CAIRO – 4 January 2025: Egyptian Grand Imam of al Azhar Sheikh Ahmed Al Tayeb and a high-level delegation from Al Azhar visited Pope Tawadros II, the Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, wishing him and all Coptic Christians a merry Christmas.
The delegation icludes Osama Al-Azhari, Minister of Endowments; Nazir Ayyad, Grand Mufti of Egypt; Mohamed Al-Duwaini, Undersecretary of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif; and Salama Dawoud, President of Al-Azhar University.
“We came here to renew the bond of affection, friendship, harmony and acquaintance, and to express the affection and brotherhood in our hearts. We came motivated by what we learned in the Holy Qur’an and from the Sunnah of our Prophet [Peace and Blessing be upon him] of honoring the Torah, the Bible and Christ Jesus, son of Mary,” said the Grand Imam of Al Azhar. He noted that the Noble Quran does not contain the word “religions,” but rather it is one religion with multiple messages sent via the prophets.
The Grand Imam also called for ending the tragedy and Israeli aggression against the people of Gaza that lasted for more than 15 months, stating: “We cannot rejoice while our brothers are not fed or watered, but are fed death and tasting the bitterness of loss, and are suffering genocide and ethnic cleansing in an unprecedented silence and shame.”
For his part, Pope Tawadros II thanked the Grand Imam and the accompanying delegation, saying that this visit reflects the fraternity spirit between the Muslims and Christans. He noted that peace cannot be made while hearts are filled with sins and evil, and in the absence of sincerity and honesty.
Pope Tawadros said that the process of peacemaking is a heavy industry, and we are commanded to do it by religious teachings.
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