Tag: Al-Azhar

Weary Copts urge Pope Francis to challenge Sisi over attacks and chronic discrimination

April 27, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Al-Azhar, Copts, Egypt, Palm Sunday, Pope Francis, Pope Tawadros II, Tanta

Egyptian Copts have welcomed Pope Francis’ “insistence” that his visit to Cairo this week go ahead despite the recent attacks on two churches that killed 45 worshippers. The head of the Catholic Church will arrive in Cairo on Friday and visit President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar . . . Read More

Merkel accused of downplaying attacks on Copts

March 3, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Al-Azhar, Copts, Egypt, North Africa, Pope Tawadros II, Sinai, Sunni

A leading German Catholic priest yesterday (2 March) criticised German Chancellor Angela Merkel for “genuflecting” to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and failing to raise human-rights concerns as she headed to North Africa for trade talks. Joachim Schroedel, who has worked in Egypt for more than two decades, rejected Mrs . . . Read More

Copts attacked, forced to settle for nothing, in absence of Egyptian justice

July 27, 2016 Egypt Al-Azhar, Anba Macarius, Bishop Angaelos, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Luxor, Pope Tawadros II, Salafism, Sharia, Soad Thabet, Sunni

Eight Christian homes were attacked and an equal number of Copts were detained after Muslims in an Egyptian village went on a rampage following rumours of a house church being built. The attack last week in Saft el-Khirsa (180km south of Cairo) trails more than a dozen others that have, . . . Read More

Al-Azhar: to leave Islam is ‘treason’

June 22, 2016 Al-Azhar, Apostasy, Cairo, Converts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Mohammed Hegazy, Ramadan, Sharia, Sunni

To convert away from Islam is “treason” that should carry the death penalty, according to Sunni Islam’s topmost religious authority. “The penalty for an open apostate, departing from the community, is well stipulated in Sharia,” Al-Azhar’s Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayyib declared on Egypt television last week. “An apostate must be . . . Read More

Egypt’s imams and priests confront sectarianism together

December 29, 2015 Egypt Al-Azhar, Cairo, Hosni Mubarak, Ismailia, Luxor, Mohamed Morsi, Port Said, Sohag

For three years, the Imam-Priest Exchange has brought Christian and Muslim leaders together to deepen religious unity.World Watch Monitor Gathered at Cairo’s prestigious Dar al-Mudarra’at military complex in early December, 150 imams and priests heard some of Egypt’s highest religious authorities praise their participation in a three-year programme to . . . Read More

Al-Azhar bans book on blasphemy in Egypt

September 28, 2015 Egypt Al-Azhar, Blasphemy, Cairo, Egypt, Islamic extremism

Egypt’s top Islamic authority visited a well-known bookshop in central Cairo last week, telling it to halt sales of the book “Blasphemy in Egypt” by two prominent Egyptian authors. “Officials representing Al-Azhar and the Egyptian Ministry of Islamic Endowments visited Madbouli Bookshop and asked them to stop selling the book . . . Read More

Coptic boys on bail, anti-Islam charges pending

June 18, 2015 Egypt Al-Azhar, Blasphemy, Copts, Gad Younan, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Muslim Brotherhood, Ramadan

The last of four Egyptian boys accused of having “offended” Islam has been released on bail while trial is expected to continue after the Muslim month of Ramadan. The 17-year-old student from Upper Egypt was released after 62 days in prison, subject to the payment of 10,000 Egyptian pounds, equivalent . . . Read More

Egypt seeks international help against IS after 21 Christians beheaded

February 16, 2015 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Al-Azhar, Bishop Angaelos, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Libya, Minya, Samalut, Terrorism, Wahhabism

Egypt began seven days of national mourning after Islamist militants released a graphic video on 15 February, depicting the mass beheading of 20 Coptic Christians and a Ghanaian Christian in Libya. Originally it was believed that all 21 men were Coptic Egyptians, but on 25 February MidEast Christian News confirmed . . . Read More

Muslims condemn threats toward Egypt’s Christians

December 23, 2014 Egypt Al-Azhar, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Muslim Brotherhood, Salafism

According to Fides News Agency, recognized Muslim academics from the Arab world’s most prestigious Islamic university have denounced recent threats made by extremist Islamists against Egyptian Christians. In the lead up to Christmas, celebrated on Jan. 7 by Coptic Christians, death threats and organized attacks against Christian communities have been . . . Read More

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