Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed El-Tayeb ( ar, أحمد محمد أحمد الطيب) (born 6 January 1946) is an Egyptian

Islamic scholar In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

and the current

Grand Imam of al-Azhar The Grand Imam of al-Azhar ( ar, الإمام الأكبر), also known as Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar ( ar, links=no, شيخ الأزهر الشريف), currently Ahmed el-Tayeb, is a prestigious and a prominent official title in Egypt. He is conside ...

Al-Azhar Al Sharif Al-Azhar Al-Sharif is an Islamic scientific body and the largest religious institution in Egypt. Its headquarters is located in the building of the Sheikhdom of Al-Azhar in the center of the Egyptian capital, Cairo. The history of the establishme ...

and former president of al-Azhar University. He was appointed by the Egyptian President,

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...

, following the death of Mohamed Sayed Tantawy in 2010. He is from

Kurna Kurna (also Gourna, Gurna, Qurna, Qurnah or Qurneh; ar, القرنة) are various spelling for a group of three closely related villages (New Qurna, Qurna and Sheikh ‘Adb el-Qurna) located on the West Bank of the River Nile opposite the moder ...

Luxor Governorate Luxor Governorate has been one of Egypt's governorates since 7 December 2009, when former president Hosni Mubarak announced its separation from the Qena Governorate.

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south. In ancient E ...

, and he belongs to a Sunni Muslim family.

Education

Al-Tayeb studied Doctrine and Philosophy at Al-Azhar University, where he graduated in 1969, after that he had a master's degree and Ph.D. in Islamic philosophy in 1971 and 1977 respectively. Later on, he went to study at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

for six months, from December 1977 to 1978. Afterwards, he held academic posts at Al-Azhar University, then administrative roles in

Qena Qena ( ar, قنا ' , locally: ; cop, ⲕⲱⲛⲏ ''Konē'') is a city in Upper Egypt, and the capital of the Qena Governorate. Situated on the east bank of the Nile, it was known in antiquity as Kaine (Greek Καινή, meaning "new (city)"; ...

and

Aswan Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the ...

, and worked at the

International Islamic University, Islamabad , motto_lang = Arabic , mottoeng = "All those endowed with knowledge have the All-Knowing above them" , established = , closed = , type = Public , affiliation = ...

in Pakistan in 1999–2000. Between 2002 and 2003, al-Tayeb served as

Grand Mufti The Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is the head of regional muftis, Islamic jurisconsults, of a state. The office originated in the early modern era in the Ottoman empire and has been later adopted in a num ...

of Egypt. Al-Tayeb is a hereditary Sufi shaykh from Upper Egypt and has expressed support for a global Sufi league. He has been president of Al-Azhar University from 2003 until 2010.

Political party (past)

Prior to his appointment as the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and president of al-Azhar University, he was a member of Mubarak's National Democratic Party's Policies Committee. He initially refused to resign from his position in the National Democratic Party (NDP) by saying that there was no conflict between his role at Al-Azhar and membership in the party. In April 2010, he resigned from his post in the party.

Views

Muslim Brotherhood

In an article published shortly after his appointment as president of Al-Azhar University, he was described as "a regime loyalist and member of Mr Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party hotakes a firm stance against the Muslim Brotherhood". Tayeb was quoted as saying that Al-Azhar University would "''never be an open field for the Brotherhood''". The same article reported that the Muslim Brotherhood's leader,

Mohammed Badie Mohammed Badie ( ar, محمد بديع ', ; born 7 August 1943) is the eighth Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood. He has headed the Egyptian branch of the international Muslim Brotherhood organization since 2010. Before becoming general gu ...

, had congratulated Tayeb on his appointment. At the same time, the Brotherhood senior member, Sheikh Sayed Askar, also an

Azharite , image = جامعة_الأزهر_بالقاهرة.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Al-Azhar University portal , motto = , established = *970/972 first foundat ...

, accused the government of "promoting one of its own at the expense of people better suited to the post". Criticism intensified after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Some Muslim Brotherhood members accused him of being "a remnant of the ousted Mubarak regime and National Democratic Party". In 2011, following the Egyptian revolution, the Muslim Brotherhood held a rally at the

Al-Azhar mosque Al-Azhar Mosque ( ar, الجامع الأزهر, al-Jāmiʿ al-ʾAzhar, lit=The Resplendent Congregational Mosque, arz, جامع الأزهر, Gāmiʿ el-ʾazhar), known in Egypt simply as al-Azhar, is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt in the histori ...

to oppose what it described as the Judaization of Jerusalem. He said at the rally that "the al-Aqsa Mosque is currently under an offensive by the Jews" and "we shall not allow the Zionists to Judaize al-Quds erusalem. He also alleged that Jews around the world were trying to prevent Islamic and Egyptian unity. He backed the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

against Egyptian President

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012Sunni anti- Alawite preaching, which has increased since the Syrian

Bashar Al Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the S ...

regime, cracked down on the Sunni Muslim rebels in the Syrian Civil War.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

He has strongly condemned the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

and stated that it is acting "under the guise of this holy religion and have given themselves the name 'Islamic State' in an attempt to export their false Islam" and (citing the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

). "The punishment for those who wage war against God and his Prophet and who strive to sow corruption on earth is death, crucifixion, the severing of hands and feet on opposite sides or banishment from the land. This is the disgrace for them in this world and in the hereafter they will receive grievous torment". He has been criticized for not expressly stating that Islamic State was heretical.Al Ahram: "In search of ‘renewal’ - Al-Azhar is at the centre of an escalating controversy" by Amany Maged
15 January 2015 The

Ash'ari Ashʿarī theology or Ashʿarism (; ar, الأشعرية: ) is one of the main Sunnī schools of Islamic theology, founded by the Muslim scholar, Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer, and scholastic theologian Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī in t ...

school of

Islamic theology Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding '' ʿaqīdah'' (creed). The main schools of Islamic Theology include the Qadariyah, Falasifa, Jahmiyya, Murji'ah, Muʿtazila, Batin ...

– to which El-Tayeb belongs – does not allow calling a person who follows the

shahada The ''Shahada'' ( Arabic: ٱلشَّهَادَةُ , "the testimony"), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there i ...

apostate Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of emb ...

. Al-Tayeb has strongly come out against the practice of takfirism, declaring a Muslim an apostate, which is used by Islamic State to "judge and accuse anyone who doesn't toe their line with apostasy and outside the realm of the faith" and declares " jihad on peaceful Muslims" by using "flawed interpretations of some Qur'anic texts, the prophet's Sunna, and the Imams' views, believing incorrectly that they are leaders of Muslim armies fighting infidel peoples in unbelieving lands".Muslim World League: "Sheikh Al-Azhar Speech in opening of conference"
22 February 2015

Wahhabism and Salafism

In late 2016, at a conference of over a hundred Sunni scholars in Chechnya, al-Tayeb defined orthodox Sunnism as "the

tes and

Maturidi Māturīdī theology or Māturīdism ( ar, الماتريدية: ''al-Māturīdiyyah'') is one of the main Sunnī schools of Islamic theology, founded by the Persian Muslim scholar, Ḥanafī jurist, reformer (''Mujaddid''), and scholastic ...

tes (adherents of the theological systems of Imam

Abu Mansur al-Maturidi Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Maḥmūd al-Ḥanafī al-Māturīdī al-Samarḳandī ( fa, أبو منصور محمد بن محمد بن محمود الماتریدي السمرقندي الحنفي; 853–944 CE), often referred t ...

and Imam

Abul Hasan al-Ash'ari Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (; full name: ''Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq al-Ashʿarī''; c. 874–936 CE/260–324 AH), often reverently referred to as Imām al-Ashʿarī by Sunnī Muslims, was an Arab Muslim scholar ...

) ... followers of any of the four schools of thought (

Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...

Shafi'i The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...

Maliki The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...

Hanbali The Hanbali school ( ar, ٱلْمَذْهَب ٱلْحَنۢبَلِي, al-maḏhab al-ḥanbalī) is one of the four major traditional Sunni schools (''madhahib'') of Islamic jurisprudence. It is named after the Arab scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal ...

) and ... also the followers of the Sufism of Imam Junaid al-Baghdadi in doctrines, manners and piritualpurification." Having said that, Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayeb excluded the “Salafis” from the term of Ahluls Sunna (Sunnis) stating that Salafis – also known as Wahhabis – are not from among the Sunnis. The conference was believed to have been designed to take an "uncompromising stand against the growing Takfiri terrorism that is playing havoc across the world."

Shia Islam

In 2016, he reissued the fatwa on Shia Muslims, calling Shia the fifth school of Islam and seeing no problem with conversions from Sunni to Shia Islam.

Christians

In February 2017, he commented on the issue of building a church for 500 Christian Copts in Kom Al Lofi,

Minya Governorate Minya Governorate ( ar, محافظة المنيا ') is one of the governorates of Upper Egypt. Its capital city, Minya, is located on the left bank of the Nile River. Etymology The name originates from the chief city of the governorate, origi ...

, by saying: "their numbers do not allow for the construction of a church.", then he added, "We are a Muslim state and if there was a pre-existing church we would not object to prayers taking place, but why call for having a church now when we need to unite, not cause the occurrence of strife and this is strife caused by the media!" On 7 November 2017, he met

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

in the Vatican, to discuss spreading the culture of peace and coexistence and renouncing extremism and Islamophobia. In February 2019, they met again in Abu Dhabi during the Pope's visit to the United Arab Emirates, where he also signed the ''

Document on Human Fraternity The ''Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together'', also known as the Abu Dhabi declaration or Abu Dhabi agreement, is a joint statement signed by Pope Francis of the Catholic Church and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam ...

''. On 15 November 2019, they met again in the Vatican, to achieve the goals of the signed document. This text later inspired the UN resolution that designated February 4 as the

International Day of Human Fraternity The International Day of Human Fraternity was established by the United Nations General Assembly on December 21, 2020, with resolution 75/200 as a way to promote greater cultural and religious tolerance. With this resolution, which was co-facilit ...

Women

He wrote that Islam forbids Muslim women from marrying non-Muslims, because the latter do not believe in the Prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

and his religion, meanwhile Muslim men would allow their non-Muslim women to practice their religion freely. In May 2021, he wrote on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

: "A woman is permitted to assume senior positions such as in the judiciary or the issuing of fatwas and is also allowed to travel without a guardian", then he added, "there is “no such as thing" as 'Bait Al-Ta’a' (House of Obedience) in Islam, and that guardians have "no right" to prevent women from marrying without adequate reasons."

Awards

* In 2005, he received the

Order of Independence Order of Independence or Independence Order ( vi, Huân chương Độc lập) is a Vietnamese decoration. Criteria The Vietnamese government states that the decoration "shall be conferred or posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthum ...

by King of Jordan, Abdullah II of Jordan, during his participation in the International Islamic Conference which was held in Jordan that year. * In 2013,

Sheikh Zayed Book Award The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is a literary award begun in the UAE. It is presented yearly to "Arab writers, intellectuals, publishers as well as young talent whose writings and translations of humanities have scholarly and objectively enriched Arab ...

, Cultural Personality of the Year. * The Muslim 500 Mention * In March 2020 at the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan

Shavkat Mirziyoyev Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev (Uzbek Latin: ''Shavkat Miromonovich (Miromon o‘g‘li) Mirziyoyev'', Uzbek Cyrillic: Шавкат Миромонович (Миромон ўғли) Мирзиёев ; born 24 July 1957) is an Uzbek politician ...

, Imam Ahmad el-Tayyeb has been awarded the title of

Honorary Citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

of Samarkand at the International Conference " Imam Abu Mansur Maturidi and the Teachings of Maturidiyya: The Past and the Present" in Samarkand. The Governor of Samarkand, Babur Applakulov, granted Ahmad el-Tayyeb, the status of honorary citizen of the city of Samarkand, after the decision was ratified by the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and the President of the Republic of

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

. The honor comes in recognition of el-Tayyeb's efforts to propagate moderate thoughts of Islam worldwide and strengthen the Egyptian-Uzbek ties.

Books

References

External links

* at Al-Azhar Mosque and University {{DEFAULTSORT:Tayeb, Ahmed Grand Imams of al-Azhar Asharis Living people 1946 births Sunni imams Egyptian imams Egyptian Sufis Egyptian Muslims Al-Azhar University alumni University of Paris alumni Grand Muftis of Egypt Egyptian Sunni Muslims Egyptian Maliki scholars Anti-Zionism in Egypt People from Luxor Governorate Islamic scholars in Egypt