Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

On Wednesday, al-Maydān published an interview with Dr. Ahmad al-Tayyib, the Grand Imām of the Azhar.

Al-Tayyib said that those who carried out the bombing of the Church of the Two Saints in Alexandria on New Year’s Day are “enemies of the Prophet.”

The interviewer told the Grand Imām that some Egyptians had commented that his visit to Pope Shenouda after the bombing was confirmation that Muslims had carried out the attack and that the visit was tantamount to an apology.

After being told by the interviewer that some Egyptians consider the Grand Imām’s post-attack visit to Pope Shenouda to be an apology, al-Tayyib responded that he, like Pope Shenouda, is from southern Egypt, where the offering of condolences is a duty.

“I felt that such an act was directed against Egypt as a whole…it was an expression of solidarity between the brothers of one nation,” said al-Tayyib.

Regarding the recent Azhar decision to freeze dialogue with the Vatican following Pope Benedict’s alleged intervention in Coptic affairs, the Grand Imām said that “we could never criticize someone like the Vatican Pope” if his statements did not represent illegitimate interference in sovereign Egyptian matters.

Al-Tayyib added, “We are waiting for the Vatican Pope to make an initiative in directing a good word toward Muslims, which would dispel their fears and remove some of the [negative] holdovers and misunderstandings that arose because of previous statements.” 

Al-Shurūq al-Jadīd reports that scholars attending the preparatory meeting for the Sixth World Forum of Azhar Graduates issued a statement in support of the Azhar’s decision to freeze dialogue with the Vatican.

The Azhar’s Islamic Research Academy decided to suspend its biannual religious dialogue sessions with the Vatican after Pope Benedict XVI made several statements calling for the protection of Arab Christians.

“Such positions by the Vatican cast a shadow on the effectiveness of dialogue with the Catholic Church,” read the report at the closing session of the Azhar meeting, adding, “The dialogue will be resumed when there is a genuine change in the Pope’s attitude towards Islam and Muslims.”

The statement also claimed that dialogue is an essential part of Islamic Sharī‘ah, saying that conversation will continue with institutions and religious figures considered to be moderate, according to the al-Shurūq al-Jadīd story.

The Azhar will soon reverse its decision to suspend religious dialogue with the Vatican, according to al-Dustūr.

Mahmūd ‘Azab, Councilor to the Grand Imām of the Azhar, is quoted by the newspaper as saying that the Azhar has not abandoned the principle of dialogue with the Vatican, and that its freezing is temporary.

On Friday, both Rose al-Yūsuf and al-Ahrār boasted major front-page stories on the Azhar’s decision to freeze its religious dialogue with the Vatican.

Meanwhile, according to al-Ahrār, “The Azhar denounced both governments and peoples over the suicide phenomenon that has recently spread among youth. In a separate statement it announced the freezing of the dialogue with the Vatican.”

The Grand Imām of the Azhar met over the weekend with former Lebanese President Amīn al-Jamayal, who submitted an offer to mediate between the Azhar and the Vatican for a resumption of dialogue, according to Rose al-Yūsuf.

Last week, the Azhar froze its bi-annual interfaith dialogue sessions with the Vatican in response to Pope Benedict’s repeated criticisms of Islamic countries for not providing better protection for Christians.

Dr. Ahmad al-Tayyib said the Azhar respects Christians, adding that he will send a message of brotherliness and peace to the Vatican, expecting a positive reply.

The report did not provide details of al-Jamayal’s proposed mediation.

The article of ‘Abd al-‘Azīz reports about the Azhar’s indefinite suspension of interfaith dialogue with the Vatican.

Pope Benedict XVI’s repeated criticism on Islam and his calls for increased protection of Christians in Egypt and the Middle East are named as main reasons for the Azhar’s freeze of interfaith relations.

Pope Benedict's recent comments on the Alexandria church bombing have been perceived as interference in the country’s internal affairs.

The Coptic Orthodox Church did not send representatives to the founding meeting of the Azhar’s Family Home initiative on Saturday, according to al-Wafd.

A church source told the paper that two senior members of the Coptic Orthodox hierarchy had been scheduled to attend the meeting, but he attributed their absence to the church’s “desire to receive a written conceptualization of the mechanics of the initiative’s operations.”

Proposed by Azhar Grand Imām Ahmad al-Tayyib after the recent Alexandria church bombing, the Family Home initiative was meant to serve as an interfaith committee that promotes tolerance and coexistence on behalf of the Azhar and the church. 

The source claimed that the Coptic Orthodox Church continues to support the initiative, which will be co-chaired by the Grand Imām and the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch. Representatives of Egypt’s Evangelical and Catholic denominations were present at the meeting.

Last week, a report in ‘Aqīdatī claimed that the Family Home initiative was to be composed of members who did not align themselves ideologically with the Azhar. A later report in Rose al-Yūsuf said that the Councilor to the Grand Imām rejected efforts by the Egypt Peace Lover's Society to launch the iniatiave without permission from the Azhar.

Meanwhile, al-Ahrār reports that the name of the initiative was chanaged from the “Family Home” to the “Egyptian Home,” so as to more clearly represent all Egyptians.

In a separate development, Coptic Catholic Church spokesman Rafīq Greish said the Vatican is currently attempting to resume its dialogue with the Azhar. 

Greish anticipates that Cardinal Antonius Najīb, the Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria, will bear a letter from Pope Benedict to the Azhar when he returns to Egypt from Rome on Monday, according to al-Wafd.

The Azhar froze religious dialogue with Rome following comments by Pope Benedict regarding the protection of Middle Eastern Christians.

[A similar report was carried in al-Dustūr, p.3. and al-Ahrār, p.1]

The Azhar’s decision to freeze religious dialogue with the Vatican has aroused controversy in Christian, legal, and intellectual circles in Egypt, according to al-Dustūr.

Last week the Sunnī Islamic institution made the decision to indefinitely suspend its bi-annual interfaith dialogue sessions with the Vatican after a dispute over Pope Benedict’s recent call for improved protection of Christians by the Egyptian government.

Some have described the step as natural, given the state of diplomatic relations between Cairo and the Vatican, while others say it represented an unjustified escalation.

The Vatican’s recent positions have not been positive, according to Coptic intellectual Rafīq Habīb, who claims that much of Rome’s recent behavior has proved to be provocative to Muslims in the region.

Kamāl Zākhir, a leading secular Coptic intellectual, tells al-Dustūr that there is simply a misunderstanding over the pope’s statements. Zākhir added that the Azhar’s actions are normal, predicting that bilateral relations would return to normal in the future.

However Husām Bahjat, Chairman of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, criticized the Azhar’s action, saying it was unjustified and likely linked to the presence of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry inside the institution of the Azhar.

Representatives attending the closing session of the Islamic Parliamentary Conference in Abu Dhabi say that Egypt is an example of genuine coexistence between Muslims and Christians, according to state-supported al-Jumhūrīyah.

The paper says that conference attendees expressed their support for Egypt’s rejection of any interference by Western powers that claim they are protecting Christians in Muslim countries.

People’s Assembly Speaker Ahmad Fathī Surūr announced that the conference had sent a clear message to the Western world regarding the Muslim position on this issue.

Surūr said that the conference’s closing communiqué will be sent to national parliaments around the globe, including the European Parliament.

Last week, the Azhar recalled its ambassador to the Vatican over statements by Pope Benedict calling for the protection of Middle Eastern Christians in light of the recent church attack in Alexandria. The Azhar also announced that it has frozen religious dialogue with the Vatican, saying that the statements represented an interference with internal Egyptian affairs.

Egyptian Endowments Minister Mahmūd Hamdī Zaqzūq and Gregorius III, Patriarch of Antioch, All the East and Alexandria and Jerusalem, met on Saturday to discuss the recent quarrel following the Vatican pope’s call for improved protection of Middle Eastern Christians in light of the recent church attack in Alexandria.

Five different Egyptian newspapers carried stories involving the meeting, which took place in Cairo.

According to state-supported al-Ahrām, the patriarch stressed that, although the statement made by Pope Benedict XVI provoked an angry Egyptian reaction, it did not contain any offense to Egypt, blaming “a news channel” that had distorted its content.

The patriarch insisted that the Vatican respects Egypt and its status in the Islamic world.
Likewise, the minister of Endowments said that he emphasized Egypt’s respect for the Vatican pope.

However, Zaqzūq held firm his stance of total rejection of any interference with internal Egyptian affairs, saying that the protection of Copts is Egypt’s responsibility. According to Zaqzūq, Muslims and Copts are both the sons of one nation, and as such, any aggression against a church is equal to an assault against a mosque.

[The report also appeared in Al-Dustūr, Al-Akhbār, Rose al-Yūsuf, and Al-Ahrār]