At his residence in Berlin, Germany, HE Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif, received Mr. Mahmoud Farazandeh, the Iranian Ambassador to Germany. The Grand Imam averred that the state of division and disunion of the Muslims today is due to un-Islamic tendencies against which the Glorious Qur’an warns, as Allah the Almighty says, “And do not dispute amongst yourselves lest you fail.” This conflict has led to the division of the Islamic efforts and of the Muslims, and their lack of a unified Islamic vision and objective to which we can refer despite differences.
The Grand Imam further noted that the most dangerous contemporary challenge to the Muslims is how to convince policymakers and decision-makers that a higher Islamic interest should be unanimously agreed upon, no matter how different personal interests there may be. He then pointed out that the Muslim scholars have frequently highlighted the importance of Muslim unity, but political powers have always run the affairs against the dictates of logic and reason. He also noted that such powers have abandoned the common higher interest in favor of some individual and subjective policies. Grand Imam At-Tayyeb then asserted that the major contemporary global challenge is represented in the fact that aspects of scientific progress are divested from religious, moral and even humane values to the extent that we are suffering a real crisis of alienation and exclusion of religion from the human life. Hence, he maintained, the only way out of this impasse is that global decision-makers embrace a binding moral and humane framework and give preference to human
over individual interests.
Imam At-Tayyeb further maintained that Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif adheres to the unity of Muslims, and that it will not hesitate to proceed in doing everything it can to place this project on the Islamic map, no matter what the costs may be, including facing hardships and challenges.
For his part, Mr. Farazandeh expressed his pleasure to meet the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, and stressed Iran’s appreciation of His Eminence's efforts to reunite the Muslim nation. He pointed out that Iran believes in the influence of Al-Azhar and its ability to unite the Muslims and guide them to the right path, and to encounter those who attempt to disseminate false and deviant stereotypical images about Islam.
Mr. Farazandeh also affirmed that Iran welcomes inter-Muslim dialogue as called for by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar at the Bahrain Forum for Dialogue. He highlighted Iran’s appreciation of the rapprochement projects among the various schools of Islamic thought, as adopted by the Grand Imam.
He then stressed that Al-Azhar's voice is heard around the Muslim world and that it enjoys remarkable credibility.
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