The Sheikh of Al-Azhar receives the Chief of the Pakistani Army Staff to discuss enhancing joint cooperation
The Grand Imam, Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Sheikh of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, received today, Thursday, at the Sheikhdom of Al-Azhar, Field Marshal Asim Munir, Chief of the Pakistani Ground Staff. To discuss ways to enhance joint cooperation between Al-Azhar and Pakistan.
The Grand Imam said that he is proud of the relationship between Al-Azhar and Pakistan, this country dear to the hearts of Muslims, noting that he retains memories dear to his heart during the period he spent working as a professor at the University of Islamabad for a year, and that he found the Pakistani people a friendly, strong and productive people, and seeks to strengthen their confidence. With its local products and industries.
His Eminence indicated that Al-Azhar receives 254 Pakistani students studying in various educational levels there, including 162 on full scholarships that Al-Azhar offers to the people of Pakistan. Al-Azhar offers 30 scholarships annually to the people of Pakistan, stressing Al-Azhar’s readiness to increase these scholarships in a way that meets the needs of the Pakistani people and contributes to consolidating societal peace and spreading the culture of positive coexistence and acceptance of others in society.
His Eminence also affirmed Al-Azhar’s readiness to establish a center for teaching the Arabic language in Pakistan. In service to the people of Pakistan in learning the language of the Holy Qur’an, and receiving new delegations of imams from Pakistan for training at the Al-Azhar International Academy for training imams and preachers, and honing their skills in refuting the arguments and proofs that extremist groups use to spread their extremist ideas, which they use to distort the image of Islam.
In the context of confronting extremist thought, Fadila stressed The Grand Imam said that Al-Azhar spares no effort in combating this ideology, which uses the latest technological means and methods to spread and control the minds of our Muslim youth and invade their privacy inside their homes and living rooms without the slightest oversight, pointing out that Muslim scholars and thinkers have played a major role in exposing the deviations of terrorist groups and their misinterpretation of religious texts, whether the Qur’an or the Prophet’s hadith. Adding that the spread of this extremist ideology is carried out by funded countries and global entities that seek to weaken the Muslim body and place it in the face of permanent challenges and crises. To distract it from the tasks of progress and production, and to weaken its ability to assume its appropriate position in the new world order.
His Eminence also stressed that our Islamic world suffers from division and fragmentation, pointing to the internal conflicts sweeping many Islamic countries, saying: “The parties to the conflict in the countries of our Islamic world memorize the noble Prophet’s hadith by heart: «If two Muslims meet with their swords, both the murderer and the victim will be in Hell.» It was said: O Messenger of God, this is the killer, so what happened to the killed person? He said: He was keen to kill his companion, but there was no way to implement it and work on it due to the tyranny of politics and the primacy of narrow interests over the higher interests represented in the reunification of the Muslim body, unity and Islamic solidarity.
The Sheikh of Al-Azhar indicated that maintaining societal peace was one of the Prophet’s first priorities after his migration to Medina; He found separate and warring communities of Jews, polytheists, Ansar, and other groups, and so the first thing he, may God bless him and grant him peace, did was to bring brotherhood between the immigrants and the Ansar, and to sign the Constitution of Medina between Muslims and Jews, all with the aim of ensuring societal peace. Because of his belief, peace and blessings of God be upon him, that without this, the Islamic community would not be able to achieve tangible progress.
For his part, the Pakistani Chief of Army Staff expressed his happiness at meeting the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, and his country’s appreciation for the great efforts made by His Eminence in supporting the issues of the Islamic nation and spreading the correct image of our true religion, praising the prominent role played by Al-Azhar in spreading the culture of brotherhood and positive coexistence between societies, He added that our Islamic world is witnessing several crises and challenges, foremost of which is the spread of extremist groups, which are trying to distort religious texts to justify their extremism and distort the tolerant image of Islam, stressing that Islam is a religion of tolerance and peace.
The Pakistani Chief of Army Staff affirmed his country’s endeavor to benefit from the experiences of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in the field of combating extremist ideas and groups, by strengthening cooperation with the Foundation. Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in the areas of training the imams of Pakistan in the Al-Azhar International Academy for Training Imams and Preachers, appreciating the Sheikh of Al-Azhar’s proposal to increase scholarships offered to the people of Pakistan and establishing the Al-Azhar Center for Teaching the Arabic Language in Pakistan.
At the end of the meeting, the Chief of the Pakistani Army Staff extended an invitation to His Eminence the Grand Imam to visit Pakistan, stressing that the Pakistani people love the Sheikh Al-Azhar holds great prestige and awaits his visit with great eagerness. His Eminence welcomed this generous invitation, declaring: “I would love to visit Pakistan, as it is a country dear to my heart, and I have many memories of it that I would like to recall and remember when I visit it again.”
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