Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

The Azhar’s Academy of Islamic Research approved that a Christian family may have custody of and bring up Christian orphans in Egypt. [Michael ‘Ādil, Rose al-Yūsuf newspaper, March 1, p, 3] Read text in Arabic

Political activist Michael Meunier, the leader of Al-Haya Party, denied all prosecution charges of involvement in the October 9 incidents outside the state radio & TV building in the area of Maspero that left 24 people dead and 350 others wounded. [Hātim al-Jahmī, al-Shurūq al-Jadīd, Feb. 23, p. 9] Read text in Arabic

Lawyers of the martyrs’ families called for applying “the severest penalty” – execution – against ousted President Husnī Mubārak, his sons Jamāl and ‘Alā’, former interior minister Habīb al-‘Ādlī and six of his top aides on charges of involvement in killing demonstrators during the January 25, 2011 upheaval. [‘Isām Milījī, Khālid Abū al-‘Iz, Samīrah ‘Alī ‘Ayyād and ‘Amr ‘Alī al-Fār, al-Shurūq al-Jadīd, Jan. 10, p. 1] read original text in Arabic

Islam criminalizes attacks on churches and non-Muslim houses of worship as Islamists, namely the Muslim Brotherhood and a number of Salafī parties, volunteered to protect churches during the New Year celebrations. [Dīyā' Abū al-Safā, Akhbār al-Yawm, p. 7, Jan. 1] Read original text in Arabic

The Iftā' House announced that Shaykh 'Imād 'Ifat, the Fatwá Secretary there, was killed in clashes and acts of violence off the cabinet office on Friday 16 after he was shot in the heart. ['Umar 'Abd al-Jawād, Al-Jumhūrīyah, Dec. 17, p. 2] Read original text in Arabic

Sahar Al-Ja'ārah writes about a Fatwá made by Shaykh Mahmūd ‘Āmir, President of Ansār al-Sunnah al-Muhammadiyyah group at Damanhūr, which calls for the slaying of Muhammad al-Barād‘ī, former president of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), for civil disobedience and incitement to disobey President Husnī Mubārak.

Al-Ja'ārah sees ‘Āmir's Fatwá as "abnormal," and a ploy that gets him closer to the ruling regime.

She added that ‘Āmir's Fatwás always justify political succession. Moreover, he addresses Egypt as if it were an ancient Islamic caliphate ruled by Sharī‘ah law.

Al-Ja'ārah questions the silence of the country for this moral terrorism.

Al-Jamā‘ah al-Islāmiyyah will soon launch a new Urdu-language website in 2011 that plans to reach out to the approximately 200 million East Asian Muslims who speak the language.

"The purpose of this website is to deliver the Islamic message without being excessive and overbearing. Part of it is also for those who use violence, for those who kill women and children, who execute terrorist operations in order to distort the image of Islam, like al-Qā‘idah network," says Dr. Nājih Ibrāhīm, Member of the Shurá Council.

Nājih then explained that the website has 15 sections, the most important of which are: the definition of current issues, the Fatwá section, and the definition of the group's initiative.

The author discusses the dominance of Islam in the school curriculum in Egypt, considering this a “cultural purification” against people of other religions that contradicts international human rights resolutions. He has prepared a study of the Arabic language curriculum in elementary and preparatory schools and supports his argument with abstracts and examples from the book.