embraces Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar
So is the jihad over? No, just enabled. AP reported breathlessly Monday that Pope Francis “embraced the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the prestigious Sunni Muslim center of learning, reopening an important channel for Catholic-Muslim dialogue after a five-year lull and at a time of increased Islamic extremist attacks on Christians.” Why has there been this […]
Pope to welcome Muslim leader who has justified anti-Semitism and crucifixion of “enemies of Allah” to Vatican
Al-Tayeb has shown himself over the years to be anything but a preacher of peace, cooperation and mercy: he has justified anti-Semitism on Qur’anic grounds; called for the Islamic State murderers of the Jordanian pilot to be crucified or have their hands and feet amputated on opposite sides (as per the penalty in Qur’an 5:33 […]
Muslim jihadis distort Islam just as Western homosexuals distort Christianity, claims leading sheikh
As a way to exonerate Islam of the violence habitually committed in its name, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb—the grand imam of Al Azhar University—recently engaged in some interesting sophistry. According to published statements on Arabic media, Tayeb said that “It is extremely regrettable that some heads of churches in the United States conduct [homosexual] marriages. I […]
Egypt: Highest Islamic authority refuses to denounce the Islamic State as “un-Islamic”
During an open discussion at Cairo University held on December 2, Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Sheikh and Grand Imam of Al Azhar — and thus Egypt’s foremost authority on all things Islamic — was again asked why Al Azhar refuses to issue a formal statement denouncing the Islamic State of lapsing into a state of kufr, that is, […]
Al-Azhar Sheikh: “Islam cannot prevail and spread by means of weapons”
Al-Tayeb says here that “what the Islamist armed movements are doing is wrong.” However, rejoicing over his “moderation” may be premature: he has justified anti-Semitism on Qur’anic grounds; called for the Islamic State murderers of the Jordanian pilot to be crucified or have their hands and feet amputated on opposite sides (as per the penalty […]