Grand Imam of Al-Azhar lectures Indonesian youths on pivotal role of national unity in facing crises

The Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta held a public meeting today with His Eminence Prof. Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders, on the occasion of his visit to Indonesia.

The event was attended by university professors, researchers, Indonesian students from various universities, several ministers, ambassadors, and heads of religious institutions, and was under the patronage of His Excellency Mr. Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia.

In his speech during this public event, which focused on "The Unity of the Ummah in Facing Challenges," the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders emphasized that the Muslim nation illuminated the entire world after it had been engulfed in darkness from all sides. This Ummah, he noted, corrected the course of humanity with its Noble Quran and its Great Messenger, setting humanity once again on a clear path, a path as bright as daylight, from which only the doomed deviate. "The Muslim Ummah is currently afflicted, as you know, with symptoms akin to those of endemic diseases," His Eminence added. "Addressing one symptom often leads to grappling with a myriad of others, leaving the efforts exhausted."

He stated that those who contemplate the greatness and strength of Islamic civilization, which was founded on justice and fairness, will be greatly astonished when they look at what it has now become. Although it has not disappeared or vanished, it has undoubtedly reached a state of weakness and withdrawal that is hard to miss by the eyes of Muslims themselves before non-Muslims.