Al-Azhar, Dar Al-Ifta racing against time to defeat extremism, renew religious discourse

Rabab Al-Hakim

Renewing the religious discourse has been the main theme of a multitude of events, responding to recommendations by top Al-Azhar scholars, and  the nation’s jurisprudents and intellectuals to combat forces of violence, ignorance and subversion.

The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayyeb has repeatedly stressed that the issue of renewing the religious discourse is incontrovertible in Islam.

Egypt’s Dar Al-Ifta (Fatwa House) is organizing its fourth international conference themed “Fatwa Renewal: Theory and Application”, through the General Secretariat for Fatwa Authorities Worldwide, Cairo, October 16-18.

Delegations from more than 50 countries are taking part the three-day event. Experts and leading scholars will attend special sessions as part of the conference, which aims to conclude certain mechanisms to lead people to true Islam and the proper approach of living.

The event will shed light, among other issues, on the protective measures that should be taken into account to eliminate the spread of extremist Fatwas, replacing them with the right legal and religious views and opinions.
“The conference is a real step toward renewing the religious discourse worldwide, moving from theory to application,” said Advisor to the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Dr. Ibrahim Negm, who doubles as Secretary-General of the General Secretariat for Fatwa Authorities Worldwide.

Negm explained that renewing the religious discourse implies in the first place referring to the origins of Islamic law (Sharia) for the good of people, within the frame of Islam’s and ethics and values.

Dar Al-Ifta has adopted the call launched by President Abdelfattah El-Sisi for the religious institutions to renew the religious discourse, and redress the widely-spread chaos of Fatwa, Negm told Al-Marjie (The Reference).

He noted that Dar Al-Ifta is hard at work implementing its strategy through a variety of paths, both at home and overseas.

(Dr. Ali Al Nuaimi)

A chief aim of the conference is to provide realistic models of renewing the religious discourse, in a serious bid to repair the distorted image of Islam.

Negm said that the gathering would also address a host of contemporary issues on the latest global developments, covering politics, economy, cyberspace and society, aiming to break dogmatic thinking.

Secretary General of the Council of Muslim Elders Dr. Ali Al Nuaimi had earlier referred to a conference focusing on testimonies of “the fair” westerners on Islam.

The event will bring together Muslim scientists, thinkers and intellectuals and counterparts from the West, to discuss the responsibility of each side for asserting the “true image of Islam”, Al Nuaimi added.

He referred to several books by Western writers on Islam as a religion of love and toleration, that promotes respect and coexistence among followers of different faiths.

) Grand Imam of al-Azhar Dr Ahmed Al-Tayyeb)

Al Nuaimi highlighted the sincere and tireless work by the Al-Azhar and the Grand Imamِ Al Tayyeb whose efforts led to a decline in the enmity to Islam, and helped significantly to amend the image of the religion.

Al-Azhar, scholars at the heart of the battle

For his part, rapporteur of the dialogue committee at the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs Dr. Abdul Ghani Hindi said that the core goal of Al-Azhar hard work is to abolish certain thoughts that were generated and unfortunately, established, in the West, such as Islamophobia, as well as combating the ensued concepts.

In a statement to “The Reference”, Hindi noted that Dar Al-Ifta conference targets “the minds of the ignorant” in a bid to correct the distorted image of Islam that was formed by extremist and terrorist groups that claim to be Muslims, while in fact, they know he least about the religion.