Following the Azhar thesis that declared Rose al-
Yūsuf Kāfir entitled,
‘Rose al-Yūsuf wa tawajjuhātuhā fī
mīzān al-Islām,’ [Rose
al-Yūsuf and its Orientations in the Scale of Islām] many
articles, research papers and other
writings appeared discussing issues “in the scale of Islām.” Author Mahmūd
Khalīl expresses
that this is contracting Islām to a limited entity where people claim their own opinions
and convictions
considering them to be Islām itself.
Such people are authorizing themselves to judge that
which is
God’s authority alone. Khalīl expressed his astonishment to the Azhar University’s silence
regarding
the title of the thesis, and as such becoming the first academic institution in Egypt to authorize
judging
people’s faith and religious affiliation.
Khalīl expressed that an individual can have his or
her personal concept and understanding of Islām; however, the danger is when an entire institution adopts
this
person’s viewpoint and lacks objectivity, especially in academic issues.
He then referred to
the degrading
level of academic life in Egypt, asserting that that the thesis defense sessions turned into
mere ceremonies
without any real academic value. Furthermore, many professors do not like participating in
these sessions because
of the poor financial income resulting from them. He also referred to the lack of
objectivity in the sessions of
discussing the thesis.
