Al-Azhar University

Al-Azhar University
جامعة الأزهر Game'at Al-ʾAzhar al-Šarīf
Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo Egypt
Established	970~972 AD
Type	Public
Religious affiliation	Sunni Islam
President	Dr. Osama al-A'bd
Location	Cairo, Egypt 30°02′45″N 31°15′45″E / 30.04583°N 31.2625°E / 30.04583; 31.2625Coordinates: 30°02′45″N 31°15′45″E / 30.04583°N 31.2625°E / 30.04583; 31.2625
Campus	Urban
Website	azhar.edu.eg/En/index.htm

Al-Azhar University (pronounced "AZ-har", Arabic: جامعة الأزهر الشريف‎; Game'at Al-ʾAzhar al-Šarīf, "the Noble Azhar University") is an educational institute in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 970~972 as a madrasa, it is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Islamic learning in the world.^[1] It is the oldest degree-granting university in Egypt. In 1961 non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum.^[2]

It is associated with Al-Azhar Mosque in Islamic Cairo. The university's mission includes the propagation of Islamic religion and culture. To this end, its Islamic scholars (ulamas) render edicts (fatwas) on disputes submitted to them from all over the Sunni Islamic world regarding proper conduct for Muslim individuals and societies. Al-Azhar also trains Egyptian government appointed preachers in proselytization (da'wa).^{[citation needed]}

Its library is considered second in importance in Egypt only to the Egyptian National Library and Archives.^{[citation needed]} In May 2005, Al-Azhar in partnership with a Dubai information technology enterprise, ITEP launched the H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Project to Preserve Al Azhar Scripts and Publish Them Online (the "Al-Azhar Online Project") with the mission of eventually providing online access to the library's entire rare manuscripts collection (comprising about seven million pages).^[3][4]

History

Al-Azhar University concerns itself with the religious syllabus, which pays special attention to the Quranic sciences and traditions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, on the one hand, while on the other hand the university teaches all the modern fields of science. In 1961, according to Al-Azhar university's legislatory law No. 103, new colleges of applied sciences, such as the faculties of Medicine and Engineering, were introduced to Al-Azhar university. These newly introduced faculties are not duplicates of their counterparts in other universities because they combine the empirical sciences with the religious sciences. Alongside the Egyptian students who are studying at Al-Azhar university, there are also many other students from various Islamic and European countries. These foreign Muslim students have exactly the same rights as the Egyptian students.^{[citation needed]}

The madrasa was founded by the Fatimid dynasty of Egypt, descended from Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad. Fatimah was called Az-Zahra (the brilliant), and the university was named in her honor.^{[citation needed]}

Studies began at Al-Azhar in the month of Ramadan, 975 AD. According to Syed Farid Alatas, the Jami'ah had faculties in Islamic law and jurisprudence, Arabic grammar, Islamic astronomy, Islamic philosophy, and logic.^[5][6] In the 12th century, following the overthrow of the Ismaili Shia Fatimid dynasty, Sultan Saladin (the founder of the staunchly Sunni Ayyubid Dynasty) converted Al-Azhar to a Shafi'ite Sunni center of learning.^[1][7] Abd-el-latif delivered lectures on Islamic medicine at Al-Azhar, while the Jewish philosopher Maimonides delivered lectures on medicine and astronomy there during the time of Saladin.^[8]

In 1961, Al-Azhar was established as a university under the government of Egypt's second President Gamal Abdel Nasser when a wide range of secular faculties were added for the first time, such as business, economics, science, pharmacy, medicine, engineering and agriculture. Before that date, the Encyclopaedia of Islam classifies the Al-Azhar variously as madrasa, center of higher learning and, since the 19th century, religious university, but not as a university in the full sense, referring to the modern transition process as "from madrasa to university".^[2][9] An Islamic women's faculty was also added in the same year, six years after Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah had been the first woman to speak at the university.^{[citation needed]}.

Magazine publishing

Since 1929, Al-Azhar has published a magazine (now monthly), the stated mission of which is to publicise religious rules, subjects related to Islamic literature, and basic jurisprudence (Fiqh), including sections on history, biographies, translated texts, and news concerning the Muslim world.^{[citation needed]}

Political views

Sheikh Tantawy noted that among the priorities of Muslims are "to master all knowledge of the world and the hereafter, not least the technology of modern weapons to strengthen and defend the community and faith". He added that "mastery over modern weaponry is important to prepare for any eventuality or prejudices of the others, although Islam is a religion of peace.".^[10]

Sheikh Tantawy also reasserted that his is the best faith to follow (a tenet common to proponents of many religions) and that Muslims have the duty of active da'wa. He has made declarations about Muslims interacting with non-Muslims who are not a threat to Muslims. There are non-Muslims living apart from Muslims and who are not enemies of Islam ("Muslims are allowed to undertake exchanges of interests with these non-Muslims so long as these ties do not tarnish the image of the faith"), and there are "the non-Muslims who live in the same country as the Muslims in cooperation and on friendly terms, and are not enemies of the faith" ("in this case, their rights and responsibilities are the same as the Muslims so long as they do not become enemies of Islam"). However, Shi'a fiqh (according to a fatwa by Al-Azhar, the most respected authority in Sunni Islam)^[11] is accepted as a fifth school of Islamic thought.

On freedom of speech

In October 2007, Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, then the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, drew allegations of stifling freedom of speech when he asked the Egyptian government to toughen its rules and punishments against journalists. During a Friday sermon in the presence of Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and a number of ministers, Tantawy is alleged to have stated that journalism which contributes to the spread of false rumours rather than true news deserves to be boycotted, and that it is tantamount to sinning for readers to purchase such newspapers. Tantawy, a supporter of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, also called for a punishment of eighty lashes to "those who spread rumors" in an indictment of speculation by journalists over Mubarak's ill health and possible death.^[12][13] This is not the first time that he has criticized the Egyptian press regarding its news coverage nor is it the first time he in return has been accused by the press of opposing freedom of speech. During a religious celebration in the same month, Tantawy released comments alluding to "the arrogant and the pretenders who accuse others with the ugliest vice and unsubstantiated charges". In response, Egypt's press union issued a statement suggesting that Tantawy appeared to be involved in inciting and escalating a campaign against journalists and freedom of the press.^[14]

Al-Azhar after 25th January Revolution

Since its founding in the 10th century, al-Azhar has been an unrivaled touchstone of Islamic thinking, guiding the devout in their understanding of the faith and educating millions through its distinguished university and education system. Co-opted for decades by irreligious and autocratic Egyptian governments (with the president since 1961 having the exclusive power to appoint al-Azhar's top official — the grand sheik), al-Azhar is perceived by some as just one more tool of state control. Many Egyptian leaders have in the past used the institution's good name to give their policies a religious blessing.

In the aftermath of the 2011 Egyptian revolution, there is widespread agreement among politicians in Egypt that al-Azhar needs greater independence. Members of Egypt's two main Islamist groups — the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafist Al-Nour Party party — who control between them an overwhelming majority in Egypt's new parliament sworn in in January 2012, are working on legislation that would strip the grand sheik of his lifetime appointment and that could give them a major role in choosing a successor. Egypt's ruling generals, days before the new parliament convened, approved a law that would authorize a committee of scholars to choose the grand sheik but that would effectively allow the current Grand Sheik Mohamed Ahmed el-Tayeb to pick the committee.

The current grand sheik, el-Tayeb, is a Sorbonne-educated scholar who emphasizes interfaith dialogue and is known for his relatively progressive fatwas, the religious pronouncements that carry the weight of law when issued by al-Azhar. But he was also a committee member in Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party and was appointed by Mubarak himself.

Politicians from An-Nour and the Muslim Brotherhood, who have been reluctant to directly challenge the nation's military rulers, argue that el-Tayeb is too closely tied to the old regime to lead an organization that will pass judgment on the religious merits of all legislation approved by Egypt's new government. They also recognize that, given al-Azhar's historical position as the center of Sunni Islamic thought and jurisprudence, it is poised to wield vast influence over how political Islam is implemented regionwide.^[15]

Notable persons associated with the university

Al-Azhar University has had a huge impact on the religious, cultural and political arena in Egypt, the Arab World, and the wider Muslim world

19th – early 20th centuries

• Muhammad Abduh and Sayd Jamal edin Afghani, founder of Islamic Modernism
• Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, founder and leader of Black Hand
• Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, Mufti of Jerusalem
• Cheikh Chouaïb Doukkali, Former Moroccan minister of Justice, President of the Moroccan Appellate Court and a pioneer within the Moroccan independence movement
• Ahmed Orabi, Egyptian nationalist and army general who led the Urabi Revolt against Khedive Tewfik

1910s–1950s

• Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (he graduated from Darul 'Uloom which is an affiliate of Cairo University)
• Mehmed Handžić, a leader of Bosnian revivalists, one of authors of Resolution of Sarajevo Muslims and chairman of the Committee of National Salvation
• Omar Abdel Rahman, leader of Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, which has been designated a terrorist group by the governments of the United States and Egypt; currently serving a life term for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing
• Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, the leader and founder of The Islamic Political Party, Hizb ut-Tahrir (The Party of Liberation)
• Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, co-founder and leader of Hamas
• Saad Zaghlul, leader of 1919 revolution in Egypt
• Taha Hussein, Influential Egyptian writer and intellectual
• Muhammad Ma Jian, translator of the Qur'an into the Chinese language
• Ahmad Meshari Al-Adwani, Kuwaiti poet and writer of Kuwait's national anthem Al-Nasheed Al-Watani

1950–present

This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability or notability policies. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources cited within this article showing they are notable and alumni or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (May 2012)

• Akhtar Raza Khan, Renowned Islamic jurist, current Grand Mufti of India and incidentally, Great Grandson of Barelvi Islamic Scholar and Polymath Ahmed Raza Khan.^[16] He was also awarded Fakhr e Azhar (Pride of Al Azhar) award by Al-Azhar University.^[17]
• Mohammed Burhanuddin, Dai of Dawoodi Bohra done rediscovery of Al-Azhar University's past History and was Awarded Ph.d from Al-Azhar University.^[18]
• Shire Jama Ahmed, Somali linguist who devised a Latin script for the Somali language.^[19]
• Mahmud Shaltut,^{[citation needed]} Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar, issued in 1959 a Fatwa, declaring that Al-Azhar recognizes Shi'ism as a valid branch of Islam
• Abdel-Halim Mahmoud,^{[citation needed]} Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar, introduced the study of Sufism as a science through his prolific writings and lectures on the matter
• Ahmed Subhy Mansour,^{[citation needed]} Islamic scholar, cleric, and founder of the Quranists, who was exiled from Egypt, and lives in the United States as a political refugee
• Taha Jabir Alalwani, President of Cordoba University (Ashburn, VA, USA), former Chairman of the Fiqh Council of North America, and the President of the International Institute of Islamic Thought in Herndon, Virginia (USA).^[20]
• Gus Dur,^{[citation needed]} Former President of Indonesia
• Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy,^{[citation needed]} former Grand Imam of Al-Azhar (March 17, 1996 to March 10, 2010)
• Muhammad Metwally Al Shaarawy^{[citation needed]} is an Egyptian Muslim jurist and made many publications under his name
• Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Former President of The Republic of Maldives.
• Abdulla Saeed, Former Chief Justice, and Justice Supreme Court of The Republic of Maldives.^[21]
• Abdulla Mohamed, Chief Judge, Criminal Court of The Republic of Maldives.^[22]
• Fathulla Jameel, Former Foreign Minister of Maldives.
• Muhammad Jameel Didi Maldives Author and writer who is known as teacher of the generation.

See also

	Egypt portal
	Islam portal
	University portal

• List of Presidents of Al-Azhar University
• List of universities in Egypt

Outside Egypt

• Al-Azhar University – Gaza
• Al-Azhar University – Doha
• Markazu Saqafathi Sunniya

References

Further reading

• Witte, Griff (March 3, 2012). "At al-Azhar Mosque, struggle over Islam roils a revered Egyptian institution". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/at-al-azhar-mosque-struggle-over-islam-roils-a-revered-egyptian-institution/2012/03/01/gIQAIzmNpR_story.html. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Al-Azhar University

• Al-Azhar University
• Al-Azhar University (Arabic)
• Al-Azhar Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (English)
• Dar Al Ifta (English) (Al-Azhar for Islamic Fatwā)
• Al Azhar-US Embassy English Language Resource Center (ELRC)
• Al Azhar-West Dialog Project (English)
• Educational website for Al-Azhar Institutes (English)
• Documentary video film on Al-Azhar University in (Arabic)^{[dead link]}
• History and organization of Al-Azhar (English)
• Islam for Today
• Muslim Heritage
• Al-Azhar University rules for international students admission (Arabic only)
• New Grand Sheikh at Al-Azhar University: Fighting Extremism in A Suit and Tie
• archive.mumineen.org