Video - 'Moderate' Egyptian Sheikh of Al-Azhar on Jewish-Muslim Animosity: The Jews Started It.

Video - 'Moderate' Egyptian Sheikh of Al-Azhar on Jewish-Muslim Animosity: The Jews Started It.(MEMRI).

Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmad Al-Tayyeb said that it was the Jews who had started the animosity with the Muslims, by rejecting the message of the Prophet Muhammad. 

In a May 5 interview with Egyptian TV's Channel 1, Sheikh Al-Tayyeb said that the Jews “took actual measures to thwart, kill, and bury the Islamic call in its infancy.” 

Even though 1,400 years have passed since the advent of Islam, Sheikh of Al-Azhar said, “we still suffer from Zionist-Jewish interference in the affairs of the Muslims.”

EGYPT - Controversy on the Joint Declaration of Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros.

EGYPT - Controversy on the Joint Declaration of Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros. (FIDES).

Cairo (Agenzia Fides) - The Joint Declaration signed on Friday 28 April in Cairo by Pope Francis and Catholic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros is causing various kinds of reactions within the Orthodox Coptic Church.

In paragraph n. 11 of the text signed last Friday, on the occasion of the visit of the Bishop of Rome to Egypt, the Pope and the Patriarch stated that they: 

"will seek sincerely not to repeat the baptism that has been administered in either of our Churches for any person who wishes to join the other, in obedience to the Holy Scriptures and the faith of the three Ecumenical Councils assembled in Nicaea, Constantinople and Ephesus". 

This passage, signed by Pope Tawadros on behalf of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Coptic Church, expresses the concrete intention of overcoming the practice of so-called "re-baptism", still administered today by some Christian communities to new faithful coming from other ecclesial confessions.

After the release of the Declaration, blogs and social media began criticising Pope Tawadros, accused by some Coptic exponents of wanting to subdue the Orthodox Coptic Church to the Catholic Church.

Already on Saturday, the Coptic Information Center issued a statement to clarify that the Declaration signed by Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros does not contain a formal agreement on the question of re-baptisms, and is to be interpreted in continuity with the path of theological dialogue that began between the Orthodox Coptic Church and the Catholic Church with the visit that Patriarch Shenuda III made in Rome in 1973 to meet Pope Paul VI.

"All Egyptians, whether Christian or Muslim, were happy and surprised at the visit of Pope Francis to Egypt", reports to Agenzia Fides Anba Boutros Fahim Awad Hanna, Coptic Catholic Bishop of Minya.

"For this reason", adds Anba Boulos, "in the ecclesiastical controversies that are mounting on social media, I see that the devil is trying to ruin the positive atmosphere the Pope left in the Country.

The Declaration is clear and represents an important step towards the future. Pope Tawadros signed it with the consent of the Holy Synod of his Church. Criticism was predictable. Now it is important to move on together, in the path indicated by Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros". (GV) (Agenzia Fides 2/5/2017)

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Video - Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmad Al-Tayyeb: In Islam, Unrepentant Apostates Should Be Killed; Homosexuality Is a Disease

Egypt - Coptic Orthodox Church and Islamic University of Al-Azhar join together against child abuse and Child marriage.

Source.

Egypt - Coptic Orthodox Church and Islamic University of Al-Azhar join together against child abuse and Child marriage. (Fides).

The Islamic University of Al Azhar - considered the most authoritative theological-academic institution of Sunni Islam - and the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate signed a programmatic document which outlined their shared commitment to fight forms of violence and abuse against children.

The joint statement, prepared under the auspices of UNICEF, was signed on Monday, May 9 by Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II and by Sheikh Ahmed al Tayyeb, Great Imam of al-Azhar.
In the text, scholars linked to the Islamic University and the Coptic community contributed to outlining the protection of children as a common priority, shared by both the Islamic and Christian sensibility.

The campaign in favor of children and girls - refer Egyptian sources consulted by Agenzia Fides - also includes the phenomenon of genital mutilation and early marriage, and, of course, kidnapping and sexual abuse.

In addition to statements of intent, the program also provides for the active involvement of at least 850 leaders of churches and mosques - imam, priests, monks, pastoral workers - which in the current year will attend preparation courses, and then personally commit themselves in information campaigns designed to sensitize the entire population of a plague that strikes the entire Egyptian society in different forms.

According to the most alarming statistics, more than 70% of Egyptian children suffer some form of abuse and violence even within their own family and community environment. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 10/05/2016)

Ahmed al Tayyeb, great Imam of Al Azhar, personally went to express his Easter greetings to Orthodox Coptic Patriarch Tawadros II

Ahmed al Tayyeb, great Imam of Al Azhar, personally went to express his Easter greetings to Orthodox Coptic Patriarch Tawadros II. (Fides).

In Egypt, Coptic churches - who follow the Julian calendar - are celebrating Holy Week. In view of Easter, greetings and good wishes are expressed to the Copts by representatives of institutions.

Even Ahmed al Tayyeb, great Imam of Al Azhar, went to the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo to personally express his Easter greetings to Orthodox Coptic Patriarch Tawadros II.

And in the imminence of the Christian solemnity, also pastoral initiatives flourish in the large North African country: in recent days, some Coptic Orthodox priests of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Minya, Upper Egypt, decided to leave their parishes to go to celebrate moments of prayer in the streets, in cafes and in public places, in order to announce the Passion and the Resurrection of Christ to the many baptized who do not attend churches and sanctuaries even on the occasion of the liturgical solemnities.

The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Minya presented this initiative on its website as an attempt to reach Christians, especially among many young people, who do not usually attend the parishes.

"This is an initiative that may seem unusual in a country overwhelmingly Muslim, always threatened by sectarian conflicts" refers to Agenzia Fides Anba Botros Fahim Awad Hanna, Coptic Catholic Bishop of Minya, "and it is obvious that it can be done with freedom and serenity in residential areas and villages only by Christian citizens.

But it still represents a sign of apostolic vitality: many young people have no real contact with the life of the Church and its liturgical and sacramental dynamics. So instead of waiting for them in a parish, we gently try to reach them, in places where they live and prefer to spend their time". (GV) (

Egyptian Islamic institute Al-Azhar releases fatwa forbidding the destruction of artefacts.

Egyptian Islamic institute Al-Azhar releases fatwa forbidding the destruction of artefacts.(ATN).

Egyptian Islamic institute Al-Azhar has released a fatwa on Friday forbidding the destruction of ancient artefacts after Islamic State raids on a Mosul museum and the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud.

Al-Azhar, which is considered the foremost authority on Sunni Islam, called the Islamic State’s actions a crime against humanity, given the global cultural value attached to these items. The institute dismissed Islamic State’s classification of the items as “idols”.

“These artefacts have important cultural and historical significance,” Al-Azhar said in an official statement. “They are an important part of our collective legacy that must not be harmed.”

Al-Azhar’s comments came shortly after Islamic State militants bulldozed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, destroying many of its artefacts.

The institute also condemned the Islamic State for its hypocrisy, given that the group refers to the artefacts as false idols while also profiting heavily from their sale on the black market.

Al-Azhar added that the violent and destructive actions perpetrated by this group do not represent Islam or any faith.

Al-Azhar also said that the destructive and aggressive nature of the group places an urgency on the Egyptian government and the international community to place a concise plan to end this threat. Hmmmm......Somehow a bit late considering all the destructions who took place these last 1,400 years.

Video - Egyptian TV Host Ibrahim Issa: Nobody Dares to Admit That ISIS Crimes Are Based on Islamic Sources.

Egyptian TV Host Ibrahim Issa: Nobody Dares to Admit That ISIS Crimes Are Based on Islamic Sources.

Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian journalist and TV host Ibrahim Issa, which aired on ON TV on February 3, 2015:

Ibrahim Issa: Whenever ISIS carries out an act of barbarity, such as decapitations, throat slitting, or the burning of a person alive, as they did today, various sheiks tell you – if they even bother to say anything – that this has nothing to do with Islam, that Islam is not to blame, and whatever. But when the people of ISIS perpetrate slaughter, murder, rape, immolation, and all those barbaric crimes, they say that they are relying on the sharia. They say that this is based on a certain hadith, on a certain Quranic chapter, on a certain saying of Ibn Taymiyyah, or on some historical event. To tell the truth, everything that ISIS says is correct.

This should not come as a surprise to anyone, as a surprise to anyone, and nobody should be shocked by what I am saying. All the evidence and references that ISIS provides to justify its crimes, its barbarity, and its horrifying, criminal, and despicable violence… All the evidence and references that ISIS provides, claiming that they can be found in the books of history, jurisprudence, and law, are, indeed, to be found there, and anyone who says otherwise is lying. […]

When they kill a person claiming that he is an infidel, when they rape women, when they kill prisoners, and when they slaughter and decapitate people, they say that the Prophet Muhammad said so. Indeed, the Prophet said so! What was the context? The interpretation? That's a whole different story.

None of those [Al-Azhar clerics] who purport to be moderate, and who were told by President Al-Sisi to change the religious discourse, have the courage – not a single grain of courage – to admit that these things are indeed to be found [in Islamic sources] and are [morally] wrong.

If it is claimed that a certain companion of the Prophet did this or that, you should respond by saying that he was morally wrong. I would like to see a single Al-Azhar cleric in Egypt have the courage to admit that Abu Bakr burned a man alive. That's right. He burned Fuja'ah [Al-Sulami]. This is a well-known historical story. […]

Was Abu Bakr morally wrong to burn that man alive? Nobody dares to say so. So we are left in this vicious circle, and you can expect more barbarity, because all this barbarity is sacred.

It is sacred. This barbarity is wrapped in religion. It is immersed in religion. It is all based on religion. Your mission [as a cleric] is to say that while it is part of our religion, the interpretation is wrong. Do not tell people that Islam has nothing to do with this.

Egypt: All-Sissi calls for an overhaul of the Islamic discourse, stop backwardness.

Egypt: All-Sissi calls for an overhaul of the Islamic discourse, stop backwardness.HT: IsraelFlash.

Well it is time, and especially stop this abominable Arab-Muslim paranoia about Israel and the manipulation of the masses by a shameful and deceitful propaganda - Stop backwardness and ignorance!

Translation by Helios Alexandria - My eve  of an article of the Egyptian newspaper  Youm7,  followed by his comment:

(Youm7) On January 11, General Abdel Fatah el Sissi said in a speech to the directorate for morale Egyptian military: "The adjustment [read change or overhaul] religious discourse is the main battle, and the biggest challenge facing the Egyptian people."

He stressed the need to introduce a new vision and a modern and comprehensive understanding of Islam, replacing immutable that during the last 800 years. He also said it is incumbent on all to conform to the true Islam, to improve the image of the religion to the world, whereas Islam is considered worldwide for decades, as the religion of violence and destruction, because of crimes committed falsely in his name.

Comment Helios Alexandria:

The historian and well-known Egyptian thinker Sayed el Qemni described the rise of Islamism in Egypt (Muslim Brotherhood and Wahhabi Salafism) as a modern version of Islamic invasion of the seventh century AD, and after him the modern version is much worse than the former. 

Sayed el Qemni did not preach in the desert last summer more than thirty millions of Egyptians took to the streets twice, demanding that an end to the tyranny of the Muslim Brotherhood. The army bowed to the will of the people, she filed Morsi and facing an unprecedented wave of violence organized by the Muslim Brotherhood, she had no choice but to dissolve the Brotherhood and declare off-the-law as a terrorist organization.

It is an absolute necessity, because it is in the survival of Egypt as a nation.

Egyptians, without being fully aware, have somehow started the RECONQUISTA Egypt, a heavy moral regaining meaning and with unpredictable consequences. 

General Abdel Fatah and Sissi has seen its popularity soar alone having listened to the people. This man, there is barely a year, could not imagine having to play a political role, is by the force of destiny at the head of his country. There is a reason for this and it must be sought in the eternal soul of Egypt, or if you prefer in the collective unconscious of the Egyptians. 

Indeed Muslim Egypt has repressed its Pharaonic and Christian past, a past that is its true nature slowly rises to the surface and seeks to express. But it is fundamentally incompatible with Islam, if he was not he would not have been repressed. The collective unconscious of the Egyptians is looking for a pharaoh of Egypt restores balance, harmony and peace, that is why el Sissi, on behalf of the Egyptians speak the importance of the overhaul of the Islamic discourse.

How is it that a military commander mixes a subject that is not within its powers? If one refers to the Pharaonic regime, the answer is simple: the Pharaoh in ancient Egypt was not only the king, he was also a religious leader and thereby intermediary between his subjects and the Egyptian gods. 

His authority extended over all the temples and all priests. Because Egypt renews quietly with his true nature, his new boss is found naturally assume moral responsibility Pharaoh, for he is indeed moral responsibility, the civilization of ancient Egypt would not have lasted more three thousand years if the Pharaonic institution not based on solid moral foundations. Egyptian morality is summed up in the concept of Maat which can result in truth-justice-balance-order-harmony-peace, just the opposite of Islam.

That is why the general el Sissi considers that the revision of Islamic discourse is the greatest battle that Egypt must win and the biggest challenge facing the Egyptian people. 

But the Islamic discourse is neither more nor less than Islam itself, insofar as it is based on the Koran, the Sunna and Sharia; recast or correct returns to fundamentally change the religion that the soul of eternal Egypt and his genius can emerge again. It is an absolute necessity, because it is in the survival of Egypt as a nation.

But el Sissi is also a man of his time, he understands the importance of giving back to Islam, which remains the official religion of the country, a new image. Islam must stop look as "religion of violence and destruction" is neither salable nor presentable, he also feels the old full nose has not changed since one iota since 800 years.

Leaves that take hard graft, it is appropriate to impose new elements (free will, tolerance, respect for difference, humility, forgiveness, etc..) That make it more friendly and certainly more consistent with the spirit of Eternal Egypt. El Sissi is betting that the Egyptian people give a deep sigh of relief when the revised version of Islam to be presented.

Time is short, Egypt must get back on track quickly because its survival is at stake as we know Islam is the main handicap, Islam must change in depth. This is what the Egyptian people want to base itself and that is what the general el Sissi fully understood.Hmmm.....Finally a man with 'Common sense', how long before he gets a 'Death Fatwa' on his head?

Related: 

General El-Sisi, the current leader of Egypt, states that Islam needs a reformation. 

General El-Sisi, the current leader of Egypt, states that Islam needs a reformation.

General El-Sisi, the current leader of Egypt, has declared that Islam needs a reformation.HT: ClarionProject.By Ryan Mauro.

Islam, said El-Sisi needs a modern understanding and should not rely on a discourse that has not changed for 800 years

General El-Sisi, the commander of the Egyptian Armed Forces and current head of state, is essentially calling for a reformation in Islam.

His bold declaration comes as the Egyptian people approved a constitution in a vote that the Muslim Brotherhood boycotted. The speech, which went unnoticed in the Western media, took place at the Armed Forces’ Department of Moral Affairs.

In the speech, El-Sisi said: “Religious discourse is the greatest battle and challenge facing the Egyptian people, pointing to the need for a new vision and a modern, comprehensive understanding of the religion of Islam—rather than relying on a discourse that has not changed for 800 years.”

Notice what El-Sisi did not say. He did not say Zionism or Western oppression is the greatest threat to Egypt, nor did he point to a specific group like Al-Qaeda or the Muslim Brotherhood. 

He accurately framed the struggle as an ideological one within Islam. 

When he refers to the “discourse that has not changed for 800 years,” he’s referring to when the most qualified Islamic scholars of that time ruled that all questions about interpretation had been settled. The “gates” of ijtihad, the independent interpretation of Islam, ended by the year 1258. He wants the “gates” reopened, allowing for the critical examination that an Islamic reformation needs. Hmmm.....Finally a man with 'Common sense', how long before he gets a 'Death Fatwa' on his head?Read the full story here.

Senior Al-Azhar Scholars Accuse Muslim Brotherhood 'Godfather' Qaradawi Of “High Treason”.

Senior Al-Azhar Scholars Accuse Muslim Brotherhood 'Godfather' Qaradawi Of “High Treason”.HT: GMBR.

In a continuation of a spate of bad news for Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi, an Internet news portal is reporting that Senior Al-Azhar scholars have called for prosecuting the cleric for what they called “high treason.” According to a Global Dispatch report:


Oct 1st, 2013 Senior Al-Azhar scholars have lashed out at influential Muslim cleric Yusuf Al-Qaradawi for his pro-Muslim Brotherhood statements, with some calling for prosecuting him for ‘high treason,’ according to Ahram Daily.

‘His inflammatory fatwas [edicts] would be considered under any constitution and law to be high treason, and could lead to the individual being stripped of their nationality,’ said Ahmed Karima, Islamic Sharia professor.

Islamic scholars are not alone in taking issue with the prominent sheikh. Some political activists have also condemned his ‘rabble-rousing’ speeches.

‘He continues to incite violence and murder in his sermons against police, army and the people, proving allegations that he serves foreign agendas,’ said Mohamed Moussa of the Conference Party.

Abbas Shoman, under-secretary of Al-Azhar – the highest institutional authority in Sunni Islam, has hit out at Qaradawi for what he has termed ‘hysterical’ statements calling for intervention from the West following Morsi’s overthrow and in response to the interim-government’s recent crackdown on Islamists.

Many of Al-Azhar’s scholars have urged excluding the controversial cleric from the institution’s Senior Scholars Authority.

Qaradawi, one of the most prominent Egyptian Sunni academics in modern history, who chairs the International Union of Muslim Scholars, has recently come under fire for backing toppled Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as his perceived sedition against Egypt’s army and police.

Hundreds have been killed in bitter political unrest, pitting Islamists against Morsi’s opponents and security forces.

Al-Azhar is located in Cairo and the Al-Azhar University is one of the oldest educational institutions in the Islamic world. In July 2008, our predecessor publication reported that Qaradawi had been elected to the Al-Azhar Islamic Research Council.

Youssef Qaradawi is the most important leader of the Global Muslim Brotherhood and is the de facto spiritual leader of the movement. He is also considered to be the “spiritual guide” for Hamas and his fatwas in support of suicide bombings against Israeli citizens were utilized by Hamas to justify their operations.

In 2004, Qaradawi turned down the offer to head he Egyptian Brotherhood after the death of the Supreme Guide. He is based in Qatar and has said the Qatari Emir has protected from being designated as a terrorist by the U.S. He has also reportedly amassed substantial wealth by serving as the Shari’ah adviser to many important Islamic banks and funds.

Qaradawi is the head of the Union of Good (UOG), a worldwide coalition of charities helping to raise funds for Hamas and is the leader of the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR), the theological body of the European Muslim Brotherhood. MEMRI has produced two video compilations of Qaradawi’s extremist statements. The first collection contains Qaradawi’s statements about Europe and the US as well as about Israel and Jews. The second collection contains various statements by Qaradawi on social issues such as discussing the killing of homosexuals and stating that beating is “suitable” for some wives. Qaradawi been banned from entering the US since 1999 and UK since 2008. Last year, authorities also refused him entry into France.

For a more extensive profile of Youssef Qaradawi, go here

Hmmm.....Report: Radical Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi a Key Mediator in U.S.-Taliban Talks

Egyptian Endowments Minister Mohamed Mokhtar revokes licenses for 55,000 imams.

Egyptian Endowments Minister Mohamed Mokhtar revokes licenses for 55,000 imams.(Madamasr).

Endowments Minister Mohamed Mokhtar revoked licenses for 55,000 imams on Monday, warning that all other licenses would also be automatically revoked if they weren’t renewed in the next two months.

Imams would now have to submit a request to the ministry to renew their licenses, accompanied by copies of degrees obtained from Al-Azhar or another ministry-affiliated institute, the minister said, in order to clamp down on unqualified imams delivering political sermons inciting violence.

Imams with degrees from institutes not recognized by the Endowments Ministry would not have their licenses renewed, Mokhtar cautioned.

The ministry also announced that Friday prayers will only be permitted in mosques larger than 80 square meters. Smaller mosques would be required to obtain a written permit from the ministry in order to hold Friday prayers, at the discretion of their respective district heads.

These developments come amid growing fears that mosques are being used to propagate extremist political ideas and incite violence. In recent months, there have been scattered reports of scuffles breaking out inside mosques in response to provocative sermons.

Mokhtar also announced a hotline would be established to report imams violating the ministry’s policies.

Needed: Denouncement of Muslim Anti-Christian Violence.

Needed: Denouncement of Muslim Anti-Christian Violence.(INN).By Ashraf Ramelah.

A plea for Al-Azhar imam to denounce anti-Christian violence by Muslims as a prerequisite to their request for Pope Francis to call Islam a "peaceful religion".

Minority Copts in Egypt continue to live with discrimination, oppression and persecution from the Islamic majority. Muslim attacks on Christians, random and unprovoked, are based on jihad and often sanctioned by the state -- Coptic victims often hauled off to jail for the crimes committed against them. In 1,400 years, not one Egyptian Muslim authority – civic, social, or religious – has apologized, denounced, or condemned these actions, including an entire succession of Al-Azhar grand imams, leaders of Sunni Muslims.

Recent request from the grand imam of Al-Azhar.

Recently, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, and his diplomatic envoy, Mahmoud Abdel Gawad, have requested that the newly installed Catholic head, Pope Francis, issue a public statement declaring that “Islam is a peaceful religion.” We wonder why the Pope would choose to use prescribed words or succumb to urgings for commentary.

Will Pope Francis be influenced by the fact that Al-Azhar made their request (last week in Al-Arabia news) their necessary condition to resume relations, interrupted since the time of Pope Benedict XVI, with the Vatican.

This, in part, explains why the grand imam’s approval for Islam is sought from the head of the Roman Catholic Church and not from the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Tawadros II, with whom Al-Azhar could never hope to form a partnership of pretense. Al-Azhar alone has the power to reform religious followers and change the misnomer, “religion of peace,” into the truth.

However, Al-Azhar alone has the power to restore matters with the Vatican but not by coercing the Catholic Pope. Voice of the Copts believes that the Al-Azhar grand imam instead should issue a formal, public statement directed to his followers in the Arabic language conveying an unequivocal message that Muslims attacking Christians in Egypt do not conform to a tenet of Islam and will no longer be tolerated. A clear denunciation of Muslim sectarian violence against Christians in Egypt by Sunni religious leaders would be welcomed as Al-Azhar seeks the Pope’s endorsement of Muslim non-violence.

The head of Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning, the Muslim community in Egypt and Muslims around the world should demonstrate to the whole world action through his own words uniquely beneficial toward curtailing violence (holy war) by its members and, in the process, reverse the stain upon the name of Islam – a religion that many around the world see as warmongering and violent. A real peace comes from within where the only real progress can be made.

Favorable appraisals of Islam from leaders around the world, whether formulated out of pressure, denial or appeasement, will never repair Islam’s disreputable image -- one earned through a long history of aggression based upon a supremacy doctrine. Islamic authorities of Al-Azhar must first be willing to acknowledge that progress for Islam begins with their own steps toward equality and peaceful co-existence. If so, Egypt might become a hopeful example for human rights in the Middle East instead of what the world sees there today.

A forced statement elicited from Pope Francis could never change the reality of Islam, but only, at best, cause recognition of Islam as something that in practice it is not – the latter exasperating the patience of all who decipher the truth. Al-Azhar is the pre-eminent institution of one of the world’s monotheistic religions yet its agents stoop to efforts both demoralizing and worthless.

Hmmmm........“Violence does not build up the kingdom of God, the kingdom of humanity. On the contrary, it is a favorite instrument of the Antichrist, however idealistic its religious motivation may be,” ~ Pope Benedict XVI.

Video - Sunni-Shiite Differences Exposed at Press Conference with Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Al-Azhar Officials.

Sunni-Shiite Differences Exposed at Press Conference with Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Al-Azhar Officials.Source: Memri.

In Egypt the Baha’i are the proverbial canary in the coal mine.

                                           A small group of Baha'is in Ismailia, Egypt, 1926.


In Egypt the Baha’i are the proverbial canary in the coal mine.(BM).CAIRO: Egypt’s small Baha’i Faith community has faced attack upon attack in its less than 200 year existence in the country. The latest has come from prominent ultra-conservative Salafist leader Abdel Moneim al-Shahat, who called on the government to “protect itself” from the faith by denouncing the faith and calling its followers “blasphemous.”“We will prosecute the Bahai’s on charge of treason,” said Shahat via telephone on Dream 2′s al-Haqiqa TV program.“We as Salafists refuse to deal with Baha’is, because they do not exist by virtue of their faith.”According to Shahat, Bahai’s are not entitled to rights under Islam because they are not recognized by the religion, and any new constitution should not include an amendment protecting their rights.
He cited previous Al-Azhar – the Sunni Islamic world’s most prestigious institution – rulings that said Baha’is are blasphemous.
The world’s newest monotheistic faith, and one that has been oppressed vehemently in Islamic countries, including Egypt, where in the early years of Gamal Abdel Nasser, Baha’i temples and places of worship were closed, and the Baha’i cemetery in the country largely destroyed, continues to face such attacks by the likes of Shahat and others in the country.
In 2009, the Egyptian Baha’i community hoped they had ushered in a new era for identification cards in the country after the first batch of the religious minority was granted new ID’s without a religion written on them. The move came after years of struggling against the state in order not to choose one of the “big three” religions Judaism, Christianity or Islam.
The new ID’s came months after an Egyptian court granted the Baha’i community the right not to list a false religion on the paperwork, something the small minority community had been pushing for in recent years after discrimination has been reported.
Egyptians are forced to have religion noted on their identity cards. Previously, Baha’is were forced to choose between Islam, Christianity or Judaism in order to receive official documents, including birth certificates and passports.
Many of them took their cases to court, claiming that they’d rather leave the religion slot blank than choose a religion other than their own. The court, initially, agreed, and said they could leave the category blank in a move widely praised by religious advocacy groups in the country.
The Baha’i Faith is the most recent, established in 1863, monotheistic religion. It originates from Iran and believes in the progressive revelations of God. Baha’is believe that all religions are true and from God, but that at different times throughout human history, a new manifestation (prophet) is needed in order to adapt to the changing times and cultural traditions.
The main conflict between Muslims and Baha’is is in the idea that Mohamed is not the final prophet of God, which has led to Muslims distrusting Baha’is.
In December 2003, Al Azhar Research Academy, the most authoritative Sunni institution in the world, issued a fatwa against the Baha’i Faith. It stated that Islam does not recognize any religion other than those that the Holy Qur’an has asked to be respected. The fatwa specified the Baha’i Faith, stating that the “Baha’i creed and its likes are intellectual epidemics that should be fought and eliminated by the state.”
It is worth adding that defense of the Baha’i is also a test for the millions of non-Salafist, non-Brotherhood Egyptian organizations and for Egyptian leaders and would-be leaders–starting with the influential Egyptian Judges Club, for example, and with Amre Moussa, former Arab League Secretary General and the leading presidential candidate.
Perhaps even more than the treatment of American and other pro-democracy NGOs, the Baha’i are the proverbial canary in the coal mine when it comes to judging whether Egypt will move toward respect for human rights, protection of minorities, and a state based on law.Read the full story here, more here and here.