Elsisi: Revolution of Religious Discourse Required

[Frogman]

In the wake of the terrorist attacks in France western media has suddenly paid attention to something the Egyptian President Mr/ Abdulfattah Elsisi said over the new year (and has been reiterating for the past two) .

Your constructive thoughts will be welcome.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written by : Waleed Abdul Rahman
on : Friday, 2 Jan, 2015

Egypt: Sisi calls for “renewal” of religious discourse
Egypt's Awqaf Ministry to hold international conference on Islamic discourse in February

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi speaks during a news conference with Cyprus’ President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras (unseen) after their summit in Cairo, on November 8, 2014. (Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has called for a “revolution” in religious discourse to confront extremist ideology during a speech celebrating the birth of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad on Thursday.

Sisi called for “revamping religious speech in accordance with the tolerant Islamic religion” during the celebration organized by Egypt’s Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments). The Egyptian president called on the Awqaf Ministry and Al-Azhar, the highest Sunni authority in the country, to do more to combat extremist ideology and promote a moderate understanding of Islam.

“This renewal [of religious discourse] must be conscious and preserve the values of true Islam, eliminating sectarian polarization and addressing extremism and militancy,” the president added.

In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, Egypt’s Awqaf Minister Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa said: “My ministry, which overseas around 200,000 mosques across the country, is exerting unremitting efforts to develop religious discourse by using modern technology to immunize Egyptians, and particularly the youth, against takfirist and destructive ideas.”

Gomaa called on Egypt’s scholars to return Islamic discourse to its rightful place, stressing that this must be “flexible” and open to different interpretations.

“The ministry is in the process of preparing for an international conference set to take place in February on this issue and which will discuss correcting and renewing Islamic religious discourse,” he added. Gomaa said that the summit will seek to address some of the “mistakes” being promoted by groups affiliated with Islam and which are harming the youth’s understanding of the religion.

“Islamic religious scholars from across the world will confirm in one voice: ‘no’ to extremism, and ‘yes’ to tolerance,” he said.

During his speech, Sisi specifically called on Al-Azhar scholars to lead the process of revitalizing religious discourse in Egypt and confronting extremist ideology and incitement to violence, an implicit reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, which the Egyptian state holds responsible for a series of terrorist attacks in the country following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi.

In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, professor of Islamic jurisprudence at Al-Azhar University Abdul Halim Mansour said: “Renewing religious discourse requires a return to the religious discourse that was present during the time of the Prophet which was characterized by flexibility, without imposing itself on anybody.”

Egypt: Sisi calls for “renewal” of religious discourse « ASHARQ AL-AWSAT

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Al-Azhar responds to Sisi’s call for ‘religious revolution’

CAIRO: Dar al-Iftaa has responded to President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s call for a “religious revolution” by launching a national project aiming to correct the image of Islam through social media, foreign visits, publications, and issuing fatwas that “suit the modern age,” Ibrahim Negm, advisor to the Grand Mufti said in Friday press statements.

“We should closely examine the situation in which we are in. It does not make sense that the thought we sanctify pushes this entire nation to become a source of apprehension, danger, murder and destruction in the entire world,” Sisi said in a Thursday speech before Egypt’s top religious leaders on the occasion of the Birth of Prophet Mohamed.

“I am not saying the religion [itself]. I am saying this thought that has been sanctified; texts and thoughts that have been sanctified for hundreds of years. And disagreeing with [these texts and thoughts] has become very difficult. To the extent that [this thought] makes an enemy of the whole world,” Sisi added.

Dar al-Iftaa, Egypt’s government-sponsored religious institution responsible for issuing fatwas and religious opinions, will work to achieve the “highest degree of effective communication” with Muslims in Egypt, Arab countries and the world.

Established in 970, Al-Azhar is the most prestigious Sunni institution in the Islamic world.

Al-Azhar’s newly formed Monitor of Infedilizing Fatwas Dept., which responds to radical Islamists’ fatwas labeling other Muslims apostates, has already issued many articles slamming the “extremist opinions” of “non-specialized” sheikhs that receive the attention of a segment of Muslims.

“You cannot feel what [this thought] is when you are inside it. You have to get out of it, inspect it, and read it with a real enlightened thought. You need to take a strong stance. I am reiterating, we need a religious revolution,” Sisi said in his speech, prompting Al-Azhar scholars to applaud.

Dar al-Ifta’s Facebook page, launched in 2011, has garnered 1.1 million likes; the Monitor of Infedelizing Fatwas Dept., launched in June 2014, has 96,300 likes.

On Dec. 26, 2014 Dar al-Ifta launched an international campaign to introduce the “mercy” of the character of Prophet Mohamed. On Dec. 3, Egypt hosted an inter-faith conference to fight extremism. The conference was attended by 700 Islamic and Christian scholars from 120 states. It has also issued several publications refuting the Islamic State (IS) group’s ideology, especially in terms of the treatment of women and slavery.

It has also intensified its efforts to reach out to Muslims who do not speak Arabic by launching a Facebook page in English, which has 56,050 likes thus far. Dar al-Iftaa has also begun offering Islamic studies’ classes and publications in English to curb the recruitment of foreign Muslims by terrorist organizations.

Al-Azhar responds to Sisi’s call for ‘religious revolution’ | Cairo Post

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UPDATED: Sisi first Egyptian President to attend Coptic Christmas mass
Ahram Online , Tuesday 6 Jan 2015

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has attended the Coptic Christmas mass to mark the first attendance ever made by an Egyptian president to the religious occasion.

El-Sisi arrived at Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo's Abbasiya district during the mass and gave a brief speech before leaving instantly.

He said that both of Egypt's Muslims and Christians are celebrating this occasion, asserting that they are "one entity" in the world's eyes.

He added that he had to come to congratulate the Coptic community and then apologised for interrupting the mass.

Video footage broadcast by State TV – covering the full mass – showed crowds cheering as El-Sisi entered the Cathedral with churchmen and saluted Pope Tawadros II.

Former Egyptian heads of state have visited the Cathedral including Gamal Abd El-Nasser and interim President Adly Mansour, but this is the first time for a president to attend the mass.

The annual Coptic mass was advanced by a tight security presence as Christian sites have been previously targeted by sectarian attacks.

On New Year’s Day in 2011, a deadly bombing at a church in Alexandria killed 23 people.

On Tuesday, unknown gunmen shot and killed two Egyptian policemen guarding a Catholic church in the southern Egyptian city of Minya.

Churches and Christian properties have also come under attack as a wave of violence spreads across Egypt, mostly focused on police and army personnel.

This was most notable on 14 August 2013 when the deadly dispersal of two pro-Morsi protest camps was followed by attacks on dozens of churches especially in Upper Egypt.

Coptic Orthodox Christians, who make up around 90 percent of Egypt’s Christians, break their 43-day fast and celebrate Christmas on 7 January, almost two weeks after most Western denominations. The difference results from the use of different calendars.

UPDATED: Sisi first Egyptian President to attend Coptic Christmas mass - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online

 

[Frogman]

From Egypt's leader, an ambitious call for reform in Islam

By SARAH EL DEEB and LEE KEATHJanuary 8, 2015 3:27 AM

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's president opened the new year with a dramatic call for a "revolution" in Islam to reform interpretations of the faith entrenched for hundreds of years, which he said have made the Muslim world a source of "destruction" and pitted it against the rest of the world.

The speech was Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's boldest effort yet to position himself as a modernizer of Islam. His professed goal is to purge the religion of extremist ideas of intolerance and violence that fuel groups like al-Qaida and the Islamic State — and that appear to have motivated Wednesday's attack in Paris on a French satirical newspaper that killed 12 people.

But those looking for the "Muslim Martin Luther" bringing a radical Reformation of Islam may be overreaching — and making a false comparison to begin with. El-Sissi is clearly seeking to impose change through the state, using government religious institutions like the 1,000-year-old al-Azhar, one of the most eminent centers of Sunni Muslim thought and teaching.

Al-Azhar's vision for change, however, is piecemeal, and conservative, focusing on messaging and outreach but wary of addressing deeper and more controversial issues.

Al-Azhar officials tout a YouTube channel just launched to reach out to the young, mimicking radicals' successful social media outreach to disenfranchised youth. They proudly point out that clerics in the videos wear suits, not al-Azhar's traditional robes and turbans, to be more accessible.

Young people "have a negative image toward this garb," said Mohie Eddin Affifi, an al-Azhar official. "As soon as they see it they don't listen."

In a more ambitious effort, religious school textbooks are under review. Affifi said texts outlining rules for slavery, for instance, have been removed.

It's a problem across the Muslim world: State religious institutions are burdened by stagnation and heavy control by authorities.

For decades, al-Azhar has lost credibility in the eyes of many Muslim youth who see it as mouthpiece of the state rather than an honest interpreter of religion. More appealing to some young men and women searching for identity in a rapidly changing world are calls for a return to the roots of the faith, including from the extremists of al-Qaida and the Islamic State.

In his Jan. 1 speech at al-Azhar addressing Muslim clerics — held to mark the Prophet Muhammad's birthday — el-Sissi called on them to promote a reading of Islamic texts in a "truly enlightened" manner to reconsider concepts "that have been made sacred over hundreds of years."

By such thinking, the Islamic world is "making enemies of the whole world. So 1.6 billion people (in the Muslim world) will kill the entire world of 7 billion? That's impossible ... We need a religious revolution."

Radicals — and el-Sissi's Islamist political opponents who have wide religious followings — angrily denounced el-Sissi, saying he was trying to corrupt the religion. Even secularists, who would normally promote a more modern interpretation of Islam, frowned at el-Sissi's statist approach to such a complicated issue. "A state-approved revolution," questioned Amina Khairi, a columnist in the generally pro-state newspaper al-Watan.

And even state religious officials pushed back against the use of the word "revolution" or the idea of dramatic change.

Affifi, from al-Azhar, told the AP that el-Sissi didn't mean changing texts -- something even el-Sissi quickly made clear in his speech.

"What the president meant is that we need a contemporary reading for religious texts to deal with our contemporary reality," said Affifi, who is secretary general of the Islamic Research Center. The center is an Al-Azhar body responsible for studying Islamic issues and for providing preachers to explain religious affairs to the police, military, schools, government and private companies. It is also responsible for censorship.

He said al-Azhar has already been working for months on such a campaign, following calls for modernizing the faith that el-Sissi has been making since his May presidential election campaign. Committees have been examining textbooks used in the large network of grade schools and universities that al-Azhar runs across Egypt to remove things that have "no place in modern life." Texts on slavery and on refusing to greet Christians and Jews, for example, have been removed.

Affifi said positions on issues like slavery, jihad and dealings with non-Muslims were adopted by scholars five centuries ago in a particular historical context. "These were opinions of scholars, these interpretations are not sacred."

There is also a push to encourage a nationalism that officials see as moderating religious sentiment. El-Sissi this week attended Christmas services for Egypt's Orthodox Coptic Christians and declared that Egyptians should not view each other as Christians or Muslims but as Egyptians.

The sheik of al-Azhar has launched a campaign in schools and universities promoting the message that "love of nation is part of faith," said Affifi. Al-Azhar also plans to introduce a new Islamic culture course in all of Egypt's universities, Affifi said.

For el-Sissi, the impetus for his modernization campaign is not only the violence wreaked by extremist groups around the Mideast and the world. It's also rooted in his political rivalry with the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sissi, then head of the military, led the overthrow in July 2013 of an elected president from the Brotherhood, and since then Egypt has cracked down hard on Islamists, with hundreds killed in street clashes and thousands jailed.

To counter Islamists' claims of religiosity, el-Sissi has presented himself throughout his rise as a pious proponent of a moderate, mainstream Islam.

At the same time, his government has shown little tolerance for dissent of any kind. That raises a key problem with the "religion revolution" — state control over religious reform could just stifle it. Al-Azhar has always claimed to be the bastion of "moderate" Islam, but it has moved to silence progressive and liberal re-interpretations just as often as radical ones.

"Any religious modernization will ultimately be against al-Azhar, since it is the conservative fortress in the system," said Amr Ezzat, religion researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. The "authority of religion over modern life and law is what needs to be reviewed. What we need is freedom to have more than one religious discourse to enrich discussion, because as it is pluralism is outlawed."

State control of al-Azhar makes those most vulnerable to militancy least likely to listen.

If the sheik of al-Azhar speaks out against radicalism — as he often does — "no one who is remotely inclined to a violent interpretation will be impressed by that," said H.A. Hellyer, a fellow at the Centre for Middle East policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "They will say: You are just an ally of the state, instead of a genuinely independent figure."

Like Ezzat, he says only independent voices can present a counter-narrative to militant thought. But al-Sissi shows no sign of allowing that, Hellyer said.

His idea for the faith "is something rather docile to the needs of the state rather than independent," Hellyer said.

From Egypt's leader, an ambitious call for reform in Islam - Yahoo News

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Will Egypt show America how to win the war on radical Islamic jihadism?


By Charles Ortel - - Thursday, January 8, 2015
NEW YORK — The biggest story not yet covered appropriately in mainstream media plays out now in Egypt, where President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi attacks the root causes of continuing conflict between certain adherents of Islam and freedom-loving secularists, in defiance of President Obama and of fierce critics.

Living in a nation of 87 million persons, where an estimated 90 percent are Muslim, President el-Sisi is certain that the Muslim Brotherhood is not a secular organization, or a force for good and so his government holds hundreds of members of that organization in prison, where many face death sentences, including former President Mohammed Morsi.

To see what President el-Sisi confronts now, peruse the still-operating English language website of the brotherhood.

President el-Sisi plays for his life against determined internal and external opposition while President Obama merely preens before friendly partisan crowds.

Recently this year, the fully engaged leader of Egypt began a drive to reform Islam from within.

His address to religious authorities at Al-Azhar University in Cairo on Jan. 1 is a stunning “must-read” and “must-share” development that only now is getting attention it so richly deserves.


Wednesday, President el-Sisi put in a public appearance at a Christmas mass in Cairo-an historic first in Egypt’s modern history.

Working with allies including Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, el-Sisi is channeling foreign capital into a raft of development programs that may finally spark economic progress inside Egypt, while cutting off external funding from states such as Qatar who until recently had been supporting the Muslim Brotherhood worldwide.

Meanwhile, our president and his addled foreign policy team cannot bring themselves to understand that radical Islamic jihadism is a practice that must be wholly discredited and then expunged from the modern lexicon, should we actually wish to remain an interconnected set of global markets.

What the West can learn watching events in Egypt

Like it or not, America and allies who cherish freedom and modernity are already at war.

Our president cannot bring himself to admit that a large number of “folks” will continue harming all who refuse to submit in precise ways to the will of God, wherever each of us may live.

Meddling relentlessly outside our own borders in jurisdictions where he, and we, have no official authority, Mr. Obama cannot argue successfully that self-appointed enforcers of radical Islamist precepts have no right to mete out their brand of justice inside American and allied territories.

Refusing to be candid with any but a small clique of partisan cronies, our commander-in-chief has set the table for a full course global conflict — though he may believe he can run away from the reality spread out before us, history will prove him wrong.

If America and remaining allies are serious about achieving progress in the quagmire the “War on Terror” has become, we must understand what animates our enemies and then work with true friends to vanquish dread foes.

Apply some enlightened logic

At the core of continuing conflict is an irreconcilable difference between those who see net benefit in freedom under secular law and those who require others to surrender free will and submit to a rigid set of religious precepts.

For years, informed analysts have warned of dangers posed to freedom-loving secular nations by rigid and intolerant humans who claim they are only following instructions set from on high.

We learn now in France how dangerous it is to be naive — modernity has potent enemies who will strike hard and do grievous harm, even when cartoons offend and excite them.

Moreover, certain firebrand extremists display implacable intolerance.

Apologists for the latest set of outrages carried out by these ignorant and ignoble thugs abound—and their arguments run the predictable gamut, including blaming cartoonists for inciting their own murders, alleging income and material inequality are structural causes of violence, or accusing those who are outraged now of succumbing to Islamophobia.

Surely, anger is no excuse for murder.

Clearly, no freedom loving nation can allow mini-states to emerge within and then advocate hate and destruction of their host.

Differences of opinion even concerning religious matters are never actually settled using violence.

We are reminded now of a different view with which free people can not possibly reconcile, or tolerate — no person may kill anyone for failing to submit to the dictates of Islam, or to any other religion.

Each of us is endowed with free will for excellent reasons.

Unlike Mr. Obama, the president of Egypt grasps a chance to achieve greatness.

We need to join with him, stand up for freedom, and reject barbarism.


CHARLES ORTEL: Will Egypt show America how to win the war on radical Islamic jihadism? - Washington Times

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The WT article is a bit retarded but it does show the views of some in the west.

 

[Armstrong]

This is a pleasant surprise; hmmmmn....I wonder if its sincere or if its just politicking like most politicians do.

But if it is sincere; this is very encouraging to hear.

 

[Winchester]

This change of discourse has to come from leaders and institutions who have legitimacy in the eyes of the population
AL-Azhar can play an important role here...it recently opened a campus in Pakistan
Sachtimes - Al-Azhar University campus inaugurated in Karachi

 

[Zarvan]

In the wake of the terrorist attacks in France western media has suddenly paid attention to something the Egyptian President Mr/ Abdulfattah Elsisi said over the new year (and has been reiterating for the past two) .

Your constructive thoughts will be welcome.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written by : Waleed Abdul Rahman
on : Friday, 2 Jan, 2015

Egypt: Sisi calls for “renewal” of religious discourse
Egypt's Awqaf Ministry to hold international conference on Islamic discourse in February
View attachment 182767
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi speaks during a news conference with Cyprus’ President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras (unseen) after their summit in Cairo, on November 8, 2014. (Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has called for a “revolution” in religious discourse to confront extremist ideology during a speech celebrating the birth of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad on Thursday.

Sisi called for “revamping religious speech in accordance with the tolerant Islamic religion” during the celebration organized by Egypt’s Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments). The Egyptian president called on the Awqaf Ministry and Al-Azhar, the highest Sunni authority in the country, to do more to combat extremist ideology and promote a moderate understanding of Islam.

“This renewal [of religious discourse] must be conscious and preserve the values of true Islam, eliminating sectarian polarization and addressing extremism and militancy,” the president added.

In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, Egypt’s Awqaf Minister Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa said: “My ministry, which overseas around 200,000 mosques across the country, is exerting unremitting efforts to develop religious discourse by using modern technology to immunize Egyptians, and particularly the youth, against takfirist and destructive ideas.”

Gomaa called on Egypt’s scholars to return Islamic discourse to its rightful place, stressing that this must be “flexible” and open to different interpretations.

“The ministry is in the process of preparing for an international conference set to take place in February on this issue and which will discuss correcting and renewing Islamic religious discourse,” he added. Gomaa said that the summit will seek to address some of the “mistakes” being promoted by groups affiliated with Islam and which are harming the youth’s understanding of the religion.

“Islamic religious scholars from across the world will confirm in one voice: ‘no’ to extremism, and ‘yes’ to tolerance,” he said.

During his speech, Sisi specifically called on Al-Azhar scholars to lead the process of revitalizing religious discourse in Egypt and confronting extremist ideology and incitement to violence, an implicit reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, which the Egyptian state holds responsible for a series of terrorist attacks in the country following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi.

In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, professor of Islamic jurisprudence at Al-Azhar University Abdul Halim Mansour said: “Renewing religious discourse requires a return to the religious discourse that was present during the time of the Prophet which was characterized by flexibility, without imposing itself on anybody.”

Egypt: Sisi calls for “renewal” of religious discourse « ASHARQ AL-AWSAT

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Al-Azhar responds to Sisi’s call for ‘religious revolution’

CAIRO: Dar al-Iftaa has responded to President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s call for a “religious revolution” by launching a national project aiming to correct the image of Islam through social media, foreign visits, publications, and issuing fatwas that “suit the modern age,” Ibrahim Negm, advisor to the Grand Mufti said in Friday press statements.

“We should closely examine the situation in which we are in. It does not make sense that the thought we sanctify pushes this entire nation to become a source of apprehension, danger, murder and destruction in the entire world,” Sisi said in a Thursday speech before Egypt’s top religious leaders on the occasion of the Birth of Prophet Mohamed.

“I am not saying the religion [itself]. I am saying this thought that has been sanctified; texts and thoughts that have been sanctified for hundreds of years. And disagreeing with [these texts and thoughts] has become very difficult. To the extent that [this thought] makes an enemy of the whole world,” Sisi added.

Dar al-Iftaa, Egypt’s government-sponsored religious institution responsible for issuing fatwas and religious opinions, will work to achieve the “highest degree of effective communication” with Muslims in Egypt, Arab countries and the world.

Established in 970, Al-Azhar is the most prestigious Sunni institution in the Islamic world.

Al-Azhar’s newly formed Monitor of Infedilizing Fatwas Dept., which responds to radical Islamists’ fatwas labeling other Muslims apostates, has already issued many articles slamming the “extremist opinions” of “non-specialized” sheikhs that receive the attention of a segment of Muslims.

“You cannot feel what [this thought] is when you are inside it. You have to get out of it, inspect it, and read it with a real enlightened thought. You need to take a strong stance. I am reiterating, we need a religious revolution,” Sisi said in his speech, prompting Al-Azhar scholars to applaud.

Dar al-Ifta’s Facebook page, launched in 2011, has garnered 1.1 million likes; the Monitor of Infedelizing Fatwas Dept., launched in June 2014, has 96,300 likes.

On Dec. 26, 2014 Dar al-Ifta launched an international campaign to introduce the “mercy” of the character of Prophet Mohamed. On Dec. 3, Egypt hosted an inter-faith conference to fight extremism. The conference was attended by 700 Islamic and Christian scholars from 120 states. It has also issued several publications refuting the Islamic State (IS) group’s ideology, especially in terms of the treatment of women and slavery.

It has also intensified its efforts to reach out to Muslims who do not speak Arabic by launching a Facebook page in English, which has 56,050 likes thus far. Dar al-Iftaa has also begun offering Islamic studies’ classes and publications in English to curb the recruitment of foreign Muslims by terrorist organizations.

Al-Azhar responds to Sisi’s call for ‘religious revolution’ | Cairo Post

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UPDATED: Sisi first Egyptian President to attend Coptic Christmas mass
Ahram Online , Tuesday 6 Jan 2015

View attachment 182769


Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has attended the Coptic Christmas mass to mark the first attendance ever made by an Egyptian president to the religious occasion.

El-Sisi arrived at Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo's Abbasiya district during the mass and gave a brief speech before leaving instantly.

He said that both of Egypt's Muslims and Christians are celebrating this occasion, asserting that they are "one entity" in the world's eyes.

He added that he had to come to congratulate the Coptic community and then apologised for interrupting the mass.

Video footage broadcast by State TV – covering the full mass – showed crowds cheering as El-Sisi entered the Cathedral with churchmen and saluted Pope Tawadros II.

Former Egyptian heads of state have visited the Cathedral including Gamal Abd El-Nasser and interim President Adly Mansour, but this is the first time for a president to attend the mass.

The annual Coptic mass was advanced by a tight security presence as Christian sites have been previously targeted by sectarian attacks.

On New Year’s Day in 2011, a deadly bombing at a church in Alexandria killed 23 people.

On Tuesday, unknown gunmen shot and killed two Egyptian policemen guarding a Catholic church in the southern Egyptian city of Minya.

Churches and Christian properties have also come under attack as a wave of violence spreads across Egypt, mostly focused on police and army personnel.

This was most notable on 14 August 2013 when the deadly dispersal of two pro-Morsi protest camps was followed by attacks on dozens of churches especially in Upper Egypt.

Coptic Orthodox Christians, who make up around 90 percent of Egypt’s Christians, break their 43-day fast and celebrate Christmas on 7 January, almost two weeks after most Western denominations. The difference results from the use of different calendars.

UPDATED: Sisi first Egyptian President to attend Coptic Christmas mass - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online

This man moves will only end up giving more support and base to so called extremists

 

[Aslan]

Lets reform Islam, but shall not reform our selves. Way to go AFSISI

 

[zyx97531]

sisi graduates from killing masri turks & sunnis in salat at masjids to "reforming" religion.
bibi must be getting jealous of his muppet.

 

[T-Rex]

In the wake of the terrorist attacks in France western media has suddenly paid attention to something the Egyptian President Mr/ Abdulfattah Elsisi said over the new year (and has been reiterating for the past two) .

Your constructive thoughts will be welcome.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written by : Waleed Abdul Rahman
on : Friday, 2 Jan, 2015

Egypt: Sisi calls for “renewal” of religious discourse
Egypt's Awqaf Ministry to hold international conference on Islamic discourse in February
View attachment 182767
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi speaks during a news conference with Cyprus’ President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras (unseen) after their summit in Cairo, on November 8, 2014. (Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has called for a “revolution” in religious discourse to confront extremist ideology during a speech celebrating the birth of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad on Thursday.

Sisi called for “revamping religious speech in accordance with the tolerant Islamic religion” during the celebration organized by Egypt’s Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments). The Egyptian president called on the Awqaf Ministry and Al-Azhar, the highest Sunni authority in the country, to do more to combat extremist ideology and promote a moderate understanding of Islam.

“This renewal [of religious discourse] must be conscious and preserve the values of true Islam, eliminating sectarian polarization and addressing extremism and militancy,” the president added.

In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, Egypt’s Awqaf Minister Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa said: “My ministry, which overseas around 200,000 mosques across the country, is exerting unremitting efforts to develop religious discourse by using modern technology to immunize Egyptians, and particularly the youth, against takfirist and destructive ideas.”

Gomaa called on Egypt’s scholars to return Islamic discourse to its rightful place, stressing that this must be “flexible” and open to different interpretations.

“The ministry is in the process of preparing for an international conference set to take place in February on this issue and which will discuss correcting and renewing Islamic religious discourse,” he added. Gomaa said that the summit will seek to address some of the “mistakes” being promoted by groups affiliated with Islam and which are harming the youth’s understanding of the religion.

“Islamic religious scholars from across the world will confirm in one voice: ‘no’ to extremism, and ‘yes’ to tolerance,” he said.

During his speech, Sisi specifically called on Al-Azhar scholars to lead the process of revitalizing religious discourse in Egypt and confronting extremist ideology and incitement to violence, an implicit reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, which the Egyptian state holds responsible for a series of terrorist attacks in the country following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi.

In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, professor of Islamic jurisprudence at Al-Azhar University Abdul Halim Mansour said: “Renewing religious discourse requires a return to the religious discourse that was present during the time of the Prophet which was characterized by flexibility, without imposing itself on anybody.”

Egypt: Sisi calls for “renewal” of religious discourse « ASHARQ AL-AWSAT

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Al-Azhar responds to Sisi’s call for ‘religious revolution’

CAIRO: Dar al-Iftaa has responded to President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s call for a “religious revolution” by launching a national project aiming to correct the image of Islam through social media, foreign visits, publications, and issuing fatwas that “suit the modern age,” Ibrahim Negm, advisor to the Grand Mufti said in Friday press statements.

“We should closely examine the situation in which we are in. It does not make sense that the thought we sanctify pushes this entire nation to become a source of apprehension, danger, murder and destruction in the entire world,” Sisi said in a Thursday speech before Egypt’s top religious leaders on the occasion of the Birth of Prophet Mohamed.

“I am not saying the religion [itself]. I am saying this thought that has been sanctified; texts and thoughts that have been sanctified for hundreds of years. And disagreeing with [these texts and thoughts] has become very difficult. To the extent that [this thought] makes an enemy of the whole world,” Sisi added.

Dar al-Iftaa, Egypt’s government-sponsored religious institution responsible for issuing fatwas and religious opinions, will work to achieve the “highest degree of effective communication” with Muslims in Egypt, Arab countries and the world.

Established in 970, Al-Azhar is the most prestigious Sunni institution in the Islamic world.

Al-Azhar’s newly formed Monitor of Infedilizing Fatwas Dept., which responds to radical Islamists’ fatwas labeling other Muslims apostates, has already issued many articles slamming the “extremist opinions” of “non-specialized” sheikhs that receive the attention of a segment of Muslims.

“You cannot feel what [this thought] is when you are inside it. You have to get out of it, inspect it, and read it with a real enlightened thought. You need to take a strong stance. I am reiterating, we need a religious revolution,” Sisi said in his speech, prompting Al-Azhar scholars to applaud.

Dar al-Ifta’s Facebook page, launched in 2011, has garnered 1.1 million likes; the Monitor of Infedelizing Fatwas Dept., launched in June 2014, has 96,300 likes.

On Dec. 26, 2014 Dar al-Ifta launched an international campaign to introduce the “mercy” of the character of Prophet Mohamed. On Dec. 3, Egypt hosted an inter-faith conference to fight extremism. The conference was attended by 700 Islamic and Christian scholars from 120 states. It has also issued several publications refuting the Islamic State (IS) group’s ideology, especially in terms of the treatment of women and slavery.

It has also intensified its efforts to reach out to Muslims who do not speak Arabic by launching a Facebook page in English, which has 56,050 likes thus far. Dar al-Iftaa has also begun offering Islamic studies’ classes and publications in English to curb the recruitment of foreign Muslims by terrorist organizations.

Al-Azhar responds to Sisi’s call for ‘religious revolution’ | Cairo Post

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UPDATED: Sisi first Egyptian President to attend Coptic Christmas mass
Ahram Online , Tuesday 6 Jan 2015

View attachment 182769


Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has attended the Coptic Christmas mass to mark the first attendance ever made by an Egyptian president to the religious occasion.

El-Sisi arrived at Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo's Abbasiya district during the mass and gave a brief speech before leaving instantly.

He said that both of Egypt's Muslims and Christians are celebrating this occasion, asserting that they are "one entity" in the world's eyes.

He added that he had to come to congratulate the Coptic community and then apologised for interrupting the mass.

Video footage broadcast by State TV – covering the full mass – showed crowds cheering as El-Sisi entered the Cathedral with churchmen and saluted Pope Tawadros II.

Former Egyptian heads of state have visited the Cathedral including Gamal Abd El-Nasser and interim President Adly Mansour, but this is the first time for a president to attend the mass.

The annual Coptic mass was advanced by a tight security presence as Christian sites have been previously targeted by sectarian attacks.

On New Year’s Day in 2011, a deadly bombing at a church in Alexandria killed 23 people.

On Tuesday, unknown gunmen shot and killed two Egyptian policemen guarding a Catholic church in the southern Egyptian city of Minya.

Churches and Christian properties have also come under attack as a wave of violence spreads across Egypt, mostly focused on police and army personnel.

This was most notable on 14 August 2013 when the deadly dispersal of two pro-Morsi protest camps was followed by attacks on dozens of churches especially in Upper Egypt.

Coptic Orthodox Christians, who make up around 90 percent of Egypt’s Christians, break their 43-day fast and celebrate Christmas on 7 January, almost two weeks after most Western denominations. The difference results from the use of different calendars.

UPDATED: Sisi first Egyptian President to attend Coptic Christmas mass - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online

A zionazi thug and a mass murderer calling for religious reform. He must be the right-hand man of the Satan himself.

 

[Hell NO]

sisi graduates from killing masri turks & sunnis in salat at masjids to "reforming" religion.
bibi must be getting jealous of his muppet.

Masri turks ??????????? What are you talking about
We only have sunni muslims in egypt (yes that means that every Muslim in the army and police are sunnis that includes sissi himself ) so sectarianism is not the card to play here (it might work in places like syria but not egypt ) but you can use the Muslim christain thing that might work
thanks

 

[Falcon29]

This already exists in parts of the Arab world. Where major clerics are state appointed, that provide fatwas for the state when needed. Where no political/Islamic unity talks are allowed in mosques. And that the people must accept the same creed of rulers we've had for past 70 years. No public speaking against Israel or foreign policy of local regime.

He can try what he wants, but brute force/brainwashing in long run won't work with the Arab people(maybe with Egyptians though).

 

[Luffy 500]

SO this blood thirsty despot is now vying for more muslim blood. No wonder zionazi western barbarians r rejoicing . But too bad for these westerners- Islam is not Christianity or any other ism that it can be reformed. Its society that will eventually have to reform in accordance with Islam, NOT the other way around.

This already exists in parts of the Arab world. Where major clerics are state appointed, that provide fatwas for the state when needed. Where no political/Islamic unity talks are allowed in mosques. And that the people must accept the same creed of rulers we've had for past 70 years. No public speaking against Israel or foreign policy of local regime.

He can try what he wants, but brute force/brainwashing in long run won't work with the Arab people(maybe with Egyptians though).

it won't work with anyone whether arab (egyptian or not) or non-arab. Islam is here to supersede all isms as , Allah (swt) out of his grace & mercy , have guaranteed its protection till the end of this world.

 

[Falcon29]

@Luffy 500

Not really bro, lot of people aren't enthusiastic of Islam anymore. They want to separate it from politics completely. I don't care anymore, let them make their own choices.

 

[zyx97531]

Masri turks ???????????

hope this helps:

ethnic turks in masr (egypt), pakistan, afghanistan, irak, suriye & others since the abbasids (1300+ years).

the region of khorasan is ethnic turk.
most of the ulema of khorasan are ethnic turks. not persian.
the abbasid revolt began with the turks of khorasan.

the turks ended the umayyads at the battle of zab and established the abbasids and installed a qurayshi arab as khalifa. (mamluk turks of cairo, egypt installed a qurayshi arab as khalifa a second time. othmani sultans are qurayshi from their mothers side.)

abbasids are officially sunni hanafi. the administration & the army of abbasids are turks.
if abbasids were ethnic persian or ethnic arab then the abbasids ought to be sunni shafii.
cos ethnic persians or ethnic arabs are sunni shafii.

the abbasid city of samarra, irak is established as a turk only city.

zengid turk amir nureddin zengi is the reason quds sharif was conquered from the christian crusaders.
nureddin zengi commanded the destruction of the shiite fatimids in egypt. cos shiite fatimids and christian crusaders were allies.
salahaddin ayyubi is a general of nureddin zengi. the army of salahaddin ayyubi that conquered quds sharif and established the ayyubid state in egypt is the zengid turk army of the zengid turk amir nureddin zengi.

mamluk turks established two states. one in delhi, india and one in cairo, egypt. mamluk turks of cairo, egypt installed a qurayshi arab as khalifa like the abbasid turks did.

othmani turks took egypt from the mamluks.


iran has 40 million ethnic turks. calculate for masr (egypt), pakistan, bangladesh, afghanistan & others.
masr (egypt) is ethnic turk homeland. same as pakistan, bangladesh, iran, afghanistan & others.


for future reference:
ghaznavis of afghanistan are ethnic turks. not afghans.
saljuks of persia are ethnic turks. not persians.
sultan babur khan & babris (mughals) of india are ethnic turks. not mongols.

We only have ##### ####### in egypt...

the founding member of tamarod movement, that opposed morsi & supported sisi, mahmoud badr posing next to a picture of hizbi leader hassan nasrallah.

...the army and police are ###### that includes sissi...

soldiers & police either obey or disobey orders to kill civillians. disobeying orders means punishment or execution. soldiers & police have an excuse.

sisi is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. he has no excuse.
sisi is secular, pro-israel, anti-gaza.

 

[Frogman]

masr (egypt) is ethnic turk homeland

Unfortunately it is not. Although, there is a population of people of Turk descent estimated at anywhere from 100,000 to a million people (no accurate figures are present) which compared to the 90 million population of Egypt is completely insignificant. There are also people of Greek descent in Egypt.

However, all of the above consider themselves Egyptians first and foremost although they may be proud of their heritage. The picture of Badr next to Nasrallah was taken after the 2006 war with Israel when Hez was popular around the Arab world.

 

[zyx97531]

Unfortunately it is not.

ethnic turks are in egypt since the abbasid turks. that is 1300+ years. most of it under ethnic turk rule. but not our homeland. interesting. : )

Although, there is a population of people of Turk descent estimated at anywhere from 100,000 to a million people...

there is a million "evlad-i fatihan" descendants of othmani turk conquerers in europe in 600 years. most "evlad-i fatihan" experienced the civilized christian hospitality as repeatedly advertised by the christian crusaders. most of the surviving "evlad-i fatihan" migrated to turkiye. so only a million "evladi fatihan" in europe in 600 years.

even u dont believe "100,000 to a million".

...(no accurate figures are present)...

: )


ethnic arabs (& ethnic persians) are sunni shafii.
ethnic turks are sunni hanafi.

masr is sunni hanafi. sunni hanafi masris are majority in egypt.

However, all of the above consider themselves Egyptians first and foremost although they may be proud of their heritage.

hence masri turks.

egypt is not sisi. sisi is not egypt.

prediction: sisi regime is going to fall. there was a regime change in saudi arabia with king salman. no more saudi $$$ to $i$i. ethnic turk & sunni hanafi powers turkiye, masr, pakistan uniting is inevitable. dont u think so?

The picture of Badr next to Nasrallah was taken after the 2006 war with Israel when Hez was popular around the Arab world.

u note that is not a denial right? this arab world: are u referring to southern irak, southern lebanon, houthi yemen?



speaking of pictures: ur profile picture is one offensive picture. the crescent next to that thing. considering the state of the forum not sure if ppl are surprised.
related: can u inform us regarding the state of fethullah gulens interfaith-dialogue schools & political influence in egypt. he is politically influential in pakistan.

thank u for ur time.