Ṣawt al-Azhar

The Shūrá Council has approved a project law to prevent demonstrations in houses of worship. The majority of Egyptian political parties and authorities approved the decision, but certain people have expressed their opposition to it.

Angry reactions continue to be heard in intellectual circles regarding press freedom. The developments in the crisis of the 80-lash Fatwá issued by the grand imām of the Azhar, calls to abolish imprisonment in publishing-related cases, and the future of press in Egypt are the main subjects occupying Egyptian press this week.

The article discusses the invitation to dialogue, initiated by Muslim scholars, to bridge the gap between Muslims and Christians. Muslim scholars are disappointed with Pope Benedict XVI’s negative response to the initiative. The article refers to Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran’s statement in which he claimed that it is difficult to have a theological dialogue with Muslims.

This article deals with some points discussed by the Anglican al-Azhar Dialogue Committee in London with focus on Shaykh Umar al-Dīb’s paper on Muslim minorities in the West.

The Malaysian authorities have suspended the Tamil-language daily Makkal Osai newspaper for a month over publishing an offensive photo of Jesus Christ smoking a cigarette and holding a can of beer.

The under-secretary of the Azhar Shaykh ‘Umar al-Dīn has headed for London to attend the annual meeting for the inter-faith dialogue between the Azhar and the Anglican Church in the U.K.

Islamic communities in The Netherlands have expressed anger over the statements of the head of the Party for Freedom [PVV] Geert Wilders, who called for the ban of the Qur’ān in The Netherlands.

The grand imam and sheikh of Azhar, Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, and Pope Shenouda asked the Palestinian factions and the Palestinian people to unite in order to regain their stolen rights and have a free independent state.
This statements were made during a visit Pope Shenouda made to the Azhar to offer his greetings to Dr. Tantawi on the occasion of Eid El Adha or Greater Bairam.

Īmān ‘Ubayd examines the negative impact of the large number of Islamic satellite channels on Muslim viewers as they present different teachings and cause confusion among simple viewers. ‘Ubayd reports on the statements of Muslim scholars on this issue.

The People’s Assembly Religious Committee rejects the unified call to prayer plan and recommends directing its funds to solve social problems.