Grand Imam of Al Azhar laments inability of Arabs, international human rights bodies to stop Israeli genocidal war on Gaza

CAIRO - 6 April 2024: At the celebration of Laylat Al Qadr (The Night of Decree), Grand Imam of Al Azhar Ahmed El Tayeb lamented the Arab and Islamic worlds' inability to stop the ongoing Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, calling for Arab unity to restore the Arab people’s power against tyrants.

Addressing the participants of the celebration, who are President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, the Grand Mufti of the Republic Shawqi Allam, the Minister of Endowments Mohamed Mukhtar Gomaa, several ministers and a group of scholars and leaders of Al-Azhar and Endowments, the Grand Imam said that the Arab nation in a state of conflict and division that they have been accustomed to for a long time

“We [Arab and Muslim nations] will not rise, progress, confront our crises responsibly, and overcome them except by achieving Arab unity, implementing the policy of economic integration, prioritizing public interests, and agreeing on future visions and joint plans that are thoughtful and implementable,” he added.

“Our dealings with the issue of Palestine and Holy Jerusalem do not reflect the magnitude of what Allah has bestowed upon us in terms of vast human and natural resources, boundless energies, and creative minds across all spheres of contemporary life - scientific, social, political, and economic. Above all, [we hold] steadfast faith in Allah Almighty and unwavering confidence in His mercy towards the weak and oppressed,” he said.

He noted that the first step for the end of the crises in the Arab and Islamic nations is in the Quranic verse “and do not quarrel for then you will be weak in hearts and your power will depart, and be patient; surely Allah is with the patient.”

The Grand Imam of Al Azhar called on the nation’s scholars to rise up - without delay - to achieve scholarly unity that brings together the symbols of Islam from Sunnis, Shiites, and others to set boundaries between what must be agreed upon and what is permissible to disagree on

Sheikh Ahmed Al Tayeb said humanity now needs the guidance of the Holy Qur’an because our contemporary world has lost rational and wise leadership, and has begun to flounder randomly, without reason, without wisdom or international law.

“Our contemporary world is hurtling, unrestrained, towards an abyss unlike any in history," he added.

The grand Imam said that the situation in the Middle East quickly turned into armed conflict, which finally developed into a very strange and anomalous picture in the history of wars and armed conflicts. He continued that the armed conflict in the Arab and Islamic world is led by political and military leaders, who have hard hearts with no mercy from all countries, where they lead an army armed with the latest EU/US-manufactured weapons of murder and mass destruction against a defenseless civilian people.

“Those people [the Palestinians] don’t know what killing or fighting is, and he has never seen the shedding of blood, nor corpses of children, women, men and the sick, lying on the streets or trapped under the rubble and demolished buildings in the alleys and alleys,” he said

He added that the gruesome and monstrous events and brutalities boil down to that international institutions and global charters, atop of which are the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other organizations stand helpless and paralyzed.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi attended the celebration of Laylat Al-Qadr (The Night of Decree), which is a holy night in the fasting month of Ramadan when the Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi honored several young people at an international award for Quran Hafizs, who completely memorized the Quran.

Sheikh Al Azhar also gifted Sisi the second edition of Al-Azhar Magazine, which is considered one of the cultural channels that express Egypt’s status and leadership in spreading religion, its teachings, and morals throughout the world.